Bruce Joseph Grocott, Baron Grocott PC (born 1 November 1940) is a Labour Party politician in 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Early life

Grocott was born in

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The villa ...

near

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, and was educated at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

. He obtained an MA from

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

after conducting research on Local Government. He was appointed to the post of lecturer, and later a senior lecturer, at the City of Birmingham College of Commerce (later

Birmingham Polytechnic , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843— Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

, now

Birmingham City University , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843—Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

). During this time he was elected to Bromsgrove Urban District Council. From 1972 to 1974 he was a principal lecturer at

North Staffordshire Polytechnic , mottoeng = Dare to know , type = Public , endowment = £70 million (2015) , administrative_staff = 1,375 , chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford , vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones , ...

Parliamentary career

His first attempt to become a member of Parliament was in the 1970 election when he stood unsuccessfully for South West Hertfordshire. He was then selected as a candidate and was elected as

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 ...

for Lichfield and Tamworth in October 1974, in which position he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Local Government and Planning, and later the Minister of Agriculture. He lost his seat at the 1979 general election and joined Central Television as a presenter and producer, working on programmes such as ''Left, Right and Centre'', ''Central Lobby'' and ''Central Weekend''. He was re-elected for

The Wrekin The Wrekin is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some five miles (8 km) west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of 4 ...

in 1987 and he was very shortly thereafter appointed Deputy Shadow Leader of the House to

Jack Cunningham John Anderson Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, PC, DL (born 4 August 1939) is a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament for over 30 years, serving for Whitehaven from 1970 to 1983 and then Copeland until the 2005 ...

before becoming advisor to the Leader of the Opposition,

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

and, later, a Foreign Affairs Spokesman under John Smith. He served as

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 ...

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 ...

from 1994 until 2001. He transferred to

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...

in 1997 when The Wrekin was divided. He served this seat until the 2001 general election, when he stepped down from the Commons.

House of Lords

He was made 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 ...

under the title of Baron Grocott, of Telford, in the County of

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, on 2 July 2001, quickly being promoted to a government whip 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 ...

. From 2002 to 2008 he was the Government

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 ...

in the House of Lords as well as Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms, the honorary post usually held by the Chief Whip. As the Chief Whip, he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

in 2002. He has promoted further reform of the Lords, including attempts to abolish by-elections for hereditary peers. In October 2012 it was announced that Lord Grocott has been elected as the next

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the University of Leicester, the first time in the university's history that a former student has been appointed to the post. He was installed as chancellor at the degree ceremony in DeMontfort Hall on 24 January 2013. His term finished in July 2018 and he was replaced by Lord Willetts.

Family

Grocott is married with two sons and lives in Staffordshire.

References

* *

External links

Short interview
giving his views on House of Lords reform * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grocott, Bruce Grocott, Baron 1940 births Living people Academics of Birmingham City University Academics of Staffordshire University Alumni of the University of Leicester Alumni of the University of Manchester British television presenters Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Shropshire Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 Life peers created by Elizabeth II