Maurice Harry Peston, Baron Peston (19 March 1931 – 23 April 2016) was a British

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

life peer. His research interests included macroeconomic policy and the economics of education.

Personal

Peston was born in 1931 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the son of Abraham Peston, a "pleater" in the garment trade, and Yetta R. (née Malt) Peston. He was educated at Belle Vue Boys' School,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, and

Hackney Downs School Hackney Downs School was an 11–16 boys, community comprehensive secondary school in Lower Clapton, Greater London, England. It was established in 1876 and closed in 1995. It has been replaced by the Mossbourne Community Academy. History ...

. He graduated from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and undertook postgraduate study at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He married Helen Conroy in London in 1958. The couple believed passionately in state education, and sent all of their three children to the local comprehensive, Highgate Wood School,

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, approximately from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described by the BBC as one of "a new breed of urban villag ...

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

. One of their children is the journalist

Robert Peston Robert James Kenneth Peston (born 25 April 1960) is an English journalist, presenter, and author. He is the political editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show ''Peston'' (previously ''Peston on Sunday''). From 2006 u ...

, currently

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's political editor.

Career

Academia

Peston founded the economics department at

Queen Mary College, London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

, and advised various government departments and

Secretaries of State from the 1960s through to the 1990s. He remained an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the College until his death in 2016.

House of Lords

Peston 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 ...

as Baron Peston, of

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

, in

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

, on 24 March 1987. He immediately became Opposition Spokesperson for Energy (until 1997) and Education & Science (until 1997). He served as Opposition Spokesperson on the Treasury (1990–92) and Trade & Industry (1992–97). He chaired 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 ...

Offices Refreshments Sub-committee from 1993 to 1997. When Labour took over government, he chaired the influential House of Lords Committee on Economic Affairs from 1998 until 2005. Since then he worked on the Lords

Constitution Committee The Constitution Committee is a cross-party select committee of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee's remit is "to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming befor ...

, and on the committee reviewing the

BBC Charter The BBC Charter is a royal charter setting out the arrangements for the governance of the British Broadcasting Corporation. An accompanying agreement recognises its editorial independence and sets out its public obligations in detail. The in ...

Other interests

He was chairman of the

Pools Panel In the United Kingdom, the football pools, often referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of association football matches taking place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, and may encou ...

during the 1990s, adjudicating on the expected results of football matches in case any were postponed. Lord Peston was a patron of the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...

, as well as an Honorary Associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

. In the House, he spoke candidly about his existential views, describing himself as someone "who regards all religious belief as failing to meet even the most elementary epistemological and deontological criteria".

References

External links

Robert Peston: My late father Maurice Peston's influence
bbc.co.uk; accessed 24 April 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Peston, Maurice 1931 births 2016 deaths People from Mile End Critics of religions People educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School, Bradford People educated at Hackney Downs School Alumni of the London School of Economics Princeton University alumni Academics of Queen Mary University of London Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics English economists Labour Party (UK) life peers

Maurice Peston, Baron Peston Maurice Harry Peston, Baron Peston (19 March 1931 – 23 April 2016) was a British economist and Labour life peer. His research interests included macroeconomic policy and the economics of education. Personal Peston was born in 1931 in London, ...

Members of the Fabian Society