Brian Stanley Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney, (26 July 1940 – 9 November 2019) was a British
Conservative Party politician. He was a member of the
Cabinet from 1994 to 1997 and a
member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005.
Early life
Mawhinney was born on 26 July 1940
in
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, son of Frederick Stanley Arnot Mawhinney and Coralie Anita Jean (née Wilkinson). His family was heavily involved with an
Open Brethren
The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelicalism, Evangelical Christianity, Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They origi ...
church.
He was educated at the
Royal Belfast Academical Institution,
and studied
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
at
Queen's University Belfast
The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
,
[ gaining an upper second class degree in 1963.][
He then began studying for a doctorate from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London. In 1963, he briefly moved to the United States for his education, settling in ]Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
but travelling throughout the country, engaging with politics and becoming more involved with Christian evangelism, participating in missions led by Billy Graham
William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...
.[ It was also during this time that he met his wife, Betty Oja, whom he married in 1964.][ He obtained his PhD in 1969, with thesis title ''Studies on the effects of radiation on mammalian bone grown in vitro''.][ He worked as assistant professor of radiation research at the ]University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
from 1968 to 1970 and then returned to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine as a lecturer from 1970 to 1984.[
]
Political career
Mawhinney joined the Conservative Party shortly after his return to England.[ He contested ]Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...
in October 1974 but lost to Labour incumbent, Bill Rodgers.[ He was elected Member of Parliament for ]Peterborough
Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
in the 1979 election, serving until 1997.[ He was then MP for North West Cambridgeshire from 1997 to 2005.
Mawhinney was a social conservative who opposed abortion and Sunday trading.] He also campaigned prolifically against pornography
Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...
: he introduced a private member's bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...
in 1979 to ban indecent images and posters outside cinemas, sex shops and strip clubs, and in early 1980, he called for Keith Joseph to launch an inquiry into a page on the Post Office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
's Prestel
Prestel was the Brand#Brand names and trademark, brand name of a videotex service launched in the UK in 1979 by BT Group#Post Office Telecommunications, Post Office Telecommunications, a division of the British Post Office Limited#History, Po ...
viewdata service, called "A Buyer's Guide to Dirty Books".
In Government
He was PPS to John Wakeham from 1982 to 1983, and PPS to Tom King from 1984 to 1986.[ He became a junior minister at the ]Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...
in 1986,[ and then became Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office in 1990.][ In 1992, he became Minister of State at the ]Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...
until 1994.[
]
Cabinet
Having been sworn of the Privy Council in the 1994 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1994 were appointments by most of the sixteen Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other ...
, he entered the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport
The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...
that year.[ He served as ]Chairman of the Conservative Party
The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office.
When the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...
and Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...
for two years from 1995 until the 1997 election.[ He was ]knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
in the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.
In Opposition
He served as Shadow Home Secretary
In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK), shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effecti ...
and spokesman for home, constitutional and legal affairs for a year under William Hague
William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...
before returning to the back benches in June 1998.[ He stepped down from the House of Commons in April 2005.
]
House of Lords
On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
in the 2005 Dissolution Honours, and on 24 June he was created Baron Mawhinney, of Peterborough, in the County of Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
.
Lord Mawhinney questioned the priority David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
had given to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
Background
Civil partnerships were Civil partnership in the United Kingdom, introduce ...
, stating that it was a distraction.
He took leave of absence from the House of Lords in October 2017 for health reasons.[
]
Outside politics
In 2003, he was appointed chairman of The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
, and in 2004 oversaw a re-organisation of the league structure, renaming the former Division One as the Football League Championship. Deeply religious, Mawhinney was a leading member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship
The Conservative Christian Fellowship (CCF) is an organisation working within the British Conservative Party. Established in 1990 by Tim Montgomerie and David Burrowes, while they were students at Exeter University, the organisation supports ...
as well as a member of the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
General Synod
The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion
The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...
for five years.[ He was also president of ''Christians in Sport''.] Mawhinney was also a patron of Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough,
Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Peterborough United formed in ...
until his death in November 2019.
Personal life and death
In 1964, Mawhinney married Betty Oja, an American citizen whom he met during his time in Michigan; the couple had three children.[ He listed ]Anglo-American relations
Anglo-American can refer to:
* the Anglosphere (the Anglo-American world)
* Anglo-American, something of, from, or related to Anglo-America
** the Anglo-Americans demographic group in Anglo-America
* Anglo American plc
Anglo American plc is a ...
among his interests. He wrote two autobiographies: ''In the Firing Line'' (1999) and ''Just a Simple Belfast Boy'' (2013).[
Mawhinney lived in ]Chipping Barnet
Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing C ...
, and then Keyston
Keyston is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bythorn and Keyston, in Cambridgeshire, England. Keyston lies approximately west of Huntingdon, near Molesworth. Keyston is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metro ...
, Cambridgeshire in his later years. He died at a nursing home in nearby Polebrook
Polebrook is a village in Northamptonshire, England. The population (including Armston) at the 2011 census was 478.
History
There is evidence that Polebrook as a settlement dates back to 400 BC, where the village consisted of many farms. The fa ...
, Northamptonshire, on 9 November 2019, aged 79.[
]
Arms
See also
* List of Northern Ireland members of the House of Lords
This is a list of Members of the United Kingdom House of Lords who were born, held office in, live or lived in Northern Ireland.
This list does not include hereditary peers whose only parliamentary service was in the House of Lords prior to th ...
*
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mawhinney, Brian
1940 births
2019 deaths
20th-century Anglicans
20th-century autobiographers from Northern Ireland
21st-century Anglicans
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Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
Association football people awarded knighthoods
British expatriates in the United States
Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK)
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
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Converts to Anglicanism
Evangelicals from Northern Ireland
Knights Bachelor
Life peers created by Elizabeth II
Members of the General Synod of the Church of England
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
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People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
Politicians from Peterborough
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Presidents of the English Football League
Secretaries of state for transport (UK)
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University of Iowa faculty
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