The Lord Northfield | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |
| Life peerage 20 January 1976 – 26 April 2013 | |
| Member of Parliament forBirmingham Northfield | |
| In office 25 October 1951 – 29 May 1970 | |
| Preceded by | Raymond Blackburn |
| Succeeded by | Raymond Carter |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 November 1923 |
| Died | 18 April 2013 (aged 89) |
| Party | Labour |
| Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
William Donald Chapman, Baron Northfield (25 November 1923 – 18 April 2013)[1] was a BritishLabour politician.
Chapman was educated atBarnsley Grammar School andEmmanuel College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a degree in economics in 1948. He was the college's senior researcher in agricultural economics from 1943 to 1946.[2]
He took part in local politics in Cambridge town, where he was a member of theCity Council from 1945 to 1947, and concurrent secretary ofCambridge Trades Council and localLabour Party from 1945 to 1957. Nationally, he was research secretary (1948–49) then general secretary (1949–53) of theFabian Society.[2]
He wasMember of Parliament (MP) forBirmingham Northfield from 1951 until he stood down in 1970. He was a fellow ofNuffield College, Oxford, from 1971 to 1973, visiting fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Economics at theUniversity of Sussex from 1973 to 1979, chairman of the Rural Development Commission from 1974 to 1980 and special adviser to the ECCCommission on Environmental Policy in 1981.[2]From 1985 to 1988, he was Director ofWembley Stadium.[citation needed]
After being initially deputy-chairman,[3] from 1975 to 1987 he was chairman of theTelford Development Corporation at a time of extensive development of theTelfordNew Town, in which he demanded better designedcouncil housing and office developments. He lived during his time in post within the new town, once describing the land within which it was to sit as "21 square miles dominated by a coalfield in final decline".[3][4] After retirement, he immigrated toHawaii, U.S.A. but continued to have interest in the area as Chairman of the Maxell Educational Trust which was formed byHitachi Maxell, one of the industrial companies he encouraged to move into Telford.[3]
He was created alife peer asBaron Northfield, of Telford in the County ofShropshire on 20 January 1976. Lord Northfield never married and died inHonolulu, Hawaii, aged 89.[3]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBirmingham Northfield 1951–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Andrew Filson | General Secretary of theFabian Society 1949–1953 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
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