David Charles Waddington, Baron Waddington, GCVO, PC, QC, DL (2 August 1929 – 23 February 2017) was a British politician and barrister.
The Lord Waddington | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Nick Sinclair, 1991 | |
| Governor of Bermuda | |
| In office 11 April 1992 – 2 May 1997 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Premier | |
| Preceded by | Desmond Langley |
| Succeeded by | Thorold Masefield |
| In office 28 November 1990 – 11 April 1992 | |
| Prime Minister | John Major |
| Preceded by | The Lord Belstead |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Wakeham |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 26 October 1989 – 28 November 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Douglas Hurd |
| Succeeded by | Kenneth Baker |
| In office 13 June 1987 – 24 July 1989 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | John Wakeham |
| Succeeded by | Tim Renton |
| Minister of State for Immigration | |
| In office 6 January 1983 – 13 June 1987 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Timothy Raison |
| Succeeded by | Tim Renton |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment | |
| In office 5 January 1981 – 6 January 1983 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Patrick Mayhew |
| Succeeded by | John Gummer |
| Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |
| In office 16 May 1979 – 5 January 1981 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Alfred Bates |
| Succeeded by | John Wakeham |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 4 December 1990 – 26 March 2015 Life peerage | |
| Member of Parliament for Ribble Valley Clitheroe (1979–1983) | |
| In office 1 March 1979 – 29 November 1990 | |
| Preceded by | David Walder |
| Succeeded by | Michael Carr |
| Member of Parliament for Nelson and Colne | |
| In office 27 June 1968 – 20 September 1974 | |
| Preceded by | Sydney Silverman |
| Succeeded by | Doug Hoyle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Charles Waddington 2 August 1929 Burnley, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 23 February 2017 (aged 87) South Cheriton, Somerset, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse |
Gillian Green (m. 1958) |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | |
A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons from 1968 to 1974 and 1979 to 1990, and was then made a life peer in the House of Lords. During his parliamentary career, Waddington worked in government as Chief Whip, then as Home Secretary and finally as Leader of the House of Lords. He then served as the Governor of Bermuda between 1992 and 1997.
Early life
editWaddington was born in Burnley, Lancashire, the youngest of five. His father and grandfather were both solicitors in Burnley. He was educated at Cressbrook School and Sedbergh School, both independent schools.[1]
He then attended Hertford College, Oxford, where he became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association. He was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1951.[2]
Waddington failed to adequately defend Stefan Kiszko, a civil servant accused of the murder of Lesley Molseed, at Leeds Crown Court in July 1976 in what would become one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Waddington did not review or question any of the 6000+ statements that the prosecution presented at the last minute. He also failed to ask about semen evidence that could have proved Kiszko's innocence since the sample Kiszko provided did not match semen retained from Molseed's body. Kiszko served 16 years in prison, receiving frequent violent attacks for being a "child killer", after wrongly being found guilty. He died of a massive heart attack 20 months after he was fully released. The real murderer was eventually convicted in 2007. Waddington was a strong supporter of Capital Punishment.
Political career
editWaddington stood for election several times before being successful. He was the Conservative candidate at Farnworth in the 1955 general election, at Nelson and Colne in 1964, and at Heywood and Royton in 1966.[3]
He was first elected to Parliament at the 1968 Nelson and Colne by-election, caused by the death of Labour MP Sydney Silverman. He was re-elected there in 1970 and in February 1974, but lost his seat at the October 1974 general election by a margin of 669 votes to Labour's Doug Hoyle.[2]
Waddington was returned to Parliament for Clitheroe at a by-election in March 1979, and was subsequently elected for the broadly similar Ribble Valley constituency in 1983.[1]
In government
editA junior minister under Margaret Thatcher, Waddington was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury and Government Whip (1979–81), Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Employment (1981–83), Minister of State at the Home Office (1983–87), and Chief Whip from 1987 until his elevation to Cabinet level in 1989, when he became Home Secretary.[3] On Monday 5 November 1990, he was the guest-of-honour at the annual dinner of the Conservative Monday Club[4]
Life peer
editOn 4 December 1990, he was created a life peer as Baron Waddington, of Read in the County of Lancashire.[5] He served as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords until 1992. He then served as Governor of Bermuda from 1992 until 1997.[6][7]
Lord Waddington was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1994.[8] In 2008, his amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, known as the Waddington Amendment, inserted a freedom of speech clause into new anti-homophobic hate crime legislation.[9]
In November 2009, the Government failed to repeal the Waddington Amendment in the Coroners and Justice Bill.[10][11] On 26 March 2015, Lord Waddington retired from the House of Lords pursuant to Section 1 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014.[12]
Personal life
editWaddington married Gillian Rosemary Green (born 1939), the daughter of Alan Green, on 20 December 1958. The couple had three sons and two daughters.[13]
Lord Waddington died of pneumonia on 23 February 2017, at his home in South Cheriton, Somerset, aged 87.[2][13]
Arms
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References
edit- ^ a b Kavanagh, Dennis (25 February 2017). "Lord Waddington obituary: Chief Whip and former Home Secretary was loyal supporter of Margaret Thatcher". The Independent.
- ^ a b c Bates, Stephen (24 February 2017). "Lord Waddington obituary". The Guardian.
- ^ a b "Lord Waddington profile". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ Monday News Jan 1991.
- ^ "No. 52357". The London Gazette. 7 December 1990. p. 18904.
- ^ Staff (7 May 1997). "From Bermuda to the treacle mines for Lord David". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
After almost five years as Governor of Bermuda, Lord Waddington has come home to the Ribble Valley.
- ^ "FROM BERMUDA TO THE TREACLE MINES FOR LORD DAVID". Webcitation.org. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "No. 53640". The London Gazette. 12 April 1994. p. 5476.
- ^ "Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008". Opsi.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "Coroners and Justice Bill". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 12 November 2009 (pt 0008)". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Lords Hansard text for 26 March 2015 (pt 0001)". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ a b Heffer, Simon (14 January 2021). "Waddington, David Charles, Baron Waddington (1929–2017), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380379. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)