Sir Albert Costain (5 July 1910 – 5 March 1987) was a Conservative Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Folkestone and Hythe from 1959 to 1983, preceding future Conservative leader Michael Howard.

Early career

Costain was educated at King James's School,

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate. History Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...

and the College of Estate Management. He became production director on the formation of Richard Costain Ltd in 1933 and was later chairman of the company. The Sir Albert Costain Memorial Awards are awarded to trainee staff for successful achievement.

As MP

During his parliamentary career he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Public Building and Works from 1962 to 1964, to the Minister of Technology in 1970, to the

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

from 1970 to 1972, and to the

Secretary of State for the Environment The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment (DoE). This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of T ...

from 1972 to 1974. Costain was also a member of the Speaker's panel of chairman in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. He was knighted in July 1980. Costain stepped down at the 1983 election, and died in 1987.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1979 and 1983 editions

External links

* 1910 births 1987 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Knights Bachelor Alumni of University College of Estate Management {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub