Alexander John Bruce-Lockhart, Baron Bruce-Lockhart, (4 May 1942 – 14 August 2008), commonly known as Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, was a British

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 in ...

politician and a senior figure in English local government. He was the leader of Kent County Council and then Chairman of the Local Government Association. He was succeeded in the latter post by Simon Milton, ex-Leader of Westminster Council.

Early life

Bruce-Lockhart was born on 4 May 1942 into the Scottish

Bruce Lockhart family The Bruce Lockhart family is of Scottish origins, and several members have played rugby football for Scotland, but since the early 20th century most have lived and worked in England or Canada, or else overseas, in India, Malaya, Australia, Russia ...

, which held close ties to the diplomatic service.Policy Review TV speaker profile
/ref> His father,

John Bruce Lockhart John Harold "J.H." Bruce Lockhart (4 March 1889 – 4 June 1956) was a Scotland international cricket player; and a Scotland international rugby union player. He became a schoolmaster. He was part of the noted Bruce Lockhart family. Cricket ...

, was deputy director of

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

and a university administrator. His mother was Margaret Evelyn

Hone Honing is a kind of metalworking. Hone may also refer to: * Hone (name) (incl. Hōne), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname * Hõne language Hõne is a Jukunoid language spoken in Gombe State and Taraba State, Nigeria ...

. He was educated at the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. The 2001 census gave the parish a population of 2,705, increasing at the 2011 census to 2,765. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies about east of Kendal, nor ...

, and the

Royal Agricultural College ;(from Virgil's Georgics)"Caring for the Fieldsand the Beasts" , established = 2013 - University status – College , type = Public , president = King Charles , vice_chancellor = Peter McCaffery , students ...

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

. He was the younger brother of

James Bruce Lockhart James Robert "Jamie" Bruce Lockhart (14 March 1941 – ) was a British diplomat, intelligence officer, author, and artist. The son of diplomat J. M. Bruce Lockhart and grandson of Scottish rugby international John Bruce Lockhart, he gained a mod ...

(1941–2018), a diplomat, intelligence officer, author, and artist.

Career

He left the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to work in the then Rhodesia (now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

), managing a large farm for a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n owner. After a period in Australia, he returned to live in Kent in 1968, where he had a dairy farm, then a fruit farm, in

Headcorn Headcorn is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is on the floodplain of the River Beult south east of Maidstone. The village is 8 mi (13 km) southeast of Maidstone, on the A274 roa ...

. He became a county councillor for Maidstone Rural East in 1989. At the time he was chairman of a rail committee in the Weald of Kent preservation society, which had been protesting about what he then regarded as the destructive route of the Channel tunnel rail link. He became leader of the opposition Conservative group in 1993 and leader of the Council in 1997, retaining the post until 2005.Sir Sandy quits as council leader
/ref> While leader of Kent County Council, Bruce-Lockhart became a controversial figure on the national political stage for his introduction of a local version of the recently repealed anti-gay

Section 28 Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

legislation. In July 2004, having been vice-chairman for two years, Lord Bruce-Lockhart succeeded Sir Jeremy Beecham to become Chairman of the Local Government Association, following the Conservatives becoming the largest political group in the Association as the result of the local elections in May. He was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

in the

New Year's Honours List The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark thi ...

of December 2002, having previously been appointed OBE. On 11 April 2006, it was announced that he was to be elevated to a

life peerage 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 A ...

, and on 9 June 2006 he was

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

as Baron Bruce-Lockhart, ''of

The Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

in the

County of Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

''. On 24 May 2007 it was announced that he had been appointed as Chair of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

.Lord Bruce-Lockhart to be new English Heritage Chairman
/ref> On 17 June 2008, Lord Bruce-Lockhart was made an honorary Freeman of the City of Canterbury.Lord Bruce-Lockhart to be Freeman of Canterbury
/ref> After a battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, he died in 2008, aged 66."Former KCC leader Sandy Bruce-Lockhart dies"
, Kent News, accessed 14 August 2008.

Personal life

In 1966, Bruce-Lockhart married Tess Pressland, and they had two sons and a daughter.

Death

He died on 14 August 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce-Lockhart, Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Baron 1942 births 2008 deaths Alumni of the Royal Agricultural University Sandy Conservative Party (UK) life peers Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Sedbergh School People from Maidstone Politicians from Wakefield Deaths from cancer in England Members of Kent County Council Life peers created by Elizabeth II Chairs of the Local Government Association