John Albert Hay was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician.
Hay was born in Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

 to John Edward Hay (Mayor of Brighton 1953) and May Hollingdale. He was brother to author Peter Thomas Hay

Peter Thomas Hay

Peter Thomas Hay is an authority on British Steam Railways. He is author to numerous books and articles on the subject. His Steaming Through series of books is based on the archive of railway photographs taken himself in the 50's and 60's.-Biography:Peter Hay was born in Brighton, Sussex to John...

.
He was educated at Brighton Grammar School

Brighton Grammar School

Brighton Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day school for boys, located in Brighton, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

. He served as a Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and was invalided out.
He married Beryl Found, the only daughter of Ret. Commander Herbert Found R.N and Alice Found.
They had two children, Victoria (b. 1949) and Richard (b. 1953) Their marriage ended in divorce.

Hay worked as a solicitor practising in Brighton and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He served as Chairman of the Young Conservatives 1947-49 and was elected to Parliament in 1950 as Member

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Henley

Henley (UK Parliament constituency)

Henley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers south Oxfordshire, including Henley-on-Thames. The constituency elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It has long been a safe Conservative...

, South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....

. He became Parliamentary Private Secretary

Parliamentary Private Secretary

A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

 to the President of the Board of Trade 1951-55, and later served as Junior Minister for Transport under Ernest Marples

Ernest Marples

Alfred Ernest Marples, Baron Marples PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Postmaster General and Minister of Transport. After his retirement from active politics in 1974 Marples was elevated to the peerage...

, where he introduced parking meter

Parking meter

A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by municipalities as a tool for enforcing their integrated on-street parking policy, usually related to their traffic and...

s, and as Civil Lord of the Admiralty.

Hay retired from politics and Parliament in 1974, and married Janet Spruce in 1975. They emigrated to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and he died in West Vancouver in 1998.