Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Baron Bruce-Lockhart
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Alexander John Bruce-Lockhart, Baron Bruce-Lockhart, (4 May 1942 – 14 August 2008), commonly known as Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, was a British
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 ...
politician and a senior figure in English local government. He was the leader of
Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the Unitary authorities of England, unitary auth ...
and then Chairman of the
Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local government in England, local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the ...
. He was succeeded in the latter post by Simon Milton, ex-Leader of Westminster Council.


Early life

Bruce-Lockhart was born on 4 May 1942 into the Scottish
Bruce Lockhart family The Bruce Lockhart family is of Scottish origins, and several members have played rugby football for Scotland, but since the early 20th century most have lived and worked in England or Canada, or else overseas, in India, Malaya, Australia, Russia ...
, which held close ties to the diplomatic service.Policy Review TV speaker profile
/ref> His father,
John Bruce Lockhart John Harold "J.H." Bruce Lockhart (4 March 1889 – 4 June 1956) was a Scotland international cricket player; and a Scotland international rugby union player. He became a schoolmaster. He was part of the noted Bruce Lockhart family. He was also ...
, was deputy director of
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
and a university administrator. His mother was Margaret Evelyn
Hone Honing is a kind of metalworking. Hone may also refer to: * Hone (name) (incl. Hōne), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname * Hõne language, spoken in Gombe State and Taraba State, Nigeria * Hône Hône (; Valdôtain: (lo ...
. He was educated at the
Dragon School The Dragon School is a private school across two sites in Oxford, England. The Dragon Pre-Prep (children aged 4–7) and Prep School (children aged 8–13) are both co-educational schools. The Dragon Prep School was founded in 1877 as the Oxfo ...
,
Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. It falls within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since April 2023, it has been administered by Westmorland and Furness local authority. Th ...
, and the
Royal Agricultural College The Royal Agricultural University (RAU), formerly the Royal Agricultural College, is a public university in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. Established in 1845, it was the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world. ...
,
Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...
. He was the younger brother of James Bruce Lockhart (1941–2018), a diplomat, intelligence officer, author, and artist.


Career

He left the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
to work in the then
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
(now
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
), managing a large farm for a
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
n owner. After a period in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, he returned to live in Kent in 1968, where he had a dairy farm, then a fruit farm, in
Headcorn Headcorn is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is on the floodplain of the River Beult south east of Maidstone. The village is 8 mi (13 km) southeast of Maidst ...
. He became a county councillor for Maidstone Rural East in 1989. At the time he was chairman of a rail committee in the Weald of Kent preservation society, which had been protesting about what he then regarded as the destructive route of the
Channel tunnel rail link High Speed 1 (HS1), officially the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of the line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Euro ...
. He became leader of the opposition Conservative group in 1993 and leader of the Council in 1997, retaining the post until 2005.Sir Sandy quits as council leader
/ref> While leader of Kent County Council, Bruce-Lockhart became a controversial figure on the national political stage for his introduction of a local version of the recently repealed anti-gay
Section 28 Section 28 refers to a part of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with t ...
legislation. In July 2004, having been vice-chairman for two years, Lord Bruce-Lockhart succeeded Sir Jeremy Beecham to become Chairman of the
Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local government in England, local authorities in England and Wales. Its core membership is made up of 317 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the ...
, following the Conservatives becoming the largest political group in the Association as the result of the local elections in May. He was made a
Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...
in the New Year's Honours List of December 2002, having previously been appointed
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
. On 11 April 2006, it was announced that he was to be elevated to a
life peerage 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 ...
, and on 9 June 2006 he was
gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
as Baron Bruce-Lockhart, ''of
The Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High We ...
in the
County of Kent Kent is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Greater London to the north-west. ...
''. On 24 May 2007 it was announced that he had been appointed as Chair of
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
.Lord Bruce-Lockhart to be new English Heritage Chairman
/ref> On 17 June 2008, Lord Bruce-Lockhart was made an honorary Freeman of the City of Canterbury.Lord Bruce-Lockhart to be Freeman of Canterbury
/ref> After a battle with
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
, he died in 2008, aged 66."Former KCC leader Sandy Bruce-Lockhart dies"
, Kent News, accessed 14 August 2008.


Personal life

In 1966, Bruce-Lockhart married Tess Pressland, and they had two sons and a daughter.


Death

He died on 14 August 2008.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce-Lockhart, Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Baron 1942 births 2008 deaths Alumni of the Royal Agricultural University
Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Sandy (surname), a list of people * Sandy (Iranian music band), Iranian singer, comp ...
Conservative Party (UK) life peers Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Sedbergh School People from Maidstone Politicians from Wakefield Deaths from cancer in England Members of Kent County Council Life peers created by Elizabeth II Chairs of the Local Government Association