Robert Key | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2005 | |
| Minister for Sport | |
| In office 10 April 1992 – 27 May 1993 | |
| Prime Minister | John Major |
| Preceded by | Robert Atkins |
| Succeeded by | Iain Sproat |
| Member of Parliament forSalisbury | |
| In office 9 June 1983 – 12 April 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Hamilton |
| Succeeded by | John Glen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Simon Robert Key (1945-04-22)22 April 1945 Plymouth, Devon, England |
| Died | 3 February 2023(2023-02-03) (aged 77) Wiltshire, England |
| Party | Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent |
|
| Alma mater | Clare College, Cambridge |
Simon Robert Key (22 April 1945 – 3 February 2023) was a BritishConservative politician who served asMember of Parliament (MP) forSalisbury from 1983 to 2010. He was also a former teacher and served as Chair of Governors atSalisbury Cathedral School.
Key was born inPlymouth, the son ofMaurice Key, afterwardsBishop of Truro.[1][circular reporting?] At the age of 10, he was part of a school walk onSwanage Beach in Dorset where he and six friends discovered an old wartimemine which detonated; only Key and one other boy survived.[2][3]
He attendedSalisbury Cathedral School, then independentSherborne School. He studied economics atClare College, Cambridge, receiving anMA andCertEd.
He taught atLoretto School inMusselburgh from 1967 to 1969, then taught economics atHarrow School from 1969 to 1983.
Robert Key contested theHolborn and St Pancras South seat in 1979.
At the age of 38, he became the Member of Parliament forSalisbury in 1983, upon the retirement of ConservativeMichael Hamilton. He was returned as the MP for Salisbury in 1987, 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2005 until his own retirement in 2010.
Between 1983 and 1984, Key was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to former prime ministerEdward Heath, who himself retired to Salisbury. According to the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation, it was Key who suggested that Heath look at a house in Salisbury –Arundells – when it came onto the market in 1985. Heath bought the house and lived there until his death in 2005.[4]
Key became the Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities in theDepartment of the Environment (nowDEFRA) in 1990, serving until 1992, and setting up the Inner Cities Religious Council[5] in 1991.
He was theMinister for Sport at theDepartment of National Heritage (nowCulture, Media and Sport) from 1992 to 1993 and then was Minister for Roads and Traffic from 1993 to 1994 during the tenure ofJohn Major.[6]
In opposition, Key served as afront-bench spokesman during the leaderships ofWilliam Hague andIain Duncan Smith. In 2001, he was theshadow minister for Science and Energy, and in July 2002, he was appointed as the shadow minister forInternational Development. He stood down from this position in June 2003, returning to thebackbenches but retaining his membership of theDefence Select Committee.[6]
On 2 December 2009, Key announced his decision to stand down at thenext general election.[7]
Robert Key was the son of Maurice Key, who was the 10th Bishop of Truro from 1960 to 1973, as well as theBishop of Sherborne from 1947 until 1960.[6]
Key married Susan Irvine in 1968 inPerth. They had two sons (one of whom died in infancy) and two daughters and lived inHarnham.[6] He was a committed choral singer and member of theGeneral Synod of the Church of England.[6]
Key died inWiltshire[8] on 3 February 2023, at the age of 77.[6][9]
News items
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSalisbury 1983–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Sport 1992–1993 | Succeeded by |
