Cecil Parkinson

The Lord Parkinson
Parkinson in 2015
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office
11 June 1997 – 1 June 1998
LeaderWilliam Hague
Preceded byBrian Mawhinney
Succeeded byMichael Ancram
In office
14 September 1981 – 11 June 1983
LeaderMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byThe Lord Thorneycroft
Succeeded byJohn Gummer
Secretary of State for Transport
In office
24 July 1989 – 28 November 1990
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byPaul Channon
Succeeded byMalcolm Rifkind
Secretary of State for Energy
In office
13 June 1987 – 24 July 1989
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byPeter Walker
Succeeded byJohn Wakeham
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
In office
12 June 1983 – 14 October 1983
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded by
Succeeded byNorman Tebbit
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
6 April 1982 – 11 June 1983
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byThe Baroness Young
Succeeded byThe Lord Cockfield
Paymaster General
In office
14 September 1981 – 11 June 1983
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byFrancis Pym
Succeeded byJohn Gummer
Minister of State for Trade
In office
7 May 1979 – 14 September 1981
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byMichael Meacher
Succeeded byPeter Rees
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
29 June 1992 – 14 September 2015
Life Peerage
Member of Parliament
for Hertsmere
South Hertfordshire (1974-1983)
Enfield West (1970-1974)
In office
20 November 1970 – 16 March 1992
Preceded byIain Macleod
Succeeded byJames Clappison
Personal details
Born(1931-09-01)1 September 1931
Carnforth, Lancashire, England
Died22 January 2016(2016-01-22) (aged 84)
Marylebone, London, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Anne Jarvis
(m. 1957)
Children4
Alma materEmmanuel College, Cambridge

Cecil Edward Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC[1] (1 September 1931 – 22 January 2016) was a British Conservative Party politician and cabinet minister. A chartered accountant by training, he entered Parliament in November 1970, and was appointed a minister in Margaret Thatcher's first government in May 1979. He successfully managed the Conservative Party's 1983 election campaign, and was rewarded with an appointment as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, but was forced to resign following revelations that his former secretary, Sara Keays, was pregnant with his child, whom she later bore and named Flora Keays.[2] Flora was born with severe cerebral palsy.

Parkinson subsequently served as Secretary of State for Energy, and later Secretary of State for Transport. He resigned that office in 1990, on the same day that Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister. He was created Baron Parkinson in 1992, and served in the House of Lords until his retirement in September 2015.[3][4]

  1. ^ "No. 52979". The London Gazette. 2 July 1992. p. 11141.
  2. ^ "The only promise Cecil Parkinson ever kept - never to see his daughter". The Daily Telegraph. London. 6 January 2002. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Tory peer Cecil Parkinson retires from House of Lords". The Guardian. Press Association. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  4. ^ The Lord Speaker (Baroness D’Souza) (14 September 2015). "Parliamentary debates". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. col. 1635–1635. Retrieved 15 September 2015.

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