The Viscount Younger of Leckie | |
|---|---|
 Younger in 1987 | |
| Secretary of State for Defence | |
| In office 9 January 1986 – 24 July 1989 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Michael Heseltine |
| Succeeded by | Tom King |
| Secretary of State for Scotland | |
| In office 4 May 1979 – 9 January 1986 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Bruce Millan |
| Succeeded by | Malcolm Rifkind |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Defence | |
| In office 18 February 1975 – 15 January 1976 | |
| Leader | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Peter Walker |
| Succeeded by | Ian Gilmour |
| Minister of State for Defence | |
| In office 8 January 1974 – 4 March 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Ian Gilmour |
| Succeeded by | William Rodgers |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland | |
| In office 24 June 1970 – 8 January 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Bruce Millan |
| Succeeded by | Teddy Taylor |
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |
Lord Temporal | |
| as a hereditary peer 25 June 1997 – 11 November 1999 | |
| Preceded by | The 3rd Viscount Younger of Leckie |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished [a] |
| as alife peer 7 July 1992 – 26 January 2003 | |
| Member of Parliament forAyr | |
| In office 15 October 1964 – 16 March 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Moore |
| Succeeded by | Phil Gallie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George Kenneth Hotson Younger (1931-09-22)22 September 1931 Stirling, Scotland |
| Died | 26 January 2003(2003-01-26) (aged 71) Gargunnock, Scotland |
| Political party | Conservative (1965–2003) |
| Other political affiliations | Unionist (until 1965) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingJames |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | British Army |
| Unit | Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders |
| Battles/wars | Korean War |
George Kenneth Hotson Younger, 4th Viscount Younger of Leckie, Baron Younger of Prestwick,KT, KCVO, TD, PC, FRSGS (22 September 1931 – 26 January 2003), was a BritishConservative Party politician and banker. He was theMember of Parliament (MP) forAyr from 1964 to 1992. During the premiership ofMargaret Thatcher, Younger served asSecretary of State for Scotland from 1979 to 1986, and asSecretary of State for Defence from 1986 to 1989.
Younger's forebear, George Younger (baptised 1722), was the founder of George Younger and Son of Alloa, the family's brewing business (not to be confused withYounger's of Edinburgh). Younger's great-grandfather,George Younger, was created Viscount Younger of Leckie in 1923. Younger was the eldest of the three sons ofEdward Younger, 3rd Viscount Younger of Leckie.[1]
He was born inStirling in 1931 and educated atCargilfield Preparatory School,Winchester College, andNew College, Oxford, where he obtained aMaster's degree.[1] Joining theBritish Army, he served in theKorean War with theArgyll & Sutherland Highlanders. On 7 August 1954, he married Diana Tuck, daughter of a Royal Navy captain. They had four children, includingJames Younger, who succeeded his father to the Viscountcy.[2]
He first stood for Parliament, unsuccessfully, inNorth Lanarkshire in the1959 general election. Subsequently, he was initially selected to stand for theKinross and West Perthshire seat in aby-election in late 1963, but agreed to stand aside to allow the new Prime MinisterAlec Douglas-Home the chance to enter the House of Commons.[1] He was viewed as aone-nation conservative.[1]
Following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather the 1st Viscount, Younger becameMember of Parliament forAyr in1964 and served as Margaret Thatcher'sSecretary of State for Scotland for seven years.[1] He subsequently succeededMichael Heseltine asSecretary of State for Defence in 1986 when Heseltine resigned from the cabinet over a dispute about helicopters known as theWestland affair.[1] In the1987 general election, as part of a considerable swing away from the Conservatives in Scotland, he retained his seat after three recounts, by a majority of just 182 votes (having been almost 8,000 votes in1983). Incidentally, it was held by his successorPhil Gallie by an even smaller majority of 85 votes in1992.
Younger quit the cabinet in 1989, and joined theRoyal Bank of Scotland, becoming its chairman in 1992. He was created alife peer asBaron Younger of Prestwick, ofAyr in the District ofKyle and Carrick, on 7 July 1992, five years before succeeding to the viscountcy. As such, he continued to sit in theHouse of Lords after the passage of theHouse of Lords Act 1999 which expelled most of thehereditary peers. In 1995,the Queen appointed him a knight of theOrder of the Thistle.[3] Younger became Chancellor of Edinburgh's Napier University in 1993, and was Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2001 and 2002.
Younger died from cancer at his home inGargunnock on 26 January 2003, at the age of 71.[4]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forAyr 1964–1992 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Defence 1975–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Scotland 1979–1986 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Defence 1986–1989 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Viscount Younger of Leckie 1997–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Secretaries of state for Scotland 1707–1746 | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Secretaries for Scotland 1885–1926 | ||
| Secretaries of state for Scotland (pre-devolution) 1926–1999 | ||
| Secretaries of state for Scotland (post-devolution) 1999–present | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
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