The Lord Shepherd | |
|---|---|
 Shepherd in 1968 | |
| Leader of the House of Lords Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal | |
| In office 4 March 1974 – 10 September 1976 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | The Lord Windlesham |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Peart |
| Deputy Leader of the House of Lords | |
| In office February 1968 – June 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Leader | The Lord Shackleton |
| Preceded by | The Lord Shackleton |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Aberdare |
| Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
| In office 17 October 1968 – 19 June 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Goronwy Roberts |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Godber |
| Minister of State for Commonwealth Affairs | |
| In office 26 July 1967 – 17 October 1968 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Judith Hart |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Chief Whip of the House of Lords Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms | |
| In office 21 October 1964 – 29 July 1967 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | The Earl St Aldwyn |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Beswick |
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |
| as a hereditary peer 8 March 1955 – 11 November 1999 | |
| Preceded by | The 1st Baron Shepherd |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| as alife peer 16 November 1999 – 5 April 2001 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1918-09-27)27 September 1918 Blackburn,Lancashire, England |
| Died | 5 April 2001(2001-04-05) (aged 82) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Allison Wilson Redmond (m. 1941) |
| Children | 2 |
Malcolm Newton Shepherd, 2nd Baron Shepherd, Baron Shepherd of Spalding (27 September 1918 – 5 April 2001), was a BritishLabour politician andpeer who served asLeader of the House of Lords underHarold Wilson andJames Callaghan and member of thePrivy Council of the United Kingdom.[1]
Shepherd was the son of the Labour politicianGeorge Shepherd, 1st Baron Shepherd. With theHouse of Lords Act 1999, the right of the hereditary peers of an automatic seat in theHouse of Lords was removed, so Shepherd was created alife peer as Baron Shepherd of Spalding, ofSpalding in the County ofLincolnshire to keep his seat.
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Born inBlackburn,Lancashire, Malcolm Shepherd was educated at the Lower School of John Lyon and theFriends' School, anindependent school in themarket town ofSaffron Walden inEssex. He was commissioned in theRoyal Army Service Corps in 1941 and served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy rising to the rank of Captain and transferring to what was known as 'Special Services'. Initially his mother and father were against him joining the Army because of their pacifist convictions.
After the end of the Second World War, Shepherd, together with his wife Allison, went to Singapore as an employee of a British trading company. Later Shepherd purchased majority shares in the firm of Fielding, Brown and Finch working inMalaya andSingapore. When his father died in 1954, he took six months leave, came to the UK to settle his father's affairs and made his maiden speech in theHouse of Lords before returning to the Far East and resuming his business career. In 1958, his company headquarters moved to London and Shepherd moved himself and his family to the UK.
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Shepherd succeeded to the title of Baron Shepherd of Spalding on the death ofhis father in December 1954, and took his seat in theHouse of Lords on 8 March 1955.[2] In 1960 he became Deputy Opposition Chief Whip in the Lords, and became Opposition Chief Whip in 1964.
When Shepherd first joined theHouse of Lords its membership was entirely composed of hereditary peers with a large inbuiltConservative Party majority. There were only about 25 to 30Labour Party peers. Shepherd was a pragmatist who realised that if he was to enable the Bills sent from the House of Commons to pass through the House of Lords he had to do deals with the Conservatives and maintain good relations with all in the House.
Although a moderate in his political views he was an early advocate ofHouse of Lords reform. He thought there was too much unnecessary ceremony and in 1971 argued that those entitled to vote in the Upper House be restricted to regular attenders.
After the Labour victory in the1964 general election, he becameCaptain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Government Chief Whip, House of Lords, a post he held until 1967 when he became Minister of State at theForeign and Commonwealth Office. He also served as Deputy Leader of the House of Lords from 1968 to 1970.
Shepherd was appointed to thePrivy Council in the1965 Birthday Honours.[3]
As Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a role that had previously been known as Secretary of State for the Colonies. During his tenure at The Foreign Office, Britain was busy shedding Empire and he was very involved in the new constitutions of colonies becoming independent, includingFiji. Shepherd was also involved in resolving theCaribbean island ofAnguilla's demand for independence fromSt. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla. He also had to deal with theBiafra war inNigeria. He won particular popularity inGibraltar by supervising the introduction of a new constitution which boundGibraltar more closely to the UK after the Spanish government ofGeneral Franco closed the border. Shepherd's preamble to theGibraltar constitution stated that 'Her Majesty's Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar will pass under the sovereignty of another state against their wishes.' Within the Colony's population he is commonly known as "The Father of the Constitution". He was also responsible for Hong Kong during the riots of 1967 inspired by the cultural revolution; he maintained a relationship with the territory in the following years.
From 1970 to 1974, Shepherd was Opposition Deputy Leader, House of Lords. In 1974 he becameLord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords, a post he held until he resigned in 1976.
In 1975, Shepherd and his wife Allison accompanied The Queen and Prince Philip on the first state visit toJapan.
In November 1975,Harold Wilson caused controversy within theLabour Party by sending him to represent the UK Government at the funeral ofGeneral Franco.[4]
Shepherd remained an active member of the House of Lords for the rest of his life, and on 16 November 1999 he was created alife peer asBaron Shepherd of Spalding, of Spalding in the County of Lincolnshire[5] in order to keep his seat after the House of Lords Act removed the right of hereditary peers to an automatic seat in the House.
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After the surprise defeat ofHarold Wilson's Labour government in the1970 general election, Shepherd worked forRudy Sternberg's Sterling Group.
He returned to an active career in business after resigning from the Cabinet in 1976 and also held a number of public offices.
Shepherd was the first Chairman of the Civil Service Pay Research Unit board from 1978 to 1981. He served on the Packaging Council from 1978 to 1980. He was chairman of theMedical Research Council from 1978 to 1982.
From 1976 to 1986 he was Deputy Chairman of Rudi Sternberg's, later to become Lord Plurenden, Sterling Group of Companies. In 1979 he became chairman of theNational Bus Company which was then one of the largest nationalised industries. Shepherd oversaw a large rise in its profits which reached £48m by 1984. He tried to persuade the Conservative government not to privatise the company, warned of the disappearance of loss-making rural services and frequently clashed with the Transport SecretaryNicholas Ridley.
He was President of theCentre Européen de l'Entreprise Publique from 1985 and of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers.
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In 1941, Shepherd married Allison Wilson Redmond (died 1998), the sister of broadcasterJames Redmond. Their two sons, Graeme and Douglas, were born in Singapore before he succeeded to the title.
He was on holiday inLanzarote (with his Whip's permission), where he died suddenly on 5 April 2001. His elder son Graeme inherited the hereditary title. He is buried together with his wife, Allison, in Muiravonside Cemetery inFalkirk,Scotland.
The Parliamentary Labour Party last night condemned almost unanimously the Government's decision to send a Cabinet minister to represent Britain at the funeral of General Franco. Only one of about 100 Labour MPs voted against the critical resolution... After the meeting, 20 back bench MPs signed a letter to the Prime Minister in which they said that Mr Callaghan had criticized members of the party for condemning the attendance of Lord Shepherd, the Lord Privy Seal, at the funeral, with out having put forward their views beforehand.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief Whip of theHouse of Lords 1964–1967 | Succeeded by |
| Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms 1964–1967 | ||
| Preceded by | Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 1968–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the House of Lords 1974–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Lord Privy Seal 1974–1976 | ||
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Labour Party in the House of Lords 1974–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Baron Shepherd 1954–2001 | Succeeded by |
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