Sir Edwin Hartley Cameron Leather (22 May 1919 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born British Conservative politician. He served as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the British colony of Bermuda from 1973 to 1977. Education Leather was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, in 1937. He was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) from the University of Bath in 1976. Career During the Second World War, Captain Leather served with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, Canadian Army in England and Europe. He was badly injured in a practice jump when his parachute failed to open. He rejoined his Battalion for D-Day. He served in Europe during World War II with the Toronto Scottish and Royal Canadian Artillery. He wrote a manual for the Home Guard called "Combat without Weapons". He worked as an insurance broker in England and was secretary of the Central London branch of the Association of Supervisory Staff, Executives and Technicians. At the 1945 general election Leather stood without success in the Bristol South constituency, but at the 1950 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Somerset. He was a backbencher throughout the period of Conservative governments from 1951–1964. He supported the Unions, and held office in the Association of Supervisory Staffs, Executives and Technicians and supported the miners. Leather never held political office but was a popular speaker at Party Conference and other events, as well as on radio and television. He was a One Nation Tory; he forcefully opposed racism and supported the European Union. Leather was proposed for a knighthood but, still a Canadian citizen, required the support of the Canadian government which had not made any honour recommendation for some years; Prime Minister John Diefenbaker declined to support the recommendation. He was eventually knighted in 1962 when he was made a Knight Bachelor, having taken British citizenship. He quit Westminster in 1964 because of illness. Poor health and the low pay for MPs forced Leather to retire from Parliament at the 1964 general election and enter business. He returned to the political scene a few years later, as vice-chairman of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, taking a leading role in fund raising and at Party Conference. In 1973, following the murder of Sir Richard Sharples, Leather was appointed Governor of Bermuda. Despite the