William Michael Hardy Spicer, Baron Spicer, (22 January 1943 – 29 May 2019) was a British politician and
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 ...
who was a
Conservative member of the
House of Lords from 2010 until 2019. He served as
Member of Parliament for
West Worcestershire
West Worcestershire is a constituency in Worcestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Harriett Baldwin, a Conservative. The constituency is considered a safe seat for the Conservatives. The constituency b ...
from 1974 to 2010 and was a minister from 1984 to 1990. He later served as chairman of the
1922 Committee
The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The committee, consisting of all Conservative backbench member ...
from 2001 to 2010.
Early life
He was born in
Bath, Somerset
Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...
, to
Lt. Col.
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
(later
Brigadier) L. Hardy Spicer and Muriel, daughter of Wallis G. Carter of Bath. Spicer was educated in Vienna, at Gaunts House Preparatory School and
Wellington College, and received a degree in economics from
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...
. After graduation, he worked as a financial journalist for ''
The Statist'', the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' and ''
The Sunday Times''. He was Director of Conservative Systems Research Centre from 1968 to 1970, and managing director of Economic Models Ltd from 1970 to 1980.
Parliamentary career
Spicer joined the
Conservative Party, and at the
1966 general election, he challenged
Manny Shinwell in the safe
Labour Easington constituency as the youngest parliamentary candidate in the country against the eldest. He stood in Easington again at the
1970 general election before he was elected at the
February 1974 general election for
South Worcestershire
South Worcestershire was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The constituency was created f ...
. He represented South Worcestershire until 1997. When boundary changes abolished the constituency; he then moved to the
West Worcestershire
West Worcestershire is a constituency in Worcestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Harriett Baldwin, a Conservative. The constituency is considered a safe seat for the Conservatives. The constituency b ...
seat, which he represented until his retirement from the Commons.
After the
1979 general election, which swept the Conservatives to power, he became a
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 ...
at the
Department of Trade
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
. He was later made a Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. He became a
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Department of Transport in 1984 and served until 1987 with specific responsibility for aviation.
In 1987, he moved to the
Department of Energy, again as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary, this time with responsibility for electricity and coal. In January 1990, he was promoted to become a
Minister of State at the
Department of the Environment, but after the ousting of
Margaret Thatcher in November 1990, he left the government payroll over his opposition to British participation in the
European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
On leaving the government, he became the chairman of the
Parliamentary and Scientific Committee in the
House of Commons. In 1993, he founded the
eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
European Research Group within the Conservative Party.
In the
1996 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1996 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other co ...
he received a
knighthood, with the honour conferred by Queen
Elizabeth II on 13 February 1996. After the
1997 general election he became a member of the
Treasury Select Committee.
He was an author and had a number of books published, including ''The Spicer Diaries''.
His majority declined in 1997 in keeping with the general trend across the country, but he kept his seat which had become West Worcestershire after boundary changes that year. His majority almost doubled four years later, at the
2001 general election. However, unlike most other Conservative MPs, he failed to increase his majority in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
; instead, it was more than halved, and he held one of the Conservatives' most marginal seats against the
Liberal Democrats, who had a 'decapitation' strategy.
After the 2001 general election, Spicer was elected Chairman of the
1922 Committee
The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The committee, consisting of all Conservative backbench member ...
, a position that he held until he stood down in 2010.
As chairman of the 1922 Committee, he had the distinction of presiding over more
leadership elections than any of his predecessors since
Iain Duncan Smith,
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...
and
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
were all elected during his tenure. This record has now been surpassed by
Graham Brady.
In the Commons, he became known for asking short questions, usually of one-sentence questions to government ministers and at
Prime Minister's Questions and once simply asking
Gordon Brown, "Will the
Prime Minister confirm that he will soldier on to the bitter end?" On another occasion, he asked Brown, "Why are there always so many strikes at the end of a Labour government?"
On 26 March 2006, Spicer announced that he would not contest the Worcestershire West seat at the 2010 election and that he would retire as an MP.
Later life
He was created 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 ...
on 8 July 2010 as Baron Spicer, of
Cropthorne
Cropthorne is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England within the Vale of Evesham, and on the North-west edge of the Cotswolds. It is approximately southeast of Worcester, north of Cheltenham, and southwest of Stratford-upon- ...
in the
County of Worcestershire.
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 ...
on 15 May 2013 at
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
; as a peer, he acquired the
post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...
"PC" for life.
Death
Spicer died in the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...
, London, from complications of
Parkinson's disease and
leukaemia on 29 May 2019.
References
External links
Sir Michael Spicer MPofficial site
*
ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/michael_spicer/west_worcestershire TheyWorkForYou.com – Michael Spicer MP*
Ministerial PostsBBC Politics page
News items
Elected Chairman of 1922 committee in 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spicer, Michael
1943 births
2019 deaths
Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
British Eurosceptics
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Deaths from leukemia
Deaths from Parkinson's disease
Neurological disease deaths in the United Kingdom
Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire
People from Bath, Somerset
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1979–1983
UK MPs 1983–1987
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
Life peers created by Elizabeth II
Knights Bachelor
Politicians awarded knighthoods