Nicholas James Christopher Lowther, 2nd Viscount Ullswater (born 9 January 1942), is a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

and former member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

who sat as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. He succeeded his great-grandfather in the viscountcy of Ullswater in 1949, being one of very few peers to have succeeded a great-grandfather in a title. He served as a whip and a minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1989 and 1995 culminating in serving as the Minister of State for Housing from 1994 to 1995.

Early life

Lowther was the son of John Lowther (1910–1942), and Priscilla Lambert (1917–1945). His father was secretary to HRH The Duke of Kent, who served as best man at their 1937 wedding. His father died alongside the Duke in the

Dunbeath air crash The Dunbeath air crash was the crash of a Short Sunderland, Short S.25 Sunderland Mk. III in the Scottish Highlands, on a headland known as Eagle's Rock () near Dunbeath, Caithness, on 25 August 1942. The crash killed 14 of 15 passengers and cr ...

. Lowther was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

Political career

Lowther was made a

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 ...

(

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

) in January 1989 by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

before becoming Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the

Department of Employment The secretary of state for employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In , it was merged with secretary of state for education to make the secretary of state for education and employment. In , the employment functions were h ...

in July 1990. He was retained by

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

in that role until 1993, when he became Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms (Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords). He remained in this role for a year. He became Minister of State for Housing at the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

(as well as a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

) in 1994, but left the Government in a 1995 reshuffle.

Princess Margaret

In 1998, he was appointed Private Secretary to

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Ma ...

, and continued in this office until her death in 2002. He was appointed Lieutenant of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

in the special Honours List issued by the Queen after the Princess's death.

Return to politics

As a member of a Royal Household he could not take part in partisan politics and did not seek to remain in the

when 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 ...

was passed. But after the death of the

Viscount of Oxfuird Viscount of Oxfuird is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1651 for Sir James Makgill, 1st Baronet, along with the subsidiary title of Lord Makgill of Cousland, also in the Peerage of Scotland, with remainder to his "heirs male ...

in January 2003, he won the all-house by-election, enabling him to return to the House of Lords. On 22 May 2006, Lord Ullswater was nominated for the newly created post of

Lord Speaker The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the membe ...

, and in the election held on 28 June 2006 emerged in third place out of nine candidates. He served as one of the Deputy Speakers in the Lords until May 2020; from June 2020 until May 2021, he served as Deputy Chairman of Committees. His great-grandfather, James Lowther, served as

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

1905–1921. Ullswater retired from the House of Lords on 20 July 2022.

Other interests

Lord Ullswater is the Chairman of Lonsdale Settled Estates Ltd and a Director of Lowther Trustees Limited, both companies that manage the family landholdings in Cumbria.

Arms

Personal life

Lord Ullswater was an amateur jockey in his youth. In 1967, he married Susan Weatherby. The couple has two sons and two daughters: *Hon. Emma Mary Lowther, (born 1968) *Hon. Clare Priscilla Lowther, (born 1970) *Hon. Benjamin James Lowther (born 1975) *Hon. Edward John Lowther (born 1981) The family lives at Docking in Norfolk.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ullswater, Nicholas Lowther, 2nd Viscount 1942 births Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Eton College Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at West Downs School Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

Ullswater Ullswater is a glacial lake in Cumbria, England and part of the Lake District National Park. It is the second largest lake in the region by both area and volume, after Windermere. The lake is about long, wide, and has a maximum depth of . I ...

Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014