Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Rupert Charles Ponsonby, 7th Baron de Mauley, (born 30 June 1957), is a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and retired Territorial Army officer.

Background and education

Ponsonby was born to Col. Hon. Thomas Maurice Ponsonby, TD, JP, DL (1930–2001), of The Common,

Little Faringdon Little Faringdon is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire, about north of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire. The 2001 Census recorded its population as 63. Manor In the late Anglo-Saxon era Little Faringdon was part of a larg ...

Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that contin ...

, late

Royal Wessex Yeomanry The Royal Wessex Yeomanry (RWxY) is a Reserve armoured regiment of the British Army Reserve consisting of five squadrons. Formerly part of 43 (Wessex) Brigade, the regiment joined 3rd (UK) Division in July 2014, to provide armoured (main battle ...

High Sheriff of Gloucestershire This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire, who should not be confused with the Sheriffs of the City of Gloucester. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (in England and Wales the office previously kn ...

, and his wife Maxine Henrietta (née Thellusson, 1934–2020), daughter of William Dudley Keith Thellusson, of 39, Draycott Place, SW3, of the

Brodsworth Hall Brodsworth Hall, near Brodsworth, north-west of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, is one of the most complete surviving examples of a Victorian country house in England. It is virtually unchanged since the 1860s. It was designed in the Italianat ...

branch of the family of the Barons Rendlesham. The 5th Baron de Mauley was his paternal grandfather. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

for boys near

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch. The town is situated west of ...

Military service

Ponsonby first joined the Territorial Army in 1976, when he was commissioned into the

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in 1978,

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1988, and

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

in 2003. In 1988, he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration (Territorial) (TD). He retired in 2005. On 1 June 2011 he was appointed Colonel Commandant Yeomanry, and on 1 July 2015 he became Honorary Colonel of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry.

Peerage

Lord de Mauley succeeded his uncle, the 6th Baron de Mauley, in October 2002. On 10 March 2005, he was declared the winner of a by-election for a

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 ...

s' seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

after the death of

Hugh Lawson, 6th Baron Burnham Hugh John Frederick Lawson, 6th Baron Burnham (15 August 1931 – 1 January 2005), was a British peer and journalist. The second son of the 4th Baron Burnham, he was educated at Eton College and read PPE at Balliol College, Oxford. Initially w ...

. He was the first peer to have acceded to a title after the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

to have obtained an elective hereditaries' seat in the House.

Political career

He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2012 and 2015, after taking over from

John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Holbeach John Derek Taylor, Baron Taylor of Holbeach, (born 12 November 1943) is a British Conservative politician and former Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords. Biography Taylor is the son of Percy Otto Taylor and Ethel Brocklehurst. He was e ...

, who went to the Home Office. He was previously a Government

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(a position in the Royal Household given to Government Lords whips) and also served as a Shadow Minister for Children, Schools & Families and Energy & Climate Change from 2008 to 2009, and then an opposition whip from 2009 to 2010. His selection in 2014 to lead UK fisheries talks in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

faced certain criticism, given his background as a hereditary peer with no prior experience in this field.

National Pollinator Strategy

In June 2013 de Mauley announced that his department would produce a National Pollinator Strategy. This followed the Bee Cause campaign led by Friends of the Earth and supported by well over 200 MPs for a bee action plan. Leading bee scientists set seven tests to help assess whether the plan is capable of helping pollinators.

Master of the Horse

In July 2018,

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

appointed Lord de Mauley to succeed

Lord Vestey Baron Vestey, of Kingswood in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1922 for the shipping magnate Sir William Vestey, 1st Baronet. He was the co-founder of the Blue Star Line. Vestey had alread ...

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

. His appointment took effect on 1 January 2019.

Family

Lord de Mauley is married to Lucinda (née Royle), younger daughter of Lord Fanshawe of Richmond. The heir to the title is his younger brother, the Hon. (Ashley) George Ponsonby, who is married to the former Camilla Gordon-Lennox, ''née'' Pilkington.

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Rupert de Mauley, at Conservatives.com

Lord De Mauley, political biography
only partially available without subscription; photograph available without subscription. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mauley, Rupert Ponsonby, 7th Baron 1957 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act People educated at Eton College

Rupert Ponsonby, 7th Baron de Mauley Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Charles Ponsonby, 7th Baron de Mauley, (born 30 June 1957), is a British hereditary peer, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and retired Territorial Army o ...

Royal Wessex Yeomanry officers Rupert