Peter Frederick Chalke

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 1944) is a business man and

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 ...

politician in England. Chalke was twice Leader of

Wiltshire County Council Wiltshire County Council (established in 1889) was the county council of Wiltshire in the South West of England, an elected local Government body responsible for most local government services in the county. As a result of the 2009 restructur ...

, standing down the second time in 2003 to become national leader of the Conservatives in the Local Government Association, and was also a member of the

Standards Board for England The Standards Board for England was a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Established under the Local Government Act 2000, it was responsible for promoting high ethical standards in local g ...

Career

Born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, in 1944, Chalke was educated at

Chafyn Grove School Chafyn Grove School is a private co-educational day and boarding preparatory school situated on the edge of the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, in England's West Country. Founded in 1879 by Mr. W. C. Bird as an all-boys' school, it became Chafy ...

and joined the family business, W. M. Chalke and Sons, of South Newton, timber merchants, of which he became head. He was first elected to Wiltshire County Council in 1982. In 1986 he became leader of the Conservative group and went on to lead the county council. When his party lost control, Chalke remained as leader of the Wiltshire Conservative group, and again became Leader of the county council in 1998, when taking back control the year after the election of the first Blair government. In the Local Government Association of England and Wales (LGA) he was elected as deputy leader of the Conservative Group and was his party's spokesman on education. County Hall, Trowbridge In April 1999, as Leader of Wiltshire County Council, Chalke was quoted in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' on the need to do something to help refugees from the

war in Kosovo The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. He suggested that army bases in Wiltshire at

Rollestone Rollestone is a small village and former civil parish on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. It is near the River Till. Its nearest town is Amesbury, about away to the east. For local government purposes, Rollestone was added to Shrewton ...

, Knook, and Westdown near

Shrewton Shrewton is a village and civil parish on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, around west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. It lies on the A360 road between Stonehenge and Tilshead. It is close to the source of the River Till, which flows ...

, could be made available and commented "We have a responsibility to do something to help and will be looking at whatever other accommodation there is available." In 2002, Chalke chaired a Conservative Party working group which drew up a plan for the next Conservative government to free schools from the control of failing councils, and this received the full support of the

Shadow Cabinet of Iain Duncan Smith The UK Shadow Cabinet (see also Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom)) was appointed by Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. Following his initial appointments in September 2001 Smith managed three reshuffles before his ...

. In publishing its policy proposals in January 2003, Chalke commented: "Those authorities, riven by mismanagement, that are clearly failing their schools and pupils will be stripped of their powers, allowing schools to break free from the straitjacket of a failing authority.". In July 2003, Chalke was appointed to lead the LGA Conservative Group and was elected as Deputy Chairman of the LGA, so announced his resignation as Leader of the County Council.County's leader steps down after promotion
''

Gazette and Herald The ''Gazette and Herald'' is a local weekly paid-for newspaper, established in Wiltshire, England, in 1816 and published every Thursday. It serves the areas and communities of Devizes, Calne, Chippenham, Wootton Bassett, Swindon, Marlborough, M ...

'', 10 July 2003 He then lived in London for two years. "Former councillors who first met at a village barbecue celebrate Golden Wedding" , ''

Salisbury Journal The ''Salisbury Journal'' is the local newspaper for the Salisbury area of England. Founded in 1729, it was revived by William Collins in 1736, who used it to oppose the government of Sir Robert Walpole. Benjamin Collins took over the publicatio ...

'', 17 August 2016, accessed 5 June 2021 On standing down, Chalke commented that the high point of his time in office in Wiltshire had been the recent success of a campaign for the Government to give Wiltshire area cost adjustment status, as a result of which it had gained millions of pounds a year in higher Government grants. His greatest disappointment was that the new

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, serves as a focal point for heritage services relating to Wiltshire and Swindon. The centre opened in 2007 and is funded by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Counci ...

would not be based in

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

. In Wiltshire, Chalke was succeeded by Jane Scott. She commented some years later that her style of leadership was quite different to the "very traditional and old-fashioned way" that Chalke had run the county. Chalke was also a board member of the

, retiring in 2006, and Honorary Secretary of the British Wood Turners Association for many years. He continues in business as a director of Brooklet Developments and ACC Properties Ltd.

Personal life

In 1966, Chalke married Anne Rhind-Tutt, a member of a long-established Wiltshire family. They had two children and four grandchildren and celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 2016, when they were living in Stapleford.

Honours

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 ...

, Chalke was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for political and public services.''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...

'', Issue 54255, 29 December 1995 (Supplement)
p. 8
/ref>

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalke, Peter 1944 births Living people Councillors in South West England Conservative Party (UK) councillors Members of Wiltshire County Council Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Chafyn Grove School People from Salisbury Leaders of local authorities of England