William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw
Fred Peart | |||||||||||||||||
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Succeeded by | Robert Carr | ||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
Born | William Stephen Ian Whitelaw 28 June 1918 Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||
Died | 1 July 1999 Blencow, England | (aged 81)||||||||||||||||
Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Cecilia Sprot (m. 1943) | ||||||||||||||||
Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||
Military service | |||||||||||||||||
Allegiance | United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||
Branch/service | British Army | ||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1939–1946 | ||||||||||||||||
Rank | Major | ||||||||||||||||
Unit | Scots Guards | ||||||||||||||||
Battles/wars | World War II | ||||||||||||||||
William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw,
After the Conservative Party won an unexpected victory at the
Whitelaw served Prime Minister
Early life
Whitelaw was born in
Whitelaw was educated first at
The battalion's second-in-command was killed when his tank was hit in front of Whitelaw's eyes; Whitelaw succeeded to this position, holding it, with the rank of major, throughout the advance through the
Political career
Following early defeats as a candidate for the constituency of
Heath government, 1970–1974
When the Conservatives returned to power in 1970 under
In 1973, Whitelaw left Northern Ireland—shortly before the
In opposition, 1974–1979
Soon after Harold Wilson's Labour Party returned to government, Heath appointed Whitelaw as deputy leader of the opposition and chairman of the Conservative Party. Following a second defeat in the October 1974 general election, during which Whitelaw had accused Wilson of going "round and round the country stirring up apathy", Heath was forced to call a leadership election in 1975. Whitelaw loyally refused to run against Heath; however, and to widespread surprise, Margaret Thatcher narrowly defeated Heath in the first round. Whitelaw stood in his place and lost convincingly against Thatcher in the second round. The vote polarised along right–left lines, with in addition the region, experience and education of the MP having their effects.[19]
Whitelaw managed to maintain his position as deputy leader until the 1979 general election, when he was appointed Home Secretary. In an unofficial capacity,[2] he also served as Deputy Prime Minister in Thatcher's new government.[3][20]
Home Secretary, 1979–1983
Thatcher admired Whitelaw and appointed him Home Secretary in her first Cabinet, later writing of him "Willie is a big man in character as well as physically. He wanted the success of the Government which from the first he accepted would be guided by my general philosophy. Once he had pledged his loyalty, he never withdrew it".[21] Thatcher was rumoured to have said that "every Prime Minister needs a Willie" and Whitelaw was seen as Thatcher's de facto Deputy Prime Minister between 1979 and 1988 (though he never formally held the office), to the extent that the then Cabinet Secretary, Robert Armstrong, said that had Thatcher been killed in the Brighton hotel bombing, he thought he would have advised Queen Elizabeth II to send for Whitelaw.[22][23][24]
As home secretary, Whitelaw adopted a hard-line approach to law and order. He improved police pay and embarked upon a programme of extensive prison building. His four-year tenure in office, however, was generally perceived as a troubled one. His much vaunted "short, sharp shock" policy, whereby convicted young offenders were detained in secure units and subjected to quasi-military discipline, won approval from the public but proved expensive to implement.[citation needed] He was home secretary during the six-day Iranian Embassy siege in April–May 1980.
In March 1981, he approved
He contemplated resigning after an intruder broke into the Queen's bedroom in 1982 but was dissuaded from doing so. "We couldn't do without Willie," Margaret Thatcher reflected in later years. "He was a wonderful person."[26]
Leader of the House of Lords, 1983–1988
Two days following the 1983 general election, Whitelaw received a hereditary peerage (the first created for 18 years) as Viscount Whitelaw, of Penrith in the County of Cumbria.[27] Thatcher appointed him Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords. Lord Whitelaw faced many challenges in attempting to manage the House of Lords, facing a major defeat over abolition of the Greater London Council within a year of taking over. However, his patrician and moderate style appealed to Conservative peers and his tenure is considered a success.[citation needed]
During his period as her deputy and as Leader of the Lords, Thatcher relied on Whitelaw heavily; she famously announced that "every prime minister needs a Willie".
Resignation
Following a stroke in December 1987, he felt he had no choice but to resign. Nicholas Ridley argued that Whitelaw's retirement marked the beginning of the end of the Thatcher premiership, as he was no longer around as often to give sensible advice and to moderate her stance on issues, or to maintain a consensus of support in her own Cabinet and parliamentary party.[citation needed] He resigned from the Cabinet on 10 January 1988.[30]
Retirement and death
During his retirement and until his death, Whitelaw was the chairman of the board of Governors at
After several years of declining health, Whitelaw died from natural causes at Ennim, his home in
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References
- ^ "Letter to Lord Whitelaw (resignation)". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. 10 January 1988. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-14-028393-8.
- ^ a b Aitken, Ian (2 July 1999). "Viscount Whitelaw of Penrith". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ a b "Willie Whitelaw dies aged 81". The Guardian. Press Association. 1 July 1991. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ Daily Telegraph, Doug Sanders obituary, 20 April 2020
- ^ Cosgrave, Patrick (2 July 1999). "Obituary: Viscount Whitelaw". The Independent. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ a b A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 1898, volume 2, ed. Bernard Burke, p. 1585, 'Whitelaw of Gartshore'.
- ^ a b c "Gartshore and Woodhall Estates - Archives Hub". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk.
- ^ The Railway Gazette, volume 37, 1922, p. 553.
- ^ Current Biography Yearbook 1975, H. W. Wilson & Co., 1976, p. 438.
- ISBN 978-0-85052-912-8.
- ^ "THE HOUSE OF COMMONS CONSTITUENCIES BEGINNING WITH "P"". 15 September 2018. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Eric Caines, Heath and Thatcher in Opposition (2017), p. 37
- ^ "No. 44210". The London Gazette. 30 December 1966. p. 1.
- ^ "No. 45134". The London Gazette. 23 June 1970. p. 6953.
- ^ MacStiofáin, Seán Revolutionary in Ireland, pp. 281–89.
- ^ "BBC Politics 97". Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "COMPANIONS OF HONOUR". 16 June 2008. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Philip Cowley and Matthew Bailey, "Peasants' Uprising or Religious War? Re-Examining the 1975 Conservative Leadership Contest", British Journal of Political Science (2000) 30#4 pp. 599–629 in JSTOR
- ^ Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands (2013) p. 427.
- ^ Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years (HarperCollins, 1993), p. 27.
- ^ Norton, Philip (2017). "A temporary occupant of No.10? Prime Ministerial succession in the event of the death of the incumbent". Public Law: 26, 28.
- ISBN 9780198859291.
- ISBN 9-781526-145451.
- ^ "New Sunday Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ "Queen & Country pt3". YouTube.
- ^ "No. 49394". The London Gazette. 21 June 1983. p. 8199.
- ^ "Changes to Government Departments (Hansard, 18 June 2003)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 18 June 2003.
- ^ The Guardian: "The Killing Suit" – review of book Wicked Beyond Belief.
- ^ Lion, Ed (10 January 1988). "Thatcher's No. 2 Cabinet minister resigns". United Press International. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ^ "No. 52351". The London Gazette. 30 November 1990. p. 18550.
- ISBN 978-0-19-923716-6.
- ^ Donnelly, Rachel (2 July 1999). "Lord Whitelaw dies at 81 after long illness". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Obituary: Vicountess Whitelaw of Penrith, former ATS volunteer who, as wife of Tory MP, devoted herself to charity campaigns". The Scotsman. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ "Power of the Masons – Myth of Menace?". Sunday People. 13 July 1986.
- ^ "Just how much do the Masons really matter?". The Independent. 21 July 1995.
Further reading
- Moore, Charles. Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands (2013)
- Whitelaw, William. The Whitelaw Memoirs (1989), a primary source
External links
- Portraits of William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Burke's Peerage
- Obituary in The Guardian, 2 July 1999
- William Whitelaw, "The Whitelaw Memoirs", Aurum Press, London, 1989.
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Whitelaw
- The Papers of Viscount Whitelaw of Penrith held at Churchill Archives Centre
- British Army Officers 1939−1945