Du Cann, Edward Dillon Lot (1924- )

British Conservative politician, economic secretary to the Treasury 1962-63, minister of state at the Board of Trade 1963-64, chairman of the Conservative Party 1965-67, chairman of the 1922 Committee (the backbench party organization of Conservative MPs) from 1972 until 1984.

He was educated at Woodbridge School and St John's College, Oxford. He served with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 1943-46, and then became prominent in the unit trust movement in the City of London. He became MP for Taunton in 1956 and held posts in the government during the 1960s, but did not receive office when the Conservatives returned to power in 1970. He became the first chair of the Select Committee on Expenditure in 1971 and chair of the Public Accounts Committee in 1974. He retired as an MP in 1987 and became chairman of Lonhro.