Jim Prior
Cledwyn Hughes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Succeeded by | Joseph Godber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of Parliament for Waveney (Lowestoft, 1959–1983) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 8 October 1959 – 18 May 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Edward Evans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | David Porter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | James Michael Leathes Prior 11 October 1927 Norwich, Norfolk, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 12 December 2016 Brampton, Suffolk, England | (aged 89)||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Jane Lywood
(m. 1954; died 2015) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 4 (including David) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education | Charterhouse School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior,
Under Edward Heath, Prior was Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1970 to 1972, then Leader of the House of Commons until Heath lost office in the wake of the February 1974 election. His party returned to power under Margaret Thatcher in 1979, and Prior was Secretary 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 of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, from which he stood down in 1984; he never returned to government.[1]
Early life and career
Prior was born in
He was first elected to Parliament in 1959, and was Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1970 to 1972, then Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council until March 1974. He was one of several unsuccessful candidates in the Conservative Party's 1975 leadership election, entering at the second round and gaining 19 votes to Margaret Thatcher's 146.[3]
Cabinet years
Under Margaret Thatcher he was Secretary 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 1981
Later years
In 1986, he collaborated with John Cassels and
He retired from Parliament in 1987, and was created a
He was chairman and later vice-president of the Rural Housing Trust from 1990 to 1999.[3]
Following his retirement from politics he was much sought after in the world of business: he served as chairman of both GEC and Allders, and had directorships at Barclays, Sainsbury's and United Biscuits.[3]
Prior was interviewed about the rise of Thatcherism for the 2006 BBC TV documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory! and in 2012 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project.[12][13]
Personal life and death
In January 1954, Prior married Jane Primrose Gifford Lywood, daughter of
Lord Prior lived at the Old Hall in Brampton, Suffolk, where he died from prostate cancer on 12 December 2016, at the age of 89.[3][16][17]
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 a Keith Joseph or Enoch 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."[18]
References
- ^ Young, Hugo, One of Us (1989), pp. 193–199
- ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3222
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, ed. L.G. Pine, 1952, p. 2085
- TheGuardian.com. 12 December 2016.
- Thatcher, Margaret, The Downing Street Years, HarperCollins, 1993, p. 28.
- The Sunday Business Post. Archived from the originalon 1 October 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (8 September 1984). "Thatcher in sombre mood over pit talks". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (15 September 1981). "Sacked rebel hits out as Thatcher purges the 'Wets'". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ "Prior, James Michael Leathes ('Jim') | Dictionary of Irish Biography".
- ^ "No. 51097". The London Gazette. 21 October 1987. p. 12971.
- ^ "Oral history: PRIOR, James (b.1927)". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ "Lord James Prior interviewed by Mike Greenwood". British Library Sound Archive. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3222
- ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, ed. L.G. Pine, 1952, p. 1602
- ^ "Former Conservative minister Lord Prior dies". BBC News. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ MacDonald, Henry (12 December 2016). "Jim Prior, former Conservative cabinet minister, dies aged 89". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ Dickson, Annabelle (12 December 2016). "Former Suffolk MP and member of Margaret Thatcher's cabinet Lord (Jim) Prior has died". East Anglian Daily Times.