William Clark, Baron Clark of Kempston

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William Gibson Haig Clark, Baron Clark of Kempston PC (born October 18, 1917 in London , † October 4, 2004 in Bedford ) was a British politician and life peer .

Life

Clark attended Battersea Polytechnic Institute , the predecessor institution of what is now the University of Surrey , from which he graduated in 1941 with a degree in accounting . In the following war years he served in the Royal Ordnance Corps in Great Britain and India. He left the military at the end of the war in 1946 with the rank of major .

After returning home, Clark opened his own accountancy firm and worked as an investor. In particular, he invested in cane sugar production in Belize and St. Kitts . He maintained his commercial interest during his later years in politics, including serving as a consultant for Tate & Lyle .

Clark found his way into politics in 1949 when he entered the council of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth , where he served as vice chairman of the finance committee. In 1952 and 1955 he joined the Conservative Party in the elections to London County Council , respectively the general election, but on both occasions without success. In the latter, he was defeated in his constituency against Reginald Paget .

Finally, he made it into Parliament in 1959 and was a member of it until 1966, when he just failed to prevail in his constituency of Nottingham South . In 1970 he managed to move back in, this time for East Surrey . In the period that followed, he was a member of the House of Commons without interruption until his resignation from active politics in 1992.

Clark worked primarily in the field of financial policy. In the mid-1970s he played a key role in the financial restructuring of the Conservative Party and from 1979 he was chairman of the Conservatives' finance committee in parliament. He was a staunch defender of Margaret Thatcher's policies and has shown this in numerous television appearances.

In 1980 he was knighted and in 1990 he became a member of the Privy Council .

Clark was made a Life Peer in July 1992 and has since officially held the title of Baron Clark of Kempston, of Kempston in the County of Bedfordshire . He participated regularly and actively in the meetings in the House of Lords .

Clark had been married since 1944 and had four children, two of whom passed away before him.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Obituary at independent.co.uk, accessed on February 9, 2015
  2. ↑ a b c Obituary on theguardian.com, accessed on February 9, 2015
  3. ↑ a b Obituary on telegraph.co.uk, accessed on February 9, 2015
  4. ↑ a b c William Gibson Haig Clark, Baron Clark of Kempston on thepeerage.com , accessed August 17, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Clark, William, Baron Clark of Kempston
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clark, William Gibson Haig, Baron Clark of Kempston (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician, Member of the House of Commons, Life Peer
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH 4th October 2004
Place of death Bedford