John Roddick Russell MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market, (born 14 February 1937), is a politician from 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 ...

. 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 the

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

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton. The population of the Local Authority District was 124,012 as taken at the 2011 Census. History The district was formed on 1 April 19 ...

from 1974 to 2001. He served in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burde ...

(1985-87),

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. ...

(1987-89),

Secretary of State for Education and Science The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Ca ...

(1989-90),

Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...

and Lord President of the Council (1990-92), and Secretary of State for Transport (1992-94). He was made a life peer in 2001.

Early life

MacGregor was educated at

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, then at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

(MA economics and history, 1959) and at King's College London (LLB, 1962). Prior to the 1979 general election he worked for

Hill Samuel Hill Samuel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group's Offshore Private Banking unit. It was formerly a leading British merchant bank and financial services firm before the takeover by TSB Group Plc. in 1987, which itself merged with ...

, a merchant bank.

Member of Parliament

He became an MP at the February 1974 General Election, and served as a Tory whip from 1977 to 1981, when he became a junior minister at the Department of Trade and Industry, moving to

MAFF MAFF may refer to: * MAFF (gene), a transcription factor * Malmö Arab Film Festival, held in Malmö (Sweden), the largest Arabic film festival in Europe * Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom), a former department of UK gov ...

in 1983.

In government

He entered the Cabinet on 2 September 1985 as

, and was made

in 1987 - during the

BSE BSE may refer to: Medicine * Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease, a neurodegenerative disease of cattle * Breast self-examination Stock exchanges * Bahrain Stock Exchange, Bahrain * Baku Stock Exchange, Azerbaijan * B ...

crisis. He was promoted to

in July 1989. In the small reshuffle following the resignation of Sir

Geoffrey Howe Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015) was a British Conservative politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990. Howe was Margaret Thatch ...

, he was made

and Lord President of the Council just days before Thatcher's own resignation. He continued in this position from 1990 to 1992, although William Keegan writes that he was a contender for the position of Chancellor when John Major came to power. He was made Secretary of State for Transport in 1992, remaining in the post until July 1994 when was sacked from the cabinet. His time as

Transport Secretary The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent i ...

saw him given responsibility for the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

and the decision to privatise the

Transport Research Laboratory TRL Limited, trading as TRL (formerly Transport Research Laboratory) is an independent private company offering a transport consultancy and research service to the public and private sector. Originally established in 1933 by the UK Government ...

(TRL). He was made a life peer as Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market, of

Pulham Market Pulham Market is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, situated approximately northeast of Diss and south of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 999 in 443 households as of the 2001 census, the population falling to 977 at ...

in the

County of Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies no ...

on 5 July 2001. He sat 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 Westminste ...

until his retirement on 26 July 2019.

Honours

MacGregor was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the

1971 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1971 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

for political services.

Personal interests

MacGregor is an accomplished magician and member of the

Magic Circle A magic circle is a circle of space marked out by practitioners of some branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be mark ...

. He gave regular performances on British television, including guest spots on ''

The Best of Magic ''The Best of Magic'' was a British magic show produced by Thames Television for the ITV (TV network), ITV network that aired from 13 September 1989 to 19 September 1990. The show was hosted by Geoffrey Durham, Simon Mayo, and Anthea Turner, with ...

'' and an annual children's charity programme on

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

References

External links

*
House of Commons biography
* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Macgregor of Pulham Market, John 1937 births Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the University of St Andrews British Secretaries of State British Secretaries of State for Education Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English magicians Fellows of King's College London Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Living people Lord Presidents of the Council Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom Members of the Bow Group Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Merchiston Castle School Officers of the Order of the British Empire Secretaries of State for Transport (UK) 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 People from South Norfolk (district) Life peers created by Elizabeth II Chief Secretaries to the Treasury