The Lord Monro of Langholm | |
|---|---|
| Under-Secretary of State for Scotland | |
| In office 14 April 1992 – 6 July 1995 | |
| Prime Minister | John Major |
| Preceded by | The 2nd Baron Strathclyde |
| Succeeded by | The 16th Earl of Lindsay |
| In office 28 July 1971 – 4 March 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Teddy Taylor |
| Succeeded by | Robert Hughes |
| Minister for Sport | |
| In office 4 May 1979 – 14 September 1981 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Denis Howell |
| Succeeded by | Neil Macfarlane |
| Member of Parliament forDumfries | |
| In office 15 October 1964 – 8 April 1997 | |
| Preceded by | David Anderson |
| Succeeded by | Russell Brown |
| 90th President of the Scottish Rugby Union | |
| In office 1976–1977 | |
| Preceded by | John Henry Orr |
| Succeeded by | Frank Coutts |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hector Seymour Peter Monro (1922-10-04)4 October 1922 |
| Died | 30 August 2006(2006-08-30) (aged 83) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Welch(1949 –1994) Doris Kaestner(1994 –2006) |
| Children | 2 Sons |
| Alma mater | King's College, Cambridge |
Hector Seymour Peter Monro, Baron Monro of Langholm,AE,PC (4 October 1922 – 30 August 2006), was aScottish Conservative and Unionist Party politician. He wasMember of Parliament forDumfriesshire for over 32 years, from 1964 to 1997, and then alife peer in theHouse of Lords.
After pilotingflying boats in theSecond World War, Monro became a farmer in his nativeDumfriesshire. He became active in local test politics in the 1950s, and was elected as MP for Dumfries in 1964. He served as a Conservativewhip and held three junior ministerial positions, twice in theScottish Office and once asMinister for Sport in theDepartment for the Environment. He became a member of theHouse of Lords in 1997, after he stood down from theHouse of Commons. He was particularly concerned with Scottish and rural issues, theRAF, and sport, and was noted for his strong links with his constituency. He was in office at the time of theLockerbie Disaster in 1988, which occurred in his constituency.
Monro was born inEdinburgh and raised atCraigcleuch nearLangholm inDumfriesshire. His father, Alistair Monro, was a captain in theCameron Highlanders; his maternal grandfather was Lieutenant General SirSpencer Ewart. Monro was educated atUpland House School in Sussex,Canford School in Dorset, andKing's College, Cambridge.[1]
He was a member of theCambridge University Air Squadron at Cambridge. After only one year at Cambridge, he joined theRAF in 1941, becoming aflight lieutenant inCoastal Command, flying Atlantic patrols inShort Sunderlandflying boats and then in the Far East inCatalinas.
After he wasdemobbed in 1946, he became a farmer atKirtlebridge nearLockerbie, although he also had other business interests. He remained a member of theRoyal Auxiliary Air Force from 1947 to 1954. He was later an honoraryAir Commodore from 1982 to 2000, and its honorary Inspector General from 1990 to 2000.
Monro married twice. He married Anne Welch in 1949. Their two sons joined theBritish Army.Seymour retired as amajor-general; Hughie is a retiredbrigadier. Monro's first wife died in 1994; later that year, he married a second time, to Doris Kaestner, a friend of his first wife. Monro's grandson,Ander Monro, has played for theCanada national rugby union team.
Monro was elected as aDumfriesCounty Councillor from 1952, where he served until 1967. He was chairman and vice-president of the Dumfries Unionist Party and was elected MP forDumfries in the1964 general election, retaining his seat until he retired at the1997 general election.
He became a Conservativewhip in 1968, and was aParliamentary Under Secretary of State at theScottish Office between 28 July 1971 and 28 February 1974. He voted against his party onScottish devolution, announcing his support for aScottish Assembly in 1974.[1]
After the Conservatives lost theFebruary 1974 general election, he was an opposition spokesman, initially on Scottish affairs and then on sport, until 1979. After the1979 general election, he was appointed asMargaret Thatcher's firstMinister for Sport, asParliamentary Under Secretary of State at theDepartment of the Environment underMichael Heseltine. He also had responsibility for some environmental issues, and was involved in strengthening the provisions of theWildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Monro came under some criticism for opposing the visit of a South African Barbarians rugby team to the UK and a return visit by theBritish Lions rugby team the next year. He was dropped from the Government in 1981 in the wake of Mrs Thatcher's proposal that the British team pull out of theMoscow Olympics, receiving a consolatoryknighthood that year.[2] In 1986, he suggested that the government bill the Kremlin in the amount of £1 million and provide the amount to Scottish farmers in compensation for losses to sheep herds caused by theChernobyl nuclear disaster.
In 1988, a bomb exploded onPan Am Flight 103, which crashed atLockerbie, near his home. He was closely involved in the aftermath as the local constituency MP, and went out to Lockerbie with two other MPs. He was hailed by politicians of all political stripes for his compassion and caring; Scottish Labour MPBrian Wilson praised him as "a man who is truly a part of the community that he represents".[3]
He returned to theScottish Office on 9 April 1992, but he was sacked from this position on 5 July 1995. He became a member of thePrivy Council in 1995, and following his retirement as an MP, was made alife peer asBaron Monro of Langholm, ofWesterkirk inDumfries and Galloway on 6 November 1997.[4]
The number of Conservative MPs from Scotland declined from 24 when he was first elected an MP in 1964 to nil after the 1997 general election. AOne Nation Conservative, he occasionally rebelled against the official party line, opposing the closing ofBritish Steel Corporation'sRavenscraig steelworks, for example. One of his Labour Party opponents,Norman Hogg, dubbed him "the last of the decent Tories".[5]
Monro was a president of theScottish Rugby Union, and he was honorary president ofLangholm RFC for over 20 years. He managed the 1970Scotland rugby union tour to Australia but had to return home to fight the1970 General Election.[6]
He was a long-serving member of theNature Conservancy Council, and active in theNational Farmers Union of Scotland. He was a member of theRoyal Company of Archers, adeputy lieutenant of Dumfriesshire, and enjoyedvintage cars andcountry sports.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDumfries 1964–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Sport 1979–1981 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
