Brian Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney

The Right Honourable The Lord Mawhinney PC
Shadow Home Secretary
In office 11 June 1997 – 11 April 1998
Leader	William Hague
Preceded by	Michael Howard
Succeeded by	Norman Fowler
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office 5 July 1995 – 11 June 1997
Leader	John Major
Preceded by	Jeremy Hanley
Succeeded by	Cecil Parkinson
Minister without Portfolio
In office 5 July 1995 – 2 May 1997
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Jeremy Hanley
Succeeded by	Peter Mandelson
Secretary of State for Transport
In office 20 July 1994 – 5 July 1995
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	John MacGregor
Succeeded by	George Young
Minister of State for Health
In office 14 April 1992 – 20 July 1994
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Virginia Bottomley
Succeeded by	Gerry Malone
Member of Parliament for Peterborough
In office 3 May 1979 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Michael Ward
Succeeded by	Helen Clark
Member of Parliament for North West Cambridgeshire
In office 2 May 1997 – 11 April 2005
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Shailesh Vara
Personal details
Born	26 July 1940 Belfast, United Kingdom
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	Queen's University Belfast University College London
Religion	Christianity

Brian Stanley Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney PC (born 26 July 1940)^[1] is a British Conservative Party politician. He was a member of the Cabinet from 1994 until 1997 and a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 until 2005.

Early life

Mawhinney was born in 1940 in Belfast and was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.^[2] He studied physics at Queen's University of Belfast,^[2] gaining an upper second class degree in 1963 and obtained a Ph.D. in radiation physics at the Royal Free Hospital in London in 1969 with thesis title Studies on the effects of radiation on mammalian bone grown in vitro.^[2] He worked as assistant professor of radiation research at the University of Iowa from 1968–70 and then returned to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine as a lecturer from 1970–84.^[2] He has two sons and a daughter with his wife Betty who is an American and he lists Anglo-American relations among his interests.^[3]

Political career

Mawhinney unsuccessfully fought Stockton-on-Tees in October 1974, being defeated by the Labour incumbent, Bill Rodgers.

He was Member of Parliament for Peterborough from 1979 to 1997 and Member of Parliament for North West Cambridgeshire from 1997 to 2005.^[4] Mawhinney campaigned prolifically against pornography. In 1979 one of his bills was in the Private Members’ Bills ballot, which attempted to ban indecent displays outside cinemas, sex shops and strip clubs. In early 1980, he called for Keith Joseph to launch an inquiry into a page on the Post Office’s Prestel viewdata service, called "A Buyer's Guide to Dirty Books".^[5] In the early 1980s he was secretary of the Conservative backbench Northern Ireland committee, during which time he showed wariness of the Rev Ian Paisley, warning his supporters that the British commitment to Ulster could be damaged by "protestant ingratitude".

He was PPS to John Wakeham from 1982 to 1983 and PPS to Tom King from 1984 to 1986.^[2] He became a junior minister at the Northern Ireland Office in 1986,^[1] and then became Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office in 1990.^[2] In 1992, he became Minister of State at the Department of Health until 1994 when he entered the cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport.^[2] He served as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio for two years from 1995 until the 1997 election.^[1] He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the dissolution honours list in 1997.^[6] He served as Shadow Home Secretary and spokesman for home, constitutional and legal affairs for a year under William Hague before returning to the back benches in June 1998.^[1] He stepped down from the House of Commons in May 2005.^[7][8] On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer,^[9] and on 24 June he was created Baron Mawhinney, of Peterborough, in the County of Cambridgeshire.^[10][11]

Lord Mawhinney questioned the priority David Cameron had given to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, saying David Cameron had no plans to do bring forward the legislation and that it was a distraction following Lords reform and Alternative Vote.^[12]

Outside politics

In 2003, he was appointed Chairman of The Football League,^[13] and in 2004 oversaw a re-organisation of the league structure, renaming the former Division One as the Football League Championship. Deeply religious, Mawhinney is a leading member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship and was a member of the General Synod for five years.^[1] He is also the current president of Christians In Sport.^[14]

See also

• List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords
• List of Northern Ireland members of the Privy Council

References

1. Mp, Conservative (18 October 2002). "Sir Brian Mawhinney". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
2. "Mawhinney, Brian". London: Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 14 November 2005. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
3. Castle, Stephen (31 July 1994). "Profile: No nonsense for the Cabinet's new boy: Brian Mawhinney: The transport boss may have a twinkle in his eye, writes Stephen Castle, but he won't take flannel from civil servants". The Independent (London).
4. "…with 27 new working peers…". London: Telegraph Media Group. 14 May 2005. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
5. InfoWorld 28 April 1980
6. The London Gazette: no. 55229. p. 8994. 16 August 1998.
7. "Mawhinney to leave Parliament". BBC News. 30 September 2003. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
8. "End of Commons road for four MPs". BBC News. 10 April 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
9. "Full list of new life peers". BBC News. 13 May 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
10. The London Gazette: no. 57688. p. 8439. 29 June 2005.
11. Kelly, Jeremy (6 August 2005). "Life baronies". London: The Times. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
12. David Cameron under renewed pressure from Tory grassroots over gay marriage (02 June 2013)
13. "Mawhinney handed top post". BBC Sport. 19 December 2002. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
14. "PRESS RELEASE: Lord Mawhinney appointed as President of Christians in Sport".

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Brian Mawhinney