Bruce Joseph Grocott, Baron Grocott
PC (born 1 November 1940) is a
Labour Party politician in the
United Kingdom.
Early life
Grocott was born in
Kings Langley
Kings Langley is a village, former Manorialism, manor and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part o ...
near
Watford, and was educated at the
University of Leicester. He obtained an
MA from
Manchester University after conducting research on Local Government. He was appointed to the post of lecturer, and later a senior lecturer, at the City of Birmingham College of Commerce (later
Birmingham Polytechnic
, mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business"
, established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843— Birmingham College of Art
, type = Public
, affiliation ...
, now
Birmingham City University). During this time he was elected to Bromsgrove Urban District Council. From 1972 to 1974 he was a principal lecturer at
North Staffordshire Polytechnic
, mottoeng = Dare to know
, type = Public
, endowment = £70 million (2015)
, administrative_staff = 1,375
, chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford
, vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones
, ...
.
Parliamentary career
His first attempt to become a member of Parliament was in the 1970 election when he stood unsuccessfully for
South West Hertfordshire
South West Hertfordshire is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, represented since 2019 by Gagan Mohindra, a Conservative.
Constituency profile
Elevated and bordering Greater London and Buckinghamshire, this part of Her ...
. He was then selected as a candidate and was elected as
Member of Parliament for
Lichfield and Tamworth in October 1974,
in which position he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Local Government and Planning, and later the Minister of Agriculture. He lost his seat at the
1979 general election and joined
Central Television as a presenter and producer, working on programmes such as ''Left, Right and Centre'', ''Central Lobby'' and ''Central Weekend''.
He was re-elected for
The Wrekin in 1987
and he was very shortly thereafter appointed Deputy Shadow Leader of the House to
Jack Cunningham before becoming advisor to the Leader of the Opposition,
Neil Kinnock and, later, a Foreign Affairs Spokesman under
John Smith
John Smith is a common personal name. It is also commonly used as a placeholder name and pseudonym, and is sometimes used in the United States and the United Kingdom as a term for an average person. It may refer to:
People
:''In chronological ...
. He served as
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
to
Tony Blair from 1994 until 2001.
He transferred to
Telford in 1997 when The Wrekin was divided. He served this seat until the
2001 general election, when he stepped down from the Commons.
House of Lords
He was made a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
under the title of Baron Grocott, of Telford, in the County of
Shropshire, on 2 July 2001, quickly being promoted to a government whip in the
House of Lords. From 2002 to 2008 he was the Government
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
...
in the House of Lords as well as
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms, the honorary post usually held by the Chief Whip. As the Chief Whip, he was sworn of the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
in 2002. He has promoted further reform of the Lords, including attempts to abolish
by-elections for hereditary peers.
In October 2012 it was announced that Lord Grocott has been elected as the next
chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
of the University of Leicester, the first time in the university's history that a former student has been appointed to the post. He was installed as chancellor at the degree ceremony in DeMontfort Hall on 24 January 2013. His term finished in July 2018 and he was replaced by
Lord Willetts
David Linsay Willetts, Baron Willetts, (born 9 March 1956) is a British politician and life peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire. He served as Minister of State for U ...
.
Family
Grocott is married with two sons and lives in Staffordshire.
References
*
*
External links
Short interviewgiving his views on House of Lords reform
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grocott, Bruce Grocott, Baron
1940 births
Living people
Academics of Birmingham City University
Academics of Staffordshire University
Alumni of the University of Leicester
Alumni of the University of Manchester
British television presenters
Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms
Labour Party (UK) life peers
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Shropshire
Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
Life peers created by Elizabeth II