Richard William Marsh, Baron Marsh, (14 March 1928 – 29 July 2011) was a British politician and business executive.

Background and early life

Marsh was the son of William Marsh, a foundry worker from Belvedere in southeast London. His father subsequently worked for the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

, and the family moved to

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

. He was educated at Jennings Street Secondary School, Swindon, Woolwich Polytechnic and

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is a higher education institution and part of the University of West London, in Oxford, England. It is not a Colleges of the University of Oxford, college of Oxford University. Named ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He initially worked as an official for the

National Union of Public Employees The National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) was a British trade union which existed between 1908 and 1993. It represented public sector workers in local government, the Health Service, universities, and water authorities. History The union w ...

from 1951 to 1959, during which time he sat on the Clerical and Administrative Whitley Council for the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Parliamentary and ministerial career

After unsuccessfully standing at

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

, Marsh was elected as Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for

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at the 1959 general election. As a backbencher he submitted 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 1960 which despite Government opposition became the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act, a white-collar equivalent of the Factories Act and the forerunner of the Health and Safety at Work Act. When Labour came to power in 1964 he became a Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and subsequently, in 1965, in the new

Ministry of Technology The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...

Minister of Power

He served in the second Wilson Government as the Minister of Power (1966–68). On 22 April 1966 as Minister of Power he officially opened the new

Hinkley Point A nuclear power station Hinkley Point A nuclear power station is a former Magnox nuclear power station. It is located on a site in Somerset on the Bristol Channel coast, west of the River Parrett estuary. The ongoing decommissioning process is being managed by Nuclea ...

. He piloted the legislation for the nationalisation of the steel industry.

Minister of Transport

Subsequently, he served in the Cabinet as Minister of Transport (1968–69). When appointed to the transport ministry he let it be known that (unlike

Barbara Castle Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002) was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament from 1945 United Kingdom general elec ...

, his predecessor in the post) he was a motorist, though he insisted that the family car, a

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although of ...

, was run by his wife while he relied on ministerial cars for his transport needs. He was also reported as having taught his father to drive, but having given up trying to perform the same favour for his wife, applying what forty years later appears as imprudent candour in characterising the attempt as "traumatic". In March 1969, he announced that the Government planned to switch road speed limits to kilometres per hour in 1973. However, all plans for road signs to go metric were subsequently postponed by the following Conservative Government, with "no alternative date in mind".

Chairman of British Rail

He left the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1971 to become Chairman of the

British Railways Board The British Railways Board (BRB) was a State ownership, nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to d ...

, a position he held until 1976. On leaving British Rail, 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 ...

, and became chairman of the Newspaper Publishers' Association (NPA). The first chairman of the NPA to come from outside of the industry, he served until 1990. He also held the chairmanships of the British Iron and Steel Consumers' Council from 1977 to 1982 and of Allied Investments Ltd from 1977 to 1981. He was also a member of a number of quangoes, held directorships in several private companies and was chairman of

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from 1983 to 1984.

Joins Conservatives

In 1978 he announced that he had become a supporter of

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 ...

, who had been his shadow counterpart when he was Minister of Transport, and intended to vote

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 ...

at the forthcoming general election, held in 1979. He was one of a group of ex-Labour politicians who defected to support the Conservatives in the 1979 election.

Peerage

Thatcher won the election, and she created him 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 ...

as Baron Marsh, ''of Mannington in the County of Wiltshire'' on 15 July 1981. He then sat in 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 ...

as a Crossbench peer.

Personal

In 1950 Marsh married Evelyn Mary Andrews, with whom he had two sons. In 1973 they divorced. In 1975 Marsh's second wife Caroline died in a road accident in Spain in which the wife of broadcaster David Jacobs also lost her life; Marsh and Jacobs both survived the crash. He died in 2011 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

aged 83.

References

*Richard Marsh. "Off the Rails: An Autobiography". Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1978. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Richard, Baron Marsh 1928 births 2011 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople Alumni of the University of Greenwich British Rail people British business executives Businesspeople from London Marsh, Richard Marsh, Baron Knights Bachelor Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Fabian Society Marsh, Richard Marsh, Baron Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Secretaries of state for transport (UK) UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 20th-century English businesspeople Life peers created by Elizabeth II