Terence James Thomas, Baron Thomas of Macclesfield, (19 October 1937 – 1 July 2018) was a British politician and banker, member of the Labour and

Co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

parties.

Career

Thomas was a pupil at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

, where his father (William Emrys Thomas 1911–1993) was a transport manager and his mother (Mildred Evelyn née James) ran a greengrocery. He did his national service in the army, serving at Shrapnel Barracks in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

, south east London. He then joined the

National Provincial Bank National Provincial Bank was a retail bank which operated in England and Wales. It was created in 1833 as National Provincial Bank of England, and expanded largely by taking over a number of other banks. Following the transformative acquisitio ...

. Thomas joined

the Co-operative Bank The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. is a British retail and commercial bank based in Manchester, England. Established as a bank for co-operators and co-operatives following the principles of the Rochdale Pioneers, the business evolved in the 20th ce ...

in 1973 as marketing manager. He served as chief executive of the bank for nine years, before retiring in the late 1990s. He suffered a stroke in 1999; in his 2010 autobiography, he says this was caused by a hole in the heart of which he had been unaware. He was Chairman of the East Manchester Partnership (1990–1996) and founding Chairman of the North West Partnership. Thomas later served as Chair of Capita Group (1997–98). He was a member of the House of Lords Monetary Policy & European Affairs Select Committees. He is a member of the Regional Policy Forum, President of the Society for Co-operative Studies, Honorary President of the North West Co-operative and Mutual Council and Life President of the North West Business Leadership Team. He died on 1 July 2018 at the age of 80.

Honours

Having been appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(CBE) in the

1997 Birthday Honours The 1997 Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 1997 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 1997 for New Zealand.New Zealand list: Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Monarch's Official Birthday in the United K ...

, he was created 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 Thomas of Macclesfield, of Prestbury in the County of Cheshire on 5 November 1997. He sat in the House of Lords until 18 May 2016, at which point he ceased to be a member pursuant to section 2 of the

House of Lords Reform Act 2014 The House of Lords Reform Act 2014 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act was a private member's bill. It received royal assent on 14 May 2014. The Act allows members of the House of Lords to retire or resign – actions previous ...

, having failed to attend during the whole of the 2015-16 session without being on leave of absence.

Career

Honours

References

Further reading