Sir Hugh Alexis Louis Rossi,

KCSG KCSG (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Cedar City, Utah, United States, airing programming from the classic television network MeTV. Owned and operated by network parent Weigel Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on West 16 ...

, KHS, FKC (21 June 1927 – 14 April 2020) was a British

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 ...

politician. He was educated at Finchley Catholic Grammar School and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

(LLB). His father, Gaudenzio Rossi, came to London in 1919 after serving in the Italian Army in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Sir Hugh Rossi obituary
The Times, April 17 2020 Rossi was elected a councillor on

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

Borough Council 1956–65, serving as deputy mayor 1964–65, and on the successor

London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation o ...

from 1964. He was also a

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the coun ...

lor 1961–65. Rossi 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 of ...

(MP) for

from 1966 to 1983, and (after boundary changes) for

Hornsey and Wood Green Hornsey and Wood Green is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency in Greater London created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Ki ...

, 1983 to 1992. A junior minister in the governments of

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...

and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

, he was on the 'One Nation' wing of the party.

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served ...

praised his social housing ideas (especially

Right to Buy The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Scotland since 1 August 2016 and Wales from 26 January 2019, which gives secure tenants of councils and some housing associations the legal right to buy, at a large ...

) as fundamental to Conservative general election successes. He was expecting to be made

Minister of State for Housing The Minister of State for Housing and Planning is a mid-level position in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in the British government. The position has been held by Lee Rowley since 8 September 2022. The position was former ...

on the back of his work after the Conservatives won the 1979 general election but instead was made a

Minister of State for Northern Ireland The Minister of State for Northern Ireland is a mid-level position in the Northern Ireland Office in the British government. It is currently held by Steve Baker, who took the office on 7 September 2022. Responsibilities The minister has the ...

. The Prime Minister

wrongly believed that his disappointment was a worry that he could not carry out this role as a Catholic, and arranged a meeting between Rossi and the Archbishop of Westminster Basil Hume to reassure him that there was no conflict of interest. He retired in 1992, after which the Conservative Party lost the Hornsey and Wood Green seat, when his successor as Conservative candidate,

Andrew Boff Andrew Boff (born 14 April 1958) is a British politician who has been Deputy Chair of the London Assembly since May 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served a London-wide Assembly Member (AM) since the 2008 election. Boff served a ...

, was defeated by the Labour Party's

Barbara Roche Barbara Maureen Roche (; born 13 April 1954) is a British Labour politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Wood Green from 1992 until 2005, when she lost her seat to the Liberal Democrats, despite having enjoyed a major ...

. Rossi was

knighted 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 Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in Thatcher's 1983 Dissolution Honours List. He died in April 2020 at the age of 92 and was buried on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Hugh 1927 births 2020 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery People educated at Finchley Grammar School Alumni of King's College London Fellows of King's College London English people of Italian descent Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Greater London Councillors in the London Borough of Haringey UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 People from Finchley Northern Ireland Office junior ministers