Roger Norman Freeman, Baron Freeman, PC (born 27 May 1942), is a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Hunting ...

from 1995 to 1997. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) representing the constituency of

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of ...

from 1983 to 1997, and was made 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

in 1997.

Early life and career

Freeman was born in the Wirral, and educated at

Whitgift School ("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , c ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

, and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

. When he was at Oxford, he was the President of the

Oxford University Conservative Association The Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) is a student Conservative association founded in 1924, whose members are drawn from the University of Oxford. Since October 2009, OUCA has been affiliated to Conservative Future and its su ...

in Hilary Term 1964. Before entering Parliament, he was a Chartered Accountant working for an investment bank.

Political career

After an unsuccessful attempt to be elected as MP for Don Valley in 1979, Freeman was finally elected as MP for Kettering in 1983. Before joining the Cabinet, he served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (1986–88), Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health (1988–90), and Minister for Public Transport (1990–1995) ranking as Minister of State. In that post he was responsible for steering through the House of Commons the Railways Bill, providing for the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

and enacted as the Railways Act 1993. In the

1993 Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen' ...

, Freeman was sworn of the Privy Council. In 1995, he was brought into the Cabinet by John Major as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In this role, he made a ministerial visit to

Lancaster Royal Grammar School Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) is a selective grammar school (day and boarding) for boys aged 11–18 in Lancaster, England, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Old students belong to The Old Lancastrians. The school's sixth form opened to gi ...

in 1995. He also inaugurated the process of privatisation of

HM Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...

(HMSO), though as a former minister for MOD Procurement, one of HMSO's major customers, he could be adjudged to have had a conflict of interest. He therefore misjudged the effect of privatisation on HMSO, which, rather than preserve the business as a whole, and protecting jobs, hastened the already-established process of splitting the business into its various parts, resulting in the destruction of some, and the sale of others to foreign owners. The loss of jobs has been massive. The National Audit Office later denounced the whole process as a debacle. It could be argued that he, along with his colleague Lord North in the other place, may have misled the house. He did his best to make the dying days of the Major government more colourful by appearing on Channel 4's 'bottom up' television programme '' The People's Parliament''. Appearing by video link, he was quizzed by the female Scots host on the alleged unapproachability of politicians "in grey suits". Freeman quipped: "Well, I can't just start turning up to work in a jumper!". Freeman's remark though was better-judged than any viewer might have realised at the time. The Major government's strategy weekend where Cabinet members arrived wearing jumpers was much lampooned. Narrowly defeated in the 1997 general election, he was shortly afterwards raised to the peerage as Baron Freeman, ''of Dingley in the County of Northamptonshire'' in the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours. He sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

until his retirement on 1 October 2020.

Charitable Associations

Lord Freeman was the chairman of the

Charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

SkillForce from 2004 to 2016. He is now Patron of SkillForce and the Independent Transport Commission.

Personal life

His wife, Jennifer Freeman, is a former Secretary of the

Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK amenity society and membership organisation that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. It is a registered ...

and is a specialist developer of architecturally historic buildings.

Arms

References

External links

* http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/roger-freeman/26901 *
Debrett's profile
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Roger 1942 births Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Bow Group Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association People educated at Whitgift School UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014