Alastair Robertson Goodlad, Baron Goodlad (born 4 July 1943) is a British politician who served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons from 1995 to 1997 and

British High Commissioner to Australia The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Australia is an officer of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative to the Commonwealth of Australia. Despite Britain's close relationship wi ...

from 2000 to 2005. A member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, 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 o ...

(MP) for Eddisbury, formerly

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

, from February 1974 to

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

Early life

Born in 1943, Goodlad attended

Marlborough College ( 1 Corinthians 3:6: God gives the increase) , established = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = Nicholas Holtam , head_label = Master , head = Louis ...

and read law at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

Parliamentary career

Goodlad first stood for Parliament in 1970 when he contested

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

, but was beaten by Labour's Scholefield Allen. He was

successively for

(1974–83) and Eddisbury (1983–99), Goodlad also served as a junior

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

Minister then as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Hunting ...

's Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

for which in the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the

Order of St. Michael and St. George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(KCMG). Following the 1997 election, he served in the Shadow Cabinet as

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for working with the Leader of the House in arranging Commons business and holding the Government to account in its overall management ...

Shadow Secretary of State for International Development The shadow cabinet minister for international development is the lead spokesperson for the United Kingdom's Official Opposition on issues related to international aid, most notably to the third world. The shadow cabinet minister holds the Minist ...

and Opposition Chief Whip.

Membership of Lloyd's of London

Goodlad was an underwriting member of the Lloyd's of London insurance market, commencing in 1977 and ceasing in 1990. His membership coincided in the latter years with the rising tide of asbestos losses and his share is estimated to have been about £90,000.

High Commissioner to Australia

Labour Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

then appointed Goodlad as High Commissioner to Australia. Goodlad accepted the office of Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds on 28 June 1999 to formally vacate his parliamentary seat, triggering the 1999 Eddisbury by-election. Goodlad took up office as High Commissioner in 2000. At the end of his term in 2005, he was replaced by former

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

, Helen Liddell.

House of Lords

On 19 July 2005, he 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 Goodlad, of Lincoln in the County of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, and was introduced in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

the following day.House of Lords Minutes of Proceedings for Wednesday 20 July 2005
Retrieved 9 September 2012. He sits on the Conservative benches and was chairman of the Constitution Select Committee from 2008 to 2010. In 2007, Goodlad was appointed Chairman of the

Britain–Australia Society The Britain–Australia Society was established in 1971 as a friendship society to promote historic links between the United Kingdom and Australia. It has headquarters in the Australia Centre within Australia House in London and branches througho ...

Personal life

Goodlad married Cecilia Hurst in 1968 and has two sons.

Notes

External links

"The Shadow Cabinet" – BBC Election '97"Another Tory wooed by Blair" – BBC News
* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodlad, Alastair 1943 births Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) life peers Diplomatic peers High Commissioners of the United Kingdom to Australia Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Marlborough College Treasurers of the Household UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 Life peers created by Elizabeth II