The Lord Marsh | |
|---|---|
 Marsh in 1965 | |
| Minister of Transport | |
| In office 6 April 1968 – 6 October 1969 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Barbara Castle |
| Succeeded by | Fred Mulley |
| Member of Parliament forGreenwich | |
| In office 8 October 1959 – 17 June 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Reeves |
| Succeeded by | Guy Barnett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard William Marsh (1928-03-14)14 March 1928 London, England |
| Died | 29 July 2011(2011-07-29) (aged 83) London, England |
| Political party | Crossbencher |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (before 1978) |
| Alma mater | Ruskin College |
| Profession | Businessman |
Richard William Marsh, Baron Marsh,PC (14 March 1928 – 29 July 2011)[1][2] was a British politician and business executive.[3][4]
Marsh was the son of William Marsh, a foundry worker fromBelvedere in southeast London.[4] His father subsequently worked for theGreat Western Railway, and the family moved toSwindon.[5] He was educated at Jennings Street Secondary School, Swindon,Woolwich Polytechnic andRuskin College,Oxford.[4][3] He initially worked as an official for theNational Union of Public Employees from 1951 to 1959, during which time he sat on the Clerical and AdministrativeWhitley Council for theNational Health Service.[4][3]
After unsuccessfully standing atHertford in1951, Marshwas elected asLabour PartyMember of Parliament (MP) forGreenwich at the1959 general election.[4][3][2]
As a backbencher he submitted aprivate member's bill in 1960 which despite Government opposition became theOffices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963, a white-collar equivalent of theFactories Act and the forerunner of theHealth and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.[6]
When Labour came to power in 1964 he became a Parliamentary Secretary in theMinistry of Labour and subsequently, in 1965, in the newMinistry of Technology.[6]
He served in thesecond Wilson Government as theMinister of Power (1966–68). On 22 April 1966 he officially opened the newHinkley Point A nuclear power station.[7][8] He piloted the legislation for the nationalisation of the steel industry.[6]
Subsequently, he served in theCabinet asMinister of Transport (1968–69).[4][3] When appointed to the transport ministry he let it be known that (unlikeBarbara Castle, his predecessor in the post) he was a motorist, though he insisted that the family car, aFord Cortina, was run by his wife while he relied on ministerial cars for his transport needs.[9] He was also reported as having taught his father to drive, but having given up trying to perform the same favour for his wife, applying what forty years later appears as imprudent candour in characterising the attempt as "traumatic".[9] In March 1969, he announced that the Government planned to switch road speed limits to kilometres per hour in 1973.[10] However, all plans for road signs to go metric were subsequently postponed by the following Conservative Government, with "no alternative date in mind".[11]
He left theHouse of Commons in 1971 to become Chairman of theBritish Railways Board, a position he held until 1976. On leaving British Rail, he wasknighted, and became chairman of the Newspaper Publishers' Association (NPA). The first chairman of the NPA to come from outside of the industry, he served until 1990.[4][3] He also held the chairmanships of the British Iron and Steel Consumers' Council from 1977 to 1982 and of Allied Investments Ltd from 1977 to 1981. He was also a member of a number ofquangoes, held directorships in several private companies and was chairman ofTV-am from 1983 to 1984.[4]
In 1978 he announced that he had become a supporter ofMargaret Thatcher, who had been his shadow counterpart when he was Minister of Transport, and intended to voteConservative at the forthcominggeneral election, held in 1979.[3] He was one of a group of ex-Labour politicians who defected to support the Conservatives in the 1979 election.[12]
Thatcher won the election, and she created him alife peer asBaron Marsh,ofMannington in theCounty of Wiltshire on 15 July 1981.[13][4][3] He then sat in theHouse of Lords as aCrossbench peer.[4][3]
In 1950 Marsh married Evelyn Mary Andrews, with whom he had two sons. In 1973 they divorced.[14]
In 1975 Marsh's second wife Caroline died in a road accident in Spain in which the wife of broadcasterDavid Jacobs also lost her life; Marsh and Jacobs both survived the crash.[3][6]
He died in 2011 inLondon aged 83.[3]
  |
|
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGreenwich 1959–1971 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Power 1966–1968 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Transport 1968–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Business positions | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the British Railways Board 1971–1976 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
