George Edward Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft, (26 July 1909 – 4 June 1994) was a

British Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

politician. He served as

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

between 1957 and 1958.

Early life

Born in Dunston, Staffordshire, Thorneycroft was the son of Major George Edward Mervyn Thorneycroft and Dorothy Hope Franklyn. He was the grandson of Sir

William Franklyn William Leo Franklyn (22 September 1925 – 31 October 2006) was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on stage, film, television and radio, t ...

and nephew of Sir

Harold Franklyn General Sir Harold Edmund Franklyn, (28 November 1885 − 31 March 1963) was a British Army officer who fought in both the First and the Second World Wars. He is most notable for his command of the 5th Infantry Division during the Battle of F ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

. He was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

as a second lieutenant on 29 August 1929 but resigned his commission on 1 July 1931. In 1933, he was called to the

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for the

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Political career

He entered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the 1938 Stafford by-election, for the borough of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

. He was re-commissioned into the Royal Artillery in his previous rank on 30 August 1939. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served with the Royal Artillery and the general staff. Along with other members of the Tory Reform Committee, Thorneycroft pressed his party to support the

Beveridge Report The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' ( Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafted by the Libe ...

. He served in the Conservative caretaker Government 1945 as Parliamentary Secretary at the Department for Transport, Ministry of War Transport. In the 1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 general election, he lost his seat to his Labour opponent, Stephen Swingler, but he returned in the 1945 Monmouth by-election for Monmouth (UK Parliament constituency), Monmouth a few months later. Throughout the late 1940s Thorneycroft worked assiduously to refurbish the Conservative Party after its disastrous defeat in the 1945 general election. His opposition to the Anglo-American loan in the Commons earned him a reputation as a parliamentary debater, and when the Conservatives returned to power after the 1951 United Kingdom general election, general election of 1951, he was appointed President of the Board of Trade. He was instrumental in persuading the government in 1954 to abandon the party's support for protectionism and accept the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Chancellorship and resignation

Thorneycroft's support for Harold Macmillan in Macmillan's successful 1957 leadership contest for the premiership led to his appointment as

, one of the most senior positions in the government. He resigned in 1958, along with two junior Treasury Ministers, Enoch Powell and Nigel Birch, because of increased government expenditure. Macmillan, himself a former chancellor, made a famous and much-quoted remark that the resignations were merely "little local difficulties". (In reality, Macmillan was deeply concerned about the possible effects of Thorneycroft's resignation.) In retrospect, Thorneycroft questioned the wisdom of his resignation, saying that "we probably made our stand too early."

Later political career

Thorneycroft returned to the Cabinet in 1960, when he was appointed Ministry of Aviation, Minister of Aviation by Macmillan. In 1962, he was promoted to be Minister of Defence (United Kingdom), Minister of Defence. He retained the post upon Macmillan's replacement by Sir Alec Douglas-Home; then in April 1964 the post was combined with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air as the Secretary of State for Defence. At Defence, Thorneycroft played a pivotal role in the Sunda Straits Crisis, first supporting and then opposing the passage of the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious (R38), HMS ''Victorious'' through the Indonesian-claimed Sunda Strait during the height of the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation in August and September 1964. After the Government was defeated in 1964, Thorneycroft first served as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence under Alec Douglas-Home, before being made Shadow Home Secretary by Edward Heath the next year. Thorneycroft lost his seat at the 1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 general election, and was raised to the life peerage, peerage as a life peer as Baron Thorneycroft, of Dunston in the County of Stafford on 4 December 1967.

Later life

Thorneycroft was a strong supporter of Margaret Thatcher's monetarist policies, and she made him Chairman of the Conservative Party in 1975. He held the position until 1981. He was notable as an amateur watercolourist and held exhibitions. Winston Churchill, when told of Thorneycroft's interest, had said, "Every minister must have his vice. Painting shall be yours". He was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 1980 New Year Honours. During his time as M.P. for Monmouth, Thorneycroft lived at Machen House, in the hamlet of Lower Machen, to the west of the Newport, Wales, City of Newport.

Family

His grandfather was the Victorian Colonel Thomas Thorneycroft, a Wolverhampton industrialist, eccentric, landowner and well-known Conservative; he was asked to stand for election by Benjamin Disraeli. Colonel Thorneycroft owned or leased various houses in Staffordshire and Shropshire including Tettenhall Towers and Tong Castle. His great-grandfather was George Benjamin Thorneycroft, an ironfounder, JP, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire and first Mayor of Wolverhampton. His grandfather's cousin was John Isaac Thorneycroft who founded John I. Thornycroft & Company, Vosper Thorneycroft. A second cousin was Siegfried Sassoon. A third cousin was William Whitelaw. Another second cousin was the novelist Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler. His great uncle was Lord Wolverhampton. After his first marriage, to Sheila Wells Page, and divorce, he married Carla Thorneycroft, Baroness Thorneycroft, Carla, Contessa Roberti (later known as Lady Thorneycroft, DBE) in 1949. He had a son by his first wife and a daughter by his second wife.

References

External links

*
Brief biography and list of Thorneycroft documents
held at Southampton University
Review of Peter Thorneycroft biography by Stanley Crooks
at Southampton University, October 2007
Publisher's blurb for the Crooks biography of ThorneycroftTwo portraits of Peter Thorneycroft
at the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery, one being a photograph by Cecil Beaton , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorneycroft, Peter 1909 births 1994 deaths Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK) Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) life peers Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College Secretaries of State for Defence (UK) UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs who were granted peerages Life peers created by Elizabeth II Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich British barristers Presidents of the Board of Trade Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stafford Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers