Humphrey Atkins

Humphrey Edward Gregory Atkins, Baron Colnbrook, KCMG, PC (12 August 1922 – 4 October 1996) was a British politician and a member of the Conservative Party. He served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1982.


The Lord Colnbrook

KCMG PC
Lord Privy Seal
In office
11 September 1981  7 April 1982
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byIan Gilmour
Succeeded byThe Baroness Young
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
4 May 1979  11 September 1981
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byRoy Mason
Succeeded byJames Prior
Chief Whip of the Conservative Party
In office
2 December 1973  4 May 1979
LeaderEdward Heath
Margaret Thatcher
Preceded byFrancis Pym
Succeeded byMichael Jopling
Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office
2 December 1973  4 March 1974
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byFrancis Pym
Succeeded byBob Mellish
Treasurer of the Household
In office
18 June 1970  2 December 1973
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byCharles Morris
Succeeded byBernard Weatherill
Member of Parliament
for Spelthorne
In office
18 June 1970  18 May 1987
Preceded byBeresford Craddock
Succeeded byDavid Wilshire
Member of Parliament
for Merton and Morden
In office
26 May 1955  29 May 1970
Preceded byRobert Ryder
Succeeded byJanet Fookes
Personal details
Born(1922-08-12)12 August 1922
Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, England[1]
Died4 October 1996(1996-10-04) (aged 74)
Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire, England
Political partyConservative

Early life

Atkins was born on 12 August 1922, in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, son of Captain Edward Davis Atkins and Violet Mary (née Preston) and lived in Kenya until the age of three. He and his wife Margaret (née Spencer-Nairn, 1924–2012) had four children, three daughters and one son.[1][2]

Career

Atkins was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and served in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1948. He worked for Nairn's, his wife's family's linoleum business in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, then became a director of a financial advertising agency. He contested the constituency of West Lothian in 1951, and was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Merton and Morden in 1955. He became MP for Spelthorne in 1970.

Atkins was a Conservative Chief Whip from 1973 to 1979, and served as a Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1979 to 1981. In September 1981, he was appointed as Lord Privy Seal, which was a role as the chief government spokesman in the House of Commons for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. This role was necessary because the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, sat in the House of Lords. He resigned in April 1982, along with Lord Carrington, over the Falklands invasion. Atkins was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 1983 Dissolution Honours.[3] He left the House of Commons in 1987 and was created a life peer on 16 October as Baron Colnbrook of Waltham St Lawrence in the Royal County of Berkshire.[4][1]

Atkins died from cancer on 4 October 1996 at the age of 74 in Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire.[2]

References

  1. [Humphrey Atkins (1922 - 1996): Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1979-1981 "Humphrey Atkins (1922 - 1996): Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1979-1981"] Check |url= value (help). news ulster biography. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  2. "Humphrey Edward Gregory Atkins". geni.com. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  3. "No. 49424". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 July 1983. p. 9700.
  4. "No. 51097". The London Gazette. 21 October 1987. p. 12971.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Robert Ryder
Member of Parliament for Merton and Morden
1955–1970
Succeeded by
Janet Fookes
Preceded by
Beresford Craddock
Member of Parliament for Spelthorne
1970–1987
Succeeded by
David Wilshire
Political offices
Preceded by
Charles Morris
Treasurer of the Household
1970–1973
Succeeded by
Bernard Weatherill
Preceded by
Francis Pym
Chief Whip of the Conservative Party
1973–1979
Succeeded by
Michael Jopling
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
1973–1974
Succeeded by
Bob Mellish
Preceded by
Roy Mason
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
1979–1981
Succeeded by
James Prior
Preceded by
Ian Gilmour
Lord Privy Seal
1981–1982
Succeeded by
The Baroness Young
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