John Ambrose Cope, Baron Cope of Berkeley, PC (born 13 May 1937) is a

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 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Education

Cope was educated at

Oakham School (Like runners, they pass on the torch of life) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president ...

before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant.

Career

Cope contested Woolwich East in the 1970 General Election, but was defeated by Labour's

Christopher Mayhew Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...

. Thereafter he served as

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 ...

for

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...

from 1974 to 1983. When that constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election, he was returned for the new

Northavon Northavon was a district in the English county of Avon from 1974 to 1996. The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 as part of a reform of local authorities throughout England and Wales. Under the reorganisation, ...

constituency, serving until his defeat in the 1997 general election by the

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

Steve Webb Sir Steven John Webb (born 18 July 1965) is a British pensions commentator who was previously Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for Northavon from 1997 to 2010 and for Thornbury and Yate from 2010 to 2015. He was the Minister of Stat ...

. Within the Conservative Party, he was an Assistant Whip from June 1979 to June 1981. His first political office was as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (June 1981 to June 1983), and then he was Treasurer of HM Household (1983-1987), and was then appointed Minister of State for Employment (with a special focus on small businesses) 1987–1989. He was then Minister of State for Security and Finance at the Northern Ireland Office until November 1990. In the meantime, in 1988, he was sworn as a member 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 ...

. Cope served as

Paymaster-General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posit ...

(HM Treasury) in

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

's government between 1992 and 1994. 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 Cope of Berkeley, ''of

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

in the County of Gloucestershire'' on 4 October 1997. He served as Opposition Chief Whip in 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 the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

, from 2001 to 2007, when he was replaced by Baroness Anelay. In 2012 Cope made the opening speech to the House of Lords, presenting a motion for the Loyal Address on the opening day of Parliament. He retired from the House of Lords on 13 May 2020, his 83rd birthday.

Charity work

Lord Cope is a patron of the charity

Kids for Kids Kids for Kids is a British nonprofit charity formed in 2001 to help children struggling to survive in remote villages in Darfur, Sudan. It is the only charity created specifically to help the children of London. It has been previously listed in ...

, helping children in rural areas of

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. He is a patron of The West of England MS Therapy Centre, a charity helping those in Bristol and the surrounding areas live independent lives whilst coping with MS and other neurological conditions, Lord Cope is also President of the Friends of the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath. Lord Cope has also been a Trustee of War Memorials Trust since 1999; this is a conservation charity that works for the protection of war memorials across the United Kingdom.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, John Ambrose 1937 births Cope of Berkeley Life peers created by Elizabeth II Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 United Kingdom Paymasters General Treasurers of the Household Knights Bachelor Northern Ireland Office junior ministers