William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw

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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.

[edit] Biography

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.

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 November 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. Some have argued that Thatcher's dependence on him could have caused his stroke at the end of 1987, as he was taking on five jobs at the same time. After he resigned, others have said, including Nicholas Ridley, that Whitelaw's retirement was actually the beginning of the end of the Thatcher premiership, as he was no longer around so often give advice. Whitelaw had a reliable political antennae. He privately thought Thatcher should have resigned on the 10th anniversary of becoming Prime Minister.

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. 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.

[edit] References

• Burke's Peerage
• Guardian Unlimited Books (review) - The killing suit
• Obituary (The Guardian, July 2, 1999)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Robert Scott	Member of Parliament for Penrith and The Border 1955–1983	Succeeded by David Maclean
Political offices
Preceded by Fred Peart	Lord President of the Council 1970–1972	Succeeded by Robert Carr
	Leader of the House of Commons 1970–1972
Preceded by —	Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1972–1973	Succeeded by Francis Pym
Preceded by Maurice Macmillan	Secretary of State for Employment 1973–1974	Succeeded by Michael Foot
Preceded by Lord Carrington	Chairman of the Conservative Party 1974–1975	Succeeded by Peter Thorneycroft
Preceded by Merlyn Rees	Home Secretary 1979–1983	Succeeded by Leon Brittan
Preceded by John Biffen	Lord President of the Council 1983–1988	Succeeded by John Wakeham
Preceded by Lady Young	Leader of the House of Lords 1983–1988	Succeeded by Lord Belstead
Preceded by Rab Butler	Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1979–1988	Succeeded by Geoffrey Howe

Deputy Prime Ministers and First Secretaries of State of the United Kingdom
Clement Attlee, Herbert Morrison, Anthony Eden, Rab Butler, George Brown, Michael Stewart, Barbara Castle, William Whitelaw, Geoffrey Howe, Michael Heseltine, John Prescott