The Right Honourable
The Lord Newton of Braintree
OBE PC DL
Newton speaking in the Lords Chamber, ten days before his death.
Leader of the House of Commons
Lord President of the Council
In office
11 April 1992 – 2 May 1997
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byJohn MacGregor
Succeeded byAnn Taylor
Secretary of State for Social Security
In office
23 July 1989 – 11 April 1992
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
John Major
Preceded byJohn Moore
Succeeded byPeter Lilley
Junior ministerial offices 1979–1989
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
25 July 1988 – 24 July 1989
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byKenneth Clarke
Succeeded byKenneth Baker
Minister of State for Health
In office
10 September 1986 – 25 July 1988
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byKenneth Clarke
Succeeded byDavid Mellor
Minister of State for Social Security and the Disabled
In office
11 September 1984 – 10 September 1986
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byRhodes Boyson
Succeeded byJohn Major
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
In office
5 March 1982 – 11 September 1984
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byLynda Chalker
Succeeded byRay Whitney
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
1 October 1981 – 5 March 1982
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byJohn Wakeham
Succeeded byAlastair Goodlad
Assistant Government Whip
In office
7 May 1979 – 1 October 1981
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Life peerage
31 October 1997 – 25 March 2012
Member of Parliament
for Braintree
In office
28 February 1974 – 8 April 1997
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byAlan Hurst
Personal details
Born(1937-08-29)29 August 1937
Harwich, Essex, United Kingdom
Died25 March 2012(2012-03-25) (aged 74)
Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom
Political partyConservative
EducationTrinity College, Oxford

Antony Harold Newton, Baron Newton of Braintree, OBE, PC, DL (29 August 1937 – 25 March 2012) was a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet member. He was the member of Parliament for Braintree from 1974 to 1997, and was later a member of the House of Lords.[1]

Early life

Newton was born in Harwich, Essex. He was educated at Friends School Saffron Walden and Trinity College, Oxford, where he was President of Oxford University Conservative Association and the Union.[2] He unsuccessfully fought Sheffield Brightside in the 1970 General Election. In the 1972 Birthday Honours, Newton was appointed to the Order of the British Empire as an Officer (OBE).[3]

Member of Parliament

Newton was first elected for the new constituency of Braintree in February 1974 with a majority of 2,001,[4] and successfully retained the seat in the October 1974 general election with a reduced majority of 1,090.[5] The Conservative victory at the 1979 general election boosted his majority dramatically to 12,518,[6] and it increased at every subsequent election to a high of 17,494 at the 1992 general election[7] before his defeat in the Labour landslide at the 1997 general election by 1,451 votes.

In government

Newton was appointed a government whip when the Conservatives came to power in 1979. In 1982 he moved to a junior ministerial position at the Department of Health and Social Security, where he remained until 1988, becoming Minister for Social Security and Disabled People in 1984, and Minister for Health in 1986.

In the 1988 New Year Honours, Newton was sworn of the Privy Council.[8] He became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and a minister at the DTI for a year, before being promoted to Secretary of State for Social Security from 1989 to 1992, and then taking up the positions of Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons until 1997. From 1992 to 1995, he answered to Prime Minister’s Questions when Major was not present. His discretion about Major's four-year affair with Edwina Currie is credited with enabling Major to become prime minister.[9]

Peerage

In the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, after Newton lost his seat, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Newton of Braintree, of Coggeshall in the County of Essex on 31 October 1997.[10]

He attempted to be selected for the 1999 European Parliament Election, but was unsuccessful.[11]

In 1998 he was appointed a professional standards director of the Institute of Directors, a position he held until 2004.

Newton chaired the Hansard Society Commission on Parliamentary Scrutiny which ran from 1999 to 2001. The Commission concluded that Parliament was being left behind by changes in the constitution, government and society and set out reforms for improving its function.[12][13]

He became a chairman of the Further Education Funding Council for East Region, serving between 1998 and 2001, the privy councillors' committee on the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 between 2002 and 2004, the Tax Law Rewrite Steering Committee between 2007 and 2010), the North East Essex Mental Health NHS Trust between 1997 and 2001, the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust between 2001 and 2009, East Anglia's Children's Hospices between 1998 and 2002 and Help the Hospices between 2002 and 2010, the Council on Tribunals (1998-2007), and its successor the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (2007–2009); the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse (1997–2001). He became a deputy lieutenant of Essex in 2002

Personal life

Newton was married to Janet Huxley from 25 August 1962 until they divorced in 1986. He married Patricia Gilthorpe née Thomson on 26 September 1986. Her first husband had died.

Newton was a heavy smoker from an early age. He died at Colchester Hospital of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on 25 March 2012.[14] He was survived by his two daughters from his first marriage.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Newton dies". BBC. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Telegraph obituary". Telegraph.co.uk. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "No. 45678". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 May 1972. p. 6265.
  4. ↑ "UK general election results February 1974". Psr.keele.ac.uk. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "UK general election results October 1974". Psr.keele.ac.uk. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "UK general election results 1979". Psr.keele.ac.uk. 5 May 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "UK general election results 1992". Psr.keele.ac.uk. 5 May 2011. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  8. ↑ "No. 51171". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1987. p. 1.
  9. ↑ "obituaries:Lord Newton of Braintree". Daily Telegraph. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "No. 54939". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 November 1997. p. 12422.
  11. ↑ Butler, D.; Westlake, M. (16 March 2000). British Politics and European Elections 1999. Springer. ISBN 9780230554399 – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Lord Newton of Braintree (chair) (2001), The Challenge for Parliament: Making Government Accountable: Report of the Hansard Society Commission on Parliamentary Scrutiny, (London: Vacher Dod) ISBN 978-0-905702-31-5
  13. ↑ Hansard Society – The Challenge for Parliament: Making Government Accountable: Summary of Hansard Society Research Archived 19 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Lister, Sam (26 March 2012). "Lord Newton of Braintree dies at 74". The Independent. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
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