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John Dudley Groves CB OBE (12 August 1922 – 26 December 2007) was a British former journalist and civil servant who served as Downing Street Press Secretary under Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1964.

Early life

The youngest son of Walter Groves, founding editor of The Motor magazine, John Groves was educated at St Paul's school and would follow in his father's footsteps into journalism, joining the Richmond Herald as a reporter during the Blitz. He subsequently enlisted in the army to fight in World War II as member of the Reconnaissance regiment.

Career

After demobilisation Groves returned to journalism and was a member of the Press Association parliamentary staff. He subsequently worked as deputy lobby correspondent for the Times newspaper from 1951 before leaving in 1958 to head up the press office at the Treasury.

After two years, in 1960, Groves was promoted to deputy press secretary to Harold Macmillan and was in the post during the time of the Profumo scandal. He then succeeded Sir Harold Evans to become press secretary to Sir Alec Douglas-Home when the latter became prime minister in October 1963. He vacated the post with the defeat of the Alec Douglas-Home at the October 1964 general election.

In later life he served as chief press officer at the Ministry of Defence, the director general of the Central Office of Information and head of the Government Information Service. John Groves was awarded an OBE in the 1964 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours and Companion of the Bath in the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours. He retired in 1982 and was a founder of the Pewsey Vale Railway Society.

Personal life

Groves was married in 1943 to Pamela Holliday until her death in May 2007. The union bore two daughters and a son.

References

1. Guardian Staff (31 December 2007). "Former press secretary to Sir Alec Douglas-Home dies". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
2. ^ "John Groves". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
3. ^ "Lives in Brief: Gavin D. R. Bridson and John Dudley Groves". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
4. "The McGurk's Bar cover-up. Heath's Faustian pact. How a British prime minister covered up a UVF massacre in the hope of acquiring Unionist votes to enable the UK join the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the EU". Village Magazine. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
5. "Page 3 | Supplement 48639, 12 June 1981 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

v t e Downing Street press secretaries
Clement Attlee	Francis Williams (1945–1947) Philip Jordan (1947–1951) Reginald Bacon (1951)
Winston Churchill	Fife Clark (1952–1955)
Anthony Eden	William D. Clark (1955–1956) Alfred Richardson (1956–1957)
Harold Macmillan	Harold Evans (1957–1963)
Alec Douglas-Home	John Groves (1963–1964)
Harold Wilson	Trevor Lloyd-Hughes (1964–1969) Joe Haines (1969–1970)
Edward Heath	Donald Maitland (1970–1973) Robin Haydon (1973–1974)
Harold Wilson	Joe Haines (1974–1976)
James Callaghan	Tom McCaffrey (1976–1979)
Margaret Thatcher	Henry James (1979) Bernard Ingham (1979–1990)
John Major	Gus O'Donnell (1990–1993) Christopher Meyer (1993–1996) Jonathan Haslam (1996–1997)
Tony Blair	Alastair Campbell (1997–2000) Godric Smith (2001–2004) Thomas Kelly (2004–2007)
Gordon Brown	Damian McBride (2007–2009)
David Cameron	Gabby Bertin (2010–2012) Susie Squire (2012–2013) Graeme Wilson (2013–2016)
Theresa May	Lizzie Loudon (2016–2017) Paul Harrison (2017–2019)
Boris Johnson	Rob Oxley (2019–2020) Allegra Stratton (2020–2021) Rosie Bate-Williams (2021–2022)
Liz Truss	Alex Wild (2022)
Rishi Sunak	Nerissa Chesterfield (2022–2023) Lucy Noakes (2023–2024)
Keir Starmer	Sophie Nazemi (2024–present)

• 1922 births
• 2007 deaths
• Companions of the Order of the Bath
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• People educated at St Paul's School, London
• Reconnaissance Corps soldiers
• British male journalists
• 20th-century British journalists
• British Army personnel of World War II