The Marquess of Lothian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 18 September 2001 – 6 December 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Peter Lilley (1999)[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Office not in use[b] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Devizes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Conservative Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 December 1998 – 18 September 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | William Hague | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Cecil Parkinson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | David Davis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of the House of Lords | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Life peerage 22 November 2010 – 1 October 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 9 April 1992 – 12 April 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Charles Morrison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Claire Perry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 May 1979 – 18 May 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Michael Hutchison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Nigel Griffiths | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Edinburgh South | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 28 February 1974 – 20 September 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | John Mackintosh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Mackintosh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Berwick and East Lothian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr (1945-07-07)7 July 1945 London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1 October 2024(2024-10-01) (aged 79) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Nick Hurd (son-in-law) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, Baron Kerr of Monteviot,PC, KC, DL (7 July 1945 – 1 October 2024), commonly known asMichael Ancram, was a British politician and peer who served asDeputy Leader of the Conservative Party from 2001 to 2005. He was formerly styledEarl of Ancram until he inheritedthe marquessate in 2004, upon the death of his father.
Born in London and educated atAmpleforth College, Ancram studied History atChrist Church, Oxford, and read Law at theUniversity of Edinburgh. After graduating from Edinburgh, he was called to theScottish Bar and practised as anadvocate before entering politics. He unsuccessfully contestedWest Lothian in1970, but was elected asMember of Parliament (MP) forBerwick and East Lothian at theFebruary 1974 general election and served until he lost the seat inthe election held in October of that year. He re-entered Parliament in1979, representingEdinburgh South until his defeat in1987. During this time, he served as a minister at theScotland Office inMargaret Thatcher's government.
After being elected to representDevizes at the1992 general election, Ancram served at theNorthern Ireland Office inJohn Major's government. When Major was defeated at the1997 general election, the Conservatives entered opposition and Ancram becameChairman of the Conservative Party underWilliam Hague in 1998, having previously covered constitutional affairs in theShadow Cabinet. This was followed by a period as deputy party leader underIain Duncan Smith andMichael Howard, during which time he served in the Shadow Cabinet asshadow foreign secretary andshadow defence secretary respectively.
Ancram was born in London and is the elder son and second child ofPeter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian, and his wifeAntonella.[1] He was educated atAmpleforth College inNorth Yorkshire. He graduated as aBachelor of Arts in History fromChrist Church, Oxford, in 1966, later by convention converted to aMaster of Arts.[2] While at Oxford, he was a member of theBullingdon Club.[3] In 1968, he gained aBachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from theUniversity of Edinburgh.[2] He was called to theScottish Bar in 1970 and began to practise as an advocate.[4]
Ancram unsuccessfully contested theWest Lothian parliamentary seat in1970. He was first elected toParliament in theFebruary 1974 general election, when he contested and won the seat ofBerwick and East Lothian, but lost the seat in theOctober election of the same year. After losing his seat, he again took up legal practice.[4]
Ancram re-entered Parliament at the1979 election as the Member of Parliament forEdinburgh South, beating future Prime MinisterGordon Brown. He was a member of theHouse of Commons EnergySelect Committee between 1979 and 1983, and Chairman of theScottish Conservative and Unionist Party from 1980 to 1983. He wasParliamentary Under-Secretary of State at theScottish Office with responsibility forHome Affairs,Housing, Local Government, Rating Reform and theEnvironment from 1983 until 1987. He lost his seat again at the1987 general election, being one of several prominent Conservativesdefeated in Scotland in that contest.[5]
After losing his seat in 1987, Ancram returned to Parliament at the1992 general election representingDevizes. He was a member of thePublic Accounts Committee and Chairman of the backbenchConstitutional Affairs Committee from 1992 until May 1993, when he was appointedParliamentary Under-Secretary of State at theNorthern Ireland Office. He was promoted toMinister of State at the Northern Ireland Office in January 1994, and was sworn as aPrivy Councillor in January 1996.
Following the Conservatives' defeat at the1997 election, Ancram served in theShadow Cabinet asShadow Constitutional Affairs Spokesperson from June 1997 to June 1998. He then served asChairman of the Conservative Party from December 1998 to September 2001.
In 2001, he ran againstIain Duncan Smith,Michael Portillo,Kenneth Clarke andDavid Davis inthe election for the party leadership. In the first poll of Conservative MPs he andDavid Davis were tied for last place, leading to a re-run in which Ancram was placed bottom. He was eliminated, and Davis withdrew. Both swung their support behindIain Duncan Smith, who went on to win, beating Clarke in the final vote of party members. Duncan Smith made Ancram Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party andShadow Foreign Secretary in September 2001. He remained in this position afterMichael Howard took over in 2003.
In the reshuffle following the2005 election, Ancram was moved toShadow Secretary of State for Defence but remained deputy leader. He stood down from the Shadow Cabinet in December 2005, following the election ofDavid Cameron as Conservative Party Leader.[6] In January 2006 he was appointed to theIntelligence and Security Committee, replacingJames Arbuthnot.
Ancram was a founding signatory in 2005 of theHenry Jackson Society principles, advocating a proactive approach to the spread ofliberal democracy across the world, including when necessary by military intervention. On 21 April 2006 he became one of the first senior Conservative MPs to call for British troops to withdraw fromIraq, saying it was effectively in a state of civil war and that "It is time now for us to get out of Iraq with dignity and honour while we still can."[7]
In 2006, Ancram set upGlobal Strategy Forum, a bi-partisan foreign affairsthink tank based in London.
From 2008 to 2013, Ancram was chair of foreign policy forumLe Cercle.[8]
Ancram was a founder member of theTop Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation,[9] established in October 2009.
On 11 August 2009, Ancram announced that he was to stand down as the MP forDevizes at the2010 general election due to heart problems.[10] He retired when Parliament was dissolved on 12 April 2010; his successor as Conservative member for the Devizes constituency wasClaire Perry.[11]
Ancram marriedLady Jane Fitzalan-Howard, the fourth daughter ofthe 16th Duke of Norfolk, who on 7 April 2017 succeeded as the 16thLady Herries of Terregles. They were both prominentRoman Catholics. She is a Patron of the Right to Life Trust[12] and also a patroness of theRoyal Caledonian Ball.[13] The couple had three daughters and two grandchildren:
Ancram's younger sister, Lady Cecil CameronOBE, marriedDonald Angus Cameron of Lochiel, the Chief ofClan Cameron. Another sister, the former Lady Clare Kerr, is now Dowager Countess of Euston and mother of the12th Duke of Grafton.
Ancram was a keencountry music fan and often playedacoustic guitar at Conservative Party conferences.[16] He was aknight of theOrder of St John and of theOrder of St Lazarus; he was also made aFreeman ofGibraltar in 2010.[17][18]
He was appointed aDeputy lieutenant forRoxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale in 1990.[citation needed] He became aQueen's Counsel (QC) in 1996.[19]
A member of theHouse of Lords from 2010, he was the onlymarquess sitting in the chamber at the time of his death. Ancram was hereditaryChief of the ScottishClan Kerr.[20]
Ancram died following a short illness on 1 October 2024, at the age of 79.[21][22][23] He was succeeded by his brother, Ralph Kerr, as the 14th Marquess of Lothian.
Although his family name was Kerr, Michael Ancram was known from birth by thecourtesy titleEarl of Ancram as elder son andheir apparent of the12th Marquess of Lothian. He is said to have dropped the use of this title in favour of plainMr Michael Ancram after becoming a lawyer, supposedly because he believed it might confuse the jury if any judge were to have addressed him as "My Lord".[24]
Ancram was known to many of his friends asCrumb, a nickname attributed to a party in the sixties at which on arrival Ancram introduced himself as "Lord Ancram" and was duly announced as "Mr Norman Crumb".[1]
Ancram becameMarquess of Lothian upon his father's death in October 2004, but did not take up use of this title in public life whilst still sitting as an MP (although properly he should have ceased being styled by the courtesy title ofEarl of Ancram). TheHouse of Lords Act 1999 meant that, on acceding to the peerage, he was not disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons ashereditary peers no longer had an automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. ExceptingIrish peers, he was, after theViscount Thurso, andViscount Hailsham, the third person to have sat in the House of Commons while simultaneously being a hereditary peer.
Ancram was created alife peer on 22 November 2010 asBaron Kerr of Monteviot,ofMonteviot inRoxburghshire,[25] and wasintroduced in theHouse of Lords the same day;[26] by custom, he was referred to by his senior title asThe Marquess of Lothian during all parliamentary business and in other official records such asHansard.[27]
As the Kerr family titles cannot pass through the female line, his younger brother Lord Ralph Kerr succeeded to his titles following his death. His elder daughter is her mother's heir presumptive to beLady Herries of Terregles. Ancram was also one of the five co-heirs to thebarony of Butler,abeyant since 1905. Though the most junior heir byprimogeniture, he held the strongest claim, as the other heirs had a lesser share to thattitle. On his death, his share was subdivided between his two daughters (leaving six co-heirs, each of the last baron's three sisters now being represented by two co-heirs with 1/6 shares).
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBerwick and East Lothian 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEdinburgh South 1979–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDevizes 1992–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Constitutional Affairs Spokesperson 1997–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 2001–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Defence 2005 | |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Conservative Party 1998–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by Peter Lilley | Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party 2001–2005 | Vacant |
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by | Marquess of Lothian 2004–2024 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| People | |
