Sir Robert Arthur McCrindle (19 September 1929 – 8 October 1998) was a Scottish
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. He was
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
Billericay
Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It is ...
from 1970–74 and
Brentwood and Ongar
Brentwood and Ongar is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Burghart, a Conservative, serving since September 2021 as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and ...
from 1974-92 (following boundary changes).
Personal life
Born in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, McCrindle was educated at
Allan Glen's School
Allan Glen's School was, for most of its existence, a local authority, selective secondary school for boys in Glasgow, Scotland, charging nominal fees for tuition.
It was founded by the Allan Glen's Endowment Scholarship Trust on the death, i ...
. Sir Robert served in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
from 1947–1949 and spent nearly 2 years at
RAF Changi
Changi () is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the Sera ...
, Singapore at the time of the Malaya emergency. In 1953 he married Myra Anderson with whom he had two sons, Alan and Raymond.
Electoral history
McCrindle first contested
Dundee East in the
1959 general election. He moved from
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
to
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
in
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
, when he was defeated at
Thurrock
Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...
, and was elected for Billericay in 1970, serving until it was merged into the
Basildon constituency in
February 1974
The following events occurred in February 1974:
February 1, 1974 (Friday)
*Joelma fire, A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The bl ...
.
He was then returned for the new
Brentwood and Ongar
Brentwood and Ongar is a constituency in Essex represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Burghart, a Conservative, serving since September 2021 as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and ...
constituency, which re-elected him until his retirement at the
1992 general election, when he was succeeded by
Eric Pickles
Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles, (born 20 April 1952) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentwood and Ongar (UK Parliament co ...
.
Parliamentary career
McCrindle was pro-
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
and to the left of centre on social policy issues. He was a regular rebel on such issues as the uprating of child benefit and NHS charges. Despite this he was a loyal Tory, and
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
arranged for him to be knighted in 1990, shortly before she left office. For seven days he was 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 ...
to
Mark Carlisle
Mark Carlisle, Baron Carlisle of Bucklow, QC, DL, PC (7 July 1929 – 14 July 2005) was a British Conservative Party politician and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Runcorn from 1964 to 1983 and then for Warrington South until 1987. Create ...
, a
Home Office minister in the last days of the
Heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
government of 1974, but otherwise spent his career as a back-bencher.
McCrindle was an
insurance broker
An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negoti ...
, he was an associate of the
Chartered Insurance Institute
The Chartered Insurance Institute (also known as the CII) is a professional body dedicated to building public trust in the insurance and financial planning profession. The CII's purpose, as set out in its 1912 royal charter, is to 'Secure an ...
and a parliamentary consultant to the insurance industry, and had a keen interest in pensions reform.
He held a wide range of business interests, including a directorship of the
Hogg Robinson
Hogg Robinson Group was a corporate travel management company. It was acquired by American Express Global Business Travel in July 2018.
History
Hogg Robinson Group was established in 1845, by brothers in law Francis Hogg, a young wine merchant, ...
travel agency.
He also held a number of travel-related consultancies including the
British Caledonian
British Caledonian (BCal) was a British private independent airline which operated out of Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s. It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlin ...
and
Trust House Forte
Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada in 1996. Its head office was in the London Borough of Camden.
...
, and was parliamentary adviser to the
British Transport Police
, nativename =
, abbreviation = BTP
, patch =
, patchcaption =
, logo = British Transport Police Logo.svg
, logocaption = Logo of the British Transport Police
, badge =
, badgecaption =
, f ...
Federation.
As the chairman of the
All-Party Parliamentary Aviation Committee from 1980–92, McCrindle was involved in the aftermath of the
Lockerbie disaster
Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...
appearing on radio and television explaining what he believed should be done to improve the security of airlines after the bombing.
He was also the first chairman of
All Parliamentary Group on Insurance and Financial Services and a public affairs consultant to the
Federation of Tour Operators
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...
from 1994–98
Retirement
In his retirement, McCrindle produced a magazine, ''Interface'', on politics for small businesses and continued to be a regular contributor as the
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
correspondent for Westminster's ''
The House'' Magazine until the week before his death in 1998 aged 69.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrindle, Robert
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1970–1974
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1979–1983
UK MPs 1983–1987
UK MPs 1987–1992
1929 births
1998 deaths
People educated at Allan Glen's School
Knights Bachelor
Politicians awarded knighthoods