The Lord Walker of Worcester | |
|---|---|
 Walker in 1980 | |
| Secretary of State for Wales | |
| In office 13 June 1987 – 4 May 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Nicholas Edwards |
| Succeeded by | David Hunt |
| Secretary of State for Energy | |
| In office 11 June 1983 – 13 June 1987 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Nigel Lawson |
| Succeeded by | Cecil Parkinson |
| Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | |
| In office 4 May 1979 – 11 June 1983 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | John Silkin |
| Succeeded by | Michael Jopling |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Defence | |
| In office 19 June 1974 – 18 February 1975 | |
| Leader | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Ian Gilmour |
| Succeeded by | George Younger |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry | |
| In office 4 March 1974 – 19 June 1974 | |
| Leader | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Tony Benn |
| Succeeded by | Michael Heseltine |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 5 November 1972 – 4 March 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | John Davies |
| Succeeded by | Tony Benn |
| Secretary of State for Trade and Industry | |
| In office 5 November 1972 – 4 March 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | John Davies |
| Succeeded by |
|
| Secretary of State for the Environment | |
| In office 15 October 1970 – 5 November 1972 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Geoffrey Rippon |
| Minister of State for Housing and Local Government | |
| In office 19 June 1970 – 15 October 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Tony Crosland (Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning) |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Member of theHouse of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 8 July 1992 – 23 June 2010 Life peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forWorcester | |
| In office 16 March 1961 – 16 March 1992 | |
| Preceded by | George Ward |
| Succeeded by | Peter Luff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Peter Edward Walker (1932-03-25)25 March 1932 Brentford, England |
| Died | 23 June 2010(2010-06-23) (aged 78) Worcester, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Children | 5 (includingRobin) |
| Education | Latymer Upper School |
Peter Edward Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester,MBE, PC (25 March 1932 – 23 June 2010) was a BritishConservative politician who served in Cabinet underEdward Heath andMargaret Thatcher. He wasMember of Parliament (MP) forWorcester from 1961 to 1992 and was made alife peer in 1992.
Walker became the youngest National Chairman of theYoung Conservatives in 1958.[1] He was a founder of theTory Reform Group, and served as Chairman of theCarlton Club.
Born in Middlesex, younger son of Sydney Walker, a capstan operator at theGramophone Company's factory atHayes, and his wife Rose (née Dean),[2][3][4] Walker was privately educated atLatymer Upper School in London. He did not go to college or university.[5]
Walker rose through the ranks of the Conservative Party's youth wing, theYoung Conservatives. He was a branch chairman at the age of 14, and later National Chairman. He fought the Parliamentary seat ofDartford in the general elections of1955 and1959, being beaten each time byLabour'sSydney Irving.
Walker was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the1960 Birthday Honours for political services.[6] Within four years of his election to Parliament ina by-election in 1961, he had entered the Shadow Cabinet. He later served underPrime MinisterEdward Heath asMinister of Housing and Local Government (1970),Secretary of State for the Environment (1970–72), the first person in the world to hold such a position, andSecretary of State for Trade and Industry (1972–74). From late 1974 to February 1975, Walker served as Shadow Defence Secretary. When Margaret Thatcher became the party leader, Walker did not serve in her Shadow Cabinet. But when the party came to power in 1979, he returned to the Cabinet asMinister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in 1979. He later served asSecretary of State for Energy (1983–87). Whilst at the Department for Energy he played an important role in the Government's successful opposition to the 1984–85 miners' strike.
Walker then served asSecretary of State for Wales between 1987 and 1990. Although the role of Welsh Secretary was ostensibly one of the most junior jobs in the Cabinet, Walker claimed it gave him more influence as it gave access to key economic committees. He stood down from the Cabinet shortly before Thatcher herself was ousted in 1990. Though he had previously been a close ally of Heath's and was generally considered to be on the left of the party, he was nevertheless one of the longest-serving Cabinet members in Thatcher's government, serving during the entirety bar the last six months of her premiership. In October 1985, however, he had hit out at Thatcher's reluctance to inject money into the economy in order to ease mass unemployment, speaking of his fears that she could lose the next general election if unemployment did not fall. However, the Tories werere-elected in 1987, by which time unemployment was falling.[7]
As noted above, Walker's 1970 appointment as Secretary of State for the Environment was notable in that he became the world's first Environment Minister, and was thus a source of considerable interest at the 1972Stockholm Conference. The creation of the Department of the Environment came in response to the growing environmental concerns of the 1960s (not least theTorrey Canyon oil spill of 1967), and one of Walker's immediate concerns was to clean up the nation's waterways. The measures put in place have had substantial results for river life. For instance, the Thames was declaredbiologically dead in 1957 but today many species of fish thrive in the river, including wild salmon and trout.[8]
Walker was a determined supporter of the hospice movement, becoming a patron of St Richard's Hospice in Worcester when it was founded in 1984. He campaigned determinedly for greater NHS support for St Richard's and the wider hospice movement, which is staffed largely by dedicated volunteers. During a House of Lords debate in 2000, Lord Walker stated: "Anyone who visits hospices and meets the volunteers—the people running them and guiding them—will recognise their unique spiritual and compassionate contribution to the health service."[9]
Upon his retirement from Parliament, he was appointed alife peer in the1992 Dissolution Honours, asBaron Walker of Worcester, ofAbbots Morton in the County ofHereford and Worcester.[10]
During the 1960s he was the junior partner inSlater Walker, anasset stripping vehicle used byJim Slater to generate immense paper profits until 1973. An ill-timed attempt to take overHill Samuel resulted in the loss of city confidence in Slater Walker and Jim Slater became for a time a "minus millionaire". Peter Walker's political career survived and after retirement from politics he returned tothe City as Chairman ofKleinwort Benson.[11]
Other business positions Walker held included: Chairman ofAllianz Insurance plc, Vice Chairman ofDresdner Kleinwort andnon-executive director ofITM Power plc.
Walker and his wife had five children. His sonRobin Walker was elected MP for theWorcester constituency in the2010 general election.[12]
He died at St Richard's Hospice, Worcester, on 23 June 2010, after suffering fromcancer.[12][13]
  |
|
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWorcester 1961–1992 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byas Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning | Minister of State for Housing and Local Government 1970 | Position abolished |
| New office | Secretary of State for the Environment 1970–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Trade 1972–1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 1972–1974 | Succeeded byas Secretary of State for Trade |
| Succeeded byas Secretary of State for Industry | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Defence 1974–1975 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1979–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Energy 1983–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Wales 1987–1990 | Succeeded by |
| 1964–1970 | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1970–1974 | ||
| 1974–1979 | ||
| 1979–1997 | ||
| 1997–2010 | ||
| 2010–2024 | ||
| 2024–present | ||
| Ministers |
| | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretaries of state | ||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
_(St_Edwards_Crown).svg)
