Norman Crowther Crowther-Hunt, Baron Crowther-Hunt (; 13 March 1920 – 16 February 1987) was a British scholar and Labour politician. He served as a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

's 1974–1976 government, and became Rector of

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

in 1982.

Early life and education

Hunt was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

in 1920. He was educated at Belle Vue High School in Bradford, and studied history at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

, before becoming a research fellow there in 1949. He gained a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship studied American politics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and in 1952, he was elected to a tutorial fellowship in politics at

Career

Hunt appeared regularly on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television and radio, and hosted the weekly ''People and Politics'' on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

. In 1986, his work with the corporation lead to his appointment as chairman of its General Advisory Council. Through his friendship with

, Hunt was able to promote reform of the civil service and devolution, two issues on which he felt deeply. During Wilson's first term as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, he served on the Committee on the Civil Service (1966–1968; chaired by Lord Fulton), and was appointed to the Royal Commission on the Constitution, chaired by Lord Crowther and later

Lord Kilbrandon Charles James Dalrymple Shaw, Baron Kilbrandon, (15 August 1906 – 10 September 1989) was a Scotland, Scottish judge and law lord. Family and education He was the son of James Edward Shaw and his wife Gladys Elizabeth Lester (the daughte ...

, in 1969. On 9 July 1973, he was awarded 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 ...

age as Baron Crowther-Hunt, of Eccleshill in the West Riding of the County of York. To develop the government's devolution proposals following Wilson's return to power, Crowther-Hunt became a constitutional adviser to the government from March to October 1974. He then served as Minister of State, Education and Science until 1976, when he became

Minister of State for the Privy Council Office The Minister of State for the Privy Council Office was a ministerial office in the Privy Council Office of the British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central governmen ...

, when he again dealt with devolution issues. Disillusioned by the government's narrow, party-political attitude to devolution and obstructions to civil service reform, he returned to full-time teaching at Exeter College in 1976. He became Rector in 1982, a position in which he served until his death from a heart attack in 1987.

Footnotes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowther-Hunt, Norman Crowther Hunt, Baron 1920 births 1987 deaths Politicians from Bradford Labour Party (UK) life peers Rectors of Exeter College, Oxford Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Princeton University alumni Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford Harkness Fellows People educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School, Bradford Life peers created by Elizabeth II