Charles Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb, (27 March 1925 – 15 April 2022) was a British politician and farmer who went into politics as a leader of the National Farmers' Union. He later became active in the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

and was elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP). He served as an MEP from 1979 to 1999, and was

President of the European Parliament President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

from 1987 to 1989, the only Briton to hold the post.

Personal life

Plumb's family was from

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

and had been in farming for several generations. His father farmed at Coleshill in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, on which his son joined him in 1940. He took over running the farm after his father died in 1952. The farm ran to and consisted primarily of a dairy herd (200 pedigree

Ayrshire cattle The Ayrshire (IPA ) is a Scottish breed of dairy cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the county of Ayrshire in south-western Scotland. Ayrshires typically have red and white markings; the red can range from a shade of orange to a dark ...

) with 70 breeding sows and of grain.Leonard Amey, "A fighter to lead the farmers", ''The Times'', 30 January 1970, p. 10. Plumb was married to Marjorie () from 1947 until her death in 2019; they had three children. He died on 15 April 2022, at the age of 97, after suffering a stroke.

National Farmers' Union

After rising through the county branch, in 1965 Plumb was elected Vice-President of the National Farmers' Union. Although only 40 years old he was considered for the Presidency,"Probables And Possibles For N.F.U. Presidency", ''The Times'', 29 December 1965, p. 4. but had to settle for promotion to Deputy President in 1966."N.F.U. Choose New President", ''The Times'', 9 April 1966, p. 6. In the late 1960s Plumb was a member of the Northumberland Committee inquiring into the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, being the only working farmer on the committee. Towards the end of the committee's deliberations, a report from political correspondent J. W. Murray in ''Farmer and Stockbreeder'' said Plumb had single-handedly persuaded the committee to recommend prohibiting the import of carcass meat from countries where foot-and-mouth was endemic."MP's motion on alleged farm report leak", ''The Times'', 8 February 1969, p. 3. In January 1970 the incumbent President of the NFU Gwilym Williams failed to get the 80% support necessary to be re-elected, and Plumb was elected President of the NFU in his place.Leonard Amey, "President of NFU is ousted", ''The Times'', 30 January 1970, p. 2. Plumb's term of office included British accession to the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

and its

Common Agricultural Policy The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Union. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce the ...

and Plumb negotiated for greater support for British agriculture; he stressed that Britain no longer had the economic power to bring cheap

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing an ...

.Leonard Amey, "Britain can no longer attract cheap food, NFU chief says", ''The Times'', 23 January 1973, p. 11. Plumb was, however, a strong supporter of British membership of the

; he was considered as a possible director for the pro-market campaign in the 1975 referendum campaign David Butler and

Uwe Kitzinger Uwe Kitzinger, CBE (born 12 April 1928) is an Oxford academic specialising in International Relations. He was the first British economist at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 1951 to 1956, and in January 1973 to June 1975 Political Adviser t ...

, "The 1975 Referendum", Macmillan, 1975, p. 73. and was described as one of its most indefatigable spokesmen.Butler & Kitzinger p. 171. Plumb was awarded a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in the

1973 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1973 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 2 June 1973 for ...

."Birthday Honours", ''The Times'', 2 June 1973, p. 4. Throughout the 1970s, Plumb had Richard C. Butler as his deputy at the NFU, and Butler succeeded him as president when he retired in 1979.

European Parliament

Having joined the

, Plumb was elected Member of the European Parliament for the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

seat in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and remained in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

until 1999, being

from 1987 to 1989. By the time of his death in 2022, he remained the only British president of the European parliament. 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 ...

as Baron Plumb, of Coleshill in the County of Warwickshire on 6 April 1987. On 11 October 1988, Plumb received international attention. During the papal visit to the European Parliament in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

was delivering a speech.

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

MEP

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First ...

heckled throughout the delivery, brandishing posters accusing the Pope of being the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...

. Using his position as president, Plumb ordered Paisley to leave the chamber. He retired from the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

on 3 November 2017. He was also Chancellor of

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

between 1995 and 2007.

2012 allegations of conflict of interest

In June 2012 the

Bureau of Investigative Journalism The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (typically abbreviated to TBIJ or "the Bureau") is a nonprofit news organisation based in London. It was founded in 2010 to pursue "public interest" investigations. The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' newspaper revealed how senior members of the House of Lords failed to disclose their business interests in a

public inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...

. As of July 2012, Plumb's entry in the

register of interests A Register of Interests is a record kept, usually by a government body, of financial interests of its members. The register documents interests which may potentially unethically or unlawfully influence members' official duties. The term is in us ...

listed his only remunerated employment/profession as 'farming', despite his involvement with the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

-based

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

firm Alber & Geiger since 2007. According to ''The Independent'', Plumb insisted he did not need to register his involvement because he had “never been in employment, paid or unpaid” by the firm.

Bibliography

* (Autobiography)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plumb, Charles Henry Plumb, Baron 1925 births 2022 deaths Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MEPs Deputy Lieutenants of Warwickshire English farmers Knights Bachelor Presidents of the European Parliament People associated with Coventry University MEPs for England 1979–1984 MEPs for England 1984–1989 MEPs for England 1989–1994 MEPs for England 1994–1999