The Lord Wolfson of Sunningdale | |
|---|---|
 Wolfson in 2012 | |
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |
| Life peerage 26 March 1991 – 13 June 2017 | |
| Downing Street Chief of Staff | |
| In office 4 May 1979 – 2 September 1985 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Jonathan Powell (1997) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Wolfson (1935-11-03)3 November 1935 |
| Died | 10 March 2021(2021-03-10) (aged 85) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4, includingSimon |
| Relatives | Wolfson family |
| Education | Clifton College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College,Cambridge (MA) Stanford University (MBA) |
David Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale (3 November 1935 – 10 March 2021) was a BritishConservative politician and businessman.
David Wolfson was born on 3 November 1935 inWillesden,London. The son of Charles and Hylda Wolfson (née Jarvis), he was educated atClifton College andTrinity College, Cambridge,[1] where he graduated with aMaster of Arts in economics and law in 1956. He was further educated inStanford University,California, where he received aMaster of Business Administration in 1959.
Wolfson was director ofGreat Universal Stores (GUS) from 1973 to 1978 and from 1993 to 2000, and chairman from 1996 to 2000. The retailer had been founded by his uncleIsaac Wolfson as a mail order clothing company. He was first introduced toMargaret Thatcher by theConservative Party treasurerAlistair McAlpine in 1975.[1] In 1978 and 1979[citation needed] he was Secretary to theshadow cabinet and between 1979 and 1985Chief of Staff of the Political Office,10 Downing Street. In that role he interviewedBernard Ingham in 1979, before Ingham was made Thatcher's press secretary. The first official Chief of Staff in Number 10, he was the sole holder of the office untilJonathan Powell in 1997.[1]
He was chairman of theAlexon Group plc from 1982 to 1986, ofNext plc from 1990 to 1998, of GUS from 1996 to 2000, and of William Baird from 2002 to 2003. In 2001, Wolfson was non-executive director ofFibernet, and was chairman since 2002. ForCompco, he was chairman from 1995 to 2003. In 2014 he commissioned the founding of Soza Health.[citation needed]
Knighted in 1984,[2] he was created alife peer with the titleBaron Wolfson of Sunningdale,ofTrevose in theCounty of Cornwall on 26 March 1991.[3] His membership in the House of Lords was terminated on 13 June 2017 as he did not attend a sitting of the House during the previous session.[4]
Wolfson married three times. He married his first wife,Patricia Rawlings (now Baroness Rawlings) in 1962, and, after their divorce in 1967, he married Susan Davis, with whom he had two sons and one daughter. One of those sons,Simon, followed in his footsteps both as head of Next and as a Conservative life peer. Having separated from Susan Wolfson several years earlier, he finally married Alicia Trevor in May 2018 at Guildford Registry Office. They had a son, Tom, born in 2006.
Wolfson enjoyed golf andbridge.[1]
Wolfson died after suffering fromdementia on 10 March 2021 at the age of 85.[5]
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New office | Downing Street Chief of Staff 1979–1985 | Succeeded by |
