The Lord Prior | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 14 September 1981 – 27 September 1984 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Humphrey Atkins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Douglas Hurd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Employment | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 May 1979 – 14 September 1981 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Albert Booth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Norman Tebbit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 November 1972 – 4 March 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Robert Carr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Edward Short | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 20 June 1970 – 5 November 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Cledwyn Hughes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Joseph Godber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forWaveney (Lowestoft, 1959–1983) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 October 1959 – 18 May 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Edward Evans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | David Porter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of theHouse of Lords | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Life peerage 14 October 1987 – 12 December 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | James Michael Leathes Prior (1927-10-11)11 October 1927 Norwich, Norfolk, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 12 December 2016(2016-12-12) (aged 89) Brampton, Suffolk, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 4 (includingDavid) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Charterhouse School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior,PC (11 October 1927 – 12 December 2016) was a BritishConservative Party politician. AMember of Parliament from 1959 to 1987, he represented theSuffolk constituency ofLowestoft until 1983 and then the renamed constituency ofWaveney from 1983 to 1987, when he stood down from the House of Commons and was made alife peer. He served in two Conservative cabinets, and outside parliament was Chairman of theArab British Chamber of Commerce from 1996 to 2004, andChancellor ofAnglia Ruskin University from 1992 to 1999.
UnderEdward Heath, Prior wasMinister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1970 to 1972, thenLeader of the House of Commons until Heath lost office in the wake of theFebruary 1974 election. His party returned to power underMargaret Thatcher in 1979, and Prior wasSecretary of State for Employment from 1979 to 1981, disagreeing with some of her views on trade unions and her monetarist economic policies generally. This made him a leader of the so-called"wet" faction in the Conservative ranks. In 1981 he was moved to the less pivotal role ofSecretary of State for Northern Ireland, from which he stood down in 1984; he never returned to government.[1]
Prior was born inNorwich, the son of solicitor Charles Bolingbroke Leathes Prior (1883–1964) and Aileen Sophia Mary (1893–1978), daughter of barrister Charles Storey Gilman.[2][3] Charles Prior's uncle was head of the family of Prior ofAdstock Manor,Bletchley, Buckinghamshire; the family was closely related to theLake baronets, theStuart-Menteth baronets, theBlackett family ofWylam, Northumberland, and the Prideaux-Brune family ofPrideaux Place, Cornwall.[4] Prior was educated atOrwell Park School, then atCharterhouse School before going on toPembroke College, Cambridge, where he earned a first class honours degree inLand economy. Also prior to entering university, he performed his two-yearNational Service as an officer in theRoyal Norfolk Regiment of the British Army, serving in Germany and India.[5]
He was first elected to Parliament in 1959, and wasMinister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1970 to 1972, thenLeader of the House of Commons andLord President of the Council until March 1974. He was one of several unsuccessful candidates in theConservative Party's 1975 leadership election, entering at the second round and gaining 19 votes toMargaret Thatcher's 146.[3]
UnderMargaret Thatcher he wasSecretary of State for Employment from May 1979 to 14 September 1981. Thatcher said of their relationship, "we agreed that trade unions had acquired far too many powers and privileges. We also agreed that these must be dealt with one step at a time. But when it came down to specific measures, there was deep disagreement about how fast and how far to move."[6]
Prior is believed to have annoyed Thatcher by being too friendly with trade union leaders, with Thatcher writing,
"He [Prior] had forged good relations with a number of trade union leaders whose practical value he perhaps overestimated."
During his period in the Cabinet, he is believed to have angered the right wing of his party and the Prime Minister for not pressing far enough with anti-trade union legislation. In the September 1981cabinet reshuffle Prior was moved from the Employment portfolio to becomeSecretary of State for Northern Ireland,[7] an office he held until September 1984.[8] At the time of the reshuffle, it was reported that Prior considered following the sackedIan Gilmour to the back benches to oppose the Thatcher Government's economic policies. However, Prior ultimately decided to accept being moved to the Northern Ireland Office after consulting cabinet colleaguesWilliam Whitelaw, thenDeputy Leader of the Conservative Party, andFrancis Pym.[9] This transfer was widely seen as a move by Thatcher to isolate Prior, who disagreed with her on a number of economic issues. The post of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was seen as a dumping ground to marginalise ministers. However, when Prior resigned, Thatcher revealed that she was going to offer him another Cabinet post during the reshuffle, which would have very likely been a non-economic one.[3]
In 1986, he collaborated with John Cassels andPauline Perry to create theCouncil for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE), which would become theNational Centre for Universities and Business in 2013. He also released a memoir,A balance of power.[10]
He retired from Parliament in 1987, and was created alife peer asBaron Prior, ofBrampton in theCounty of Suffolk, on 14 October 1987.[11]
He was chairman and later vice-president of the Rural Housing Trust from 1990 to 1999.[3]
In 1992 he was appointedchancellor ofAnglia Ruskin University and held that position until 1999. He was made Honorary Doctor of the University at Anglia Ruskin University in 1992.[12][13]
Following his retirement from politics he was much sought after in the world of business: he served as chairman of bothGEC andAllders, and had directorships atBarclays,Sainsbury's andUnited Biscuits.[3]
Prior was interviewed about the rise ofThatcherism for the 2006BBC TV documentary seriesTory! Tory! Tory! and in 2012 as part ofThe History of Parliament's oral history project.[14][15]
In January 1954, Prior married Jane Primrose Gifford Lywood, daughter ofAir Vice-Marshal Oswyn George William Gifford Lywood,CB,CBE, a developer of theTypex cypher machines, of a landed gentry family of Woodlands, nearSevenoaks, Kent.[16][17] They were married until her death in 2015, and had four children.[3] Their eldest sonDavid Prior held the seat ofNorth Norfolk between 1997 and 2001, and was appointed Parliamentary-Under Secretary of State for NHS Productivity; he was later, in May 2015, elevated to the peerage in his own right as Baron Prior of Brampton.[3]
Lord Prior lived at the Old Hall inBrampton, Suffolk, where he died from cancer on 12 December 2016, at the age of 89.[3][18][19]
Following Prior's death,Keith Simpson MP said of him: "In many ways he was a larger than life figure. He had a ruddy face, he played up to being the farmer. People underestimated him because he didn't claim to be aKeith Joseph orEnoch Powell parading their intellectualism. But he was somebody who was well-loved by the grassroots and was a decent man who was in politics out of a sense of public service."[20]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLowestoft 1959–1983 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forWaveney 1983–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1970–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the House of Commons 1972–1974 | Succeeded by |
| Lord President of the Council 1972–1974 | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Employment 1979–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1981–1984 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
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