Reg Prentice
The Right Honourable The Lord Prentice PC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of State for Social Security (Minister for the Disabled) | |
In office 7 May 1979 – 5 January 1981 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Alf Morris |
| Succeeded by | Hugh Rossi |
| Minister of State for Overseas Development | |
In office 10 June 1975 – 21 December 1976 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | Judith Hart |
| Succeeded by | Frank Judd |
In office 29 August 1967 – 6 October 1969 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Arthur Bottomley |
| Succeeded by | Judith Hart |
| Secretary of State for Education and Science | |
In office 5 March 1974 – 10 June 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Margaret Thatcher |
| Succeeded by | Fred Mulley |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Employment | |
In office 19 April 1972 – 5 March 1974 | |
| Leader | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | James Callaghan |
| Succeeded by | William Whitelaw |
| Minister of State for Public Buildings and Works | |
In office 6 April 1966 – 29 August 1967 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Charles Pannell |
| Succeeded by | Bob Mellish |
| Minister of State for Education and Science | |
In office 20 October 1964 – 6 April 1966 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Peter Legh |
| Succeeded by | Goronwy Roberts |
Member of Parliament for Daventry | |
In office 3 May 1979 – 11 June 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Arthur Jones |
| Succeeded by | Tim Boswell |
Member of Parliament for Newham North East East Ham North (1957–1974) | |
In office 30 May 1957 – 3 May 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Percy Daines |
| Succeeded by | Ron Leighton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Reginald Ernest Prentice (1923-07-16)16 July 1923 Croydon |
| Died | 18 January 2001(2001-01-18) (aged 77) Mildenhall, Wiltshire |
| Political party | Conservative (1977–2001) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (Before 1977) |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
Reginald Ernest Prentice, Baron Prentice, PC (16 July 1923 – 18 January 2001[1]) was a British politician who held ministerial office in both Labour and Conservative Party governments. He was the most senior Labour figure ever to defect to the Conservative party.
Contents
1 Education and war service
2 Early politics
3 Switch of party
4 Archives
5 References
6 External links
Education and war service
Reg Prentice was born in Croydon, Surrey, and educated at Whitgift School in South Croydon, then at the London School of Economics. He served in Austria and Italy during World War II.
Early politics
He joined the staff of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) in 1950.
Prentice was a councillor for Whitehorse Manor in the then-County Borough of Croydon from 1949, having stood unsuccessfully in Thornton Heath ward in 1947. He served on the Housing, Libraries, Planning & Development, Water and Reconstruction Committees.
He first stood, unsuccessfully, for parliament in Croydon North in 1950 and 1951, then Streatham in 1955. As Labour Member of Parliament from 1957 for East Ham North, later Newham North East, he was a minister of state in Harold Wilson's first government at Education and Science (1964–1966), then as Minister of Public Buildings and Works (1966–1967), and finally was put in charge of the still-new Ministry of Overseas Development (1967–1969).
When Labour regained power, he was Secretary of State for Education and Science between 1974 and 1975, subsequently becoming Minister for Overseas Development with a seat in the cabinet until 1976.
In 1975, he was deselected by his Constituency Labour Party. He appealed unsuccessfully from the rostrum of the Labour Party Conference for the National Executive Committee to overturn their endorsement of his deselection.[2]
Switch of party
In 1977, Prentice left the Labour Party after a series of battles with left-wing constituency activists such as Owen Ashworth[2] and joined the Conservative Party.
He was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Daventry in the 1979 general election. Lady Hesketh was instrumental in him standing for Daventry.[3] He was a Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Security in Margaret Thatcher's government between 1979 and 1981. He left the government owing to ill health.[2] He was knighted in 1987,[4] the year he stepped down as an MP. On 30 January 1992, he was created Life Peer as Baron Prentice, of Daventry in the County of Northamptonshire.[5]
In the last few years before his death at age 77, he was President of the Devizes Conservative Association. He died in Mildenhall, Wiltshire. His daughter, Christine, followed her father as a London Borough of Croydon councillor for Coulsdon East ward from 1992 to 1998.
A biography, which provides an in-depth account of Prentice's party-political transition during the 1970s, was published in 2015: Geoff Horn, Crossing the floor: Reg Prentice and the crisis of British social democracy.[6]
Archives
Catalogue of the Prentice papers at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics.
References
^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, accessed 18 June 2012
^ abc Michael White (15 October 2001). "''The Guardian'', 22 Jan 2001, Obituary of Lord Prentice of Daventry". Politics.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-04-07..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ The Dowager Lady Hesketh Daily Telegraph, 12 April 2006, accessed 18 March 2012
^ "No. 51164". The London Gazette. 29 December 1987. p. 15767.
^ "No. 52824". The London Gazette. 4 February 1992. p. 1851.
^ Horn, Geoff (2015). Crossing the floor: Reg Prentice and the crisis of British social democracy (paperback ed.). Manchester University Press. ISBN 978 0 7190 9991 5. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Reg Prentice
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Percy Daines | Member of Parliament for East Ham North 1957–1974 | Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for Newham North East 1974–1979 | Succeeded by Ron Leighton |
| Preceded by Arthur Jones | Member of Parliament for Daventry 1979–1987 | Succeeded by Tim Boswell |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Charles Pannell | Minister of State for Public Buildings and Works 1966–1967 | Succeeded by Robert Mellish |
| Preceded by Arthur Bottomley | Minister of State for Overseas Development 1967–1969 | Succeeded by Judith Hart |
| Preceded by Margaret Thatcher | Secretary of State for Education and Science 1974–1975 | Succeeded by Fred Mulley |
| Preceded by Judith Hart | Minister of State for Overseas Development 1975–1976 | Succeeded by Frank Judd |
| Preceded by Alf Morris | Minister of State for Social Security (Minister for the Disabled) 1979–1981 | Succeeded by Hugh Rossi |
Second Wilson Cabinet | ||
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Callaghan Cabinet | ||
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James Callaghan
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United Kingdom Secretaries of State for International Development | ||
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| Minister of Overseas Development |
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| Secretary of State for International Development |
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* Served as Minister for Overseas Development as a Minister of State at the Foreign Office | ||
Authority control  |
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