Mark, whose father Reginald Francois served in the Royal Navy in WW2, spoke to the Town Councillors and their guests about the critical role which Churchill had played, not least in the dark days of 1940, when his great oratory helped to inspire the nation to resist Adolph Hitler and Nazi Tyranny at a time when Britain stood alone in the face of German occupied Europe.
As part of the evening guests at the dinner, which was organised by Cllr Peggy Corbett, the Chairman of Rayleigh Town Council, were able to tour the Cabinet War Rooms (now re named the Churchill War Rooms) to see the underground bunker in Whitehall from which Churchill and the members of his War Cabinet directed Britain’s resistance, right up to the victory over Germany and then Japan in 1945.
Commenting on the evening and his praise for Winston Churchill, Mark Francois said:
“Winston Churchill was arguably the greatest Englishmen who ever lived. He led Britain through a war of national survival and by sheer will and powerful oratory helped his countrymen to face down and then defeat one of the vilest regimes the world has ever seen. It was a privilege to be able to give a speech about Churchill in such an historic location and I hope in some small way I was able to bring his bulldog spirit to life in front of our local Councillors and their guests. I have always been a Churchill fan, indeed he is one of the reasons I came into politics in the first place and I hope that we will continue to commemorate the crucial role that he played in helping to keep our country free.”