William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw
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The Rt Hon. William Whitelaw in 1974 |
William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw,
KT,
CH,
MC,
PC,
DL (
June 28,
1918 –
July 1,
1999), commonly known as
Willie Whitelaw, was a British
Conservative politician.
Whitelaw was born in
Nairn, in northeast
Scotland. He was educated at
Winchester College and
Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he won a
blue for
golf. He then joined the
British Army, earning the rank of
Major in the
Scots Guards; during the
Second World War, he was awarded the
Military Cross. After early defeats as a candidate for the constituency of
East Dunbartonshire, he became
MP for
Penrith and the Border in
1955, and represented that constituency for 28 years. After stints as a junior
whip and as a
parliamentary secretary,
Alec Douglas-Home appointed him as Opposition
Chief Whip in
1964, and
Ted Heath promoted him to
Lord President of the Council and
Leader of the House of Commons in
1970. He was also appointed to the
Privy Council during this time.
Edward Heath appointed him as the first British
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland after the imposition of direct rule in March
1972 and he served in that capacity until November
1973. During his time in Northern Ireland he introduced '
special category' status for paramilitary prisoners. He left Northern Ireland to become
Secretary of State for Employment shortly before the
Sunningdale Agreement was reached, to confront the
National Union of Mineworkers over pay. The dispute led to the Conservative party losing power in the
February 1974 general election. Also in 1974, Whitelaw became a
Companion of Honour.
Soon after
Harold Wilson took control of the government, Heath appointed Whitelaw as Deputy Leader of the Opposition. After a second defeat in the
October 1974 general election, Heath called a leadership election in 1975. Whitelaw loyally refused to run against Heath; however, to widespread surprise,
Margaret Thatcher knocked Heath out of the contest in the first round. Despite standing, and losing convincingly, against Thatcher in the second round, Whitelaw managed to maintain his position as Deputy Leader until the
1979 general election, when he was appointed
Home Secretary and
Deputy Prime Minister in Thatcher's new government.
He presided over a troubled period, with
riots in
Toxteth and
Brixton, and he increased the number of prisons and of police.
Two days after the
1983 general election, Whitelaw received a
hereditary peerage (the first created for 18 years) in order to become Lord President of the Council and
Leader of the House of Lords. This sparked an immediate
by-election.
Granting a hereditary peerage (soon followed by those for the
Viscount Tonypandy and
Earl of Stockton) was generally regarded as a tactical move by Thatcher, to ensure that she could create hereditary peerages and baronetcies for others, notably the
baronetcy created for her husband
Denis (the only one created since 1965). Some felt that she may have wanted to set the precedent for her successor to grant her a hereditary peerage when she retired as an MP, although her Barony of Thatcher, awarded by
John Major, is a mere life peerage.
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.
During his period as Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Lords, Margaret Thatcher relied on Whitelaw heavily and famously announced that "every Prime Minister needs a Willie". He chaired the "star chamber" committee that settled the annual disputes between the limited resources made available by Treasury and the spending demands made by other government departments. It was Whitelaw who managed to dissuade Thatcher in
1980 from going to
Leeds to take charge of the
Yorkshire Ripper inquiry personally.
After a stroke in December 1987, he was forced to resign due to ill health in January 1988. During his retirement up until his death he was the Chairman of the Board of Governors at
St Bees School, Cumbria. He was created a
Knight of the Thistle in 1990, and died of natural causes at the age of 81 in 1999, survived by Cecilia, his wife of 56 years, and four daughters.
Although Whitelaw was given a hereditary peerage the title became extinct on his death as his daughters were unable to inherit so in some respects his Viscountcy was a
life peerage. However, his eldest daughter married and divorced the heir presumptive to the Earl of Swinton, and her two sons by that marriage are in line to inherit that title, so a special remainder to the Viscounty would have seen it submerged in the earldom in any event.
His home for many years was the mansion of Ennim just outside the village of
Great Blencow near
Penrith, Cumbria.
*
Burke's Peerage*
Guardian Unlimited Books (review) - The killing suit*
Obituary (
The Guardian,
July 2,
1999)
