Rhodes Boyson

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Sir Rhodes Boyson (born 11 May 1925) is an author and politician in the United Kingdom, and former Conservative Member of Parliament for Brent North. He was knighted and made a member of the Privy Council in 1987.

The son of Alderman William Boyson, MBE, Justice of the Peace, he gained his unusual name from the area of Manchester where he was raised.

[edit] Early career

He served with the Royal Navy based in India at the time of Independence and then was a Head teacher, most notably at the Highbury Grove School in Islington, North London; in this capacity, he controversially supported the retention of corporal punishment in British schools.

He served as Chairman of the National Council for Educational Standards.

[edit] Political career

He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1974, and was Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Education and Science 1979 - 1983. He was Minister of State for Social Security 1983 - 1984 and for Northern Ireland 1984 - 1986 and for Local Government 1986 - 1987. He then moved to the Department of the Environment.

Boyson was a supporter of the Conservative Monday Club and frequently addressed them. At the Conservative Party Annual Conference at Blackpool on 10 October 1991, he was the principal speaker at a Club fringe meeting on the subject of A Conservative Revolution in Education.

In 1994, he made a somewhat infamous appearance on the BBC topical panel show Have I Got News For You in which he appeared not to appreciate either the light-hearted or quiz nature of the programme. His sometimes incoherent ramblings and tangents led to efforts by team captain Paul Merton to keep the audience amused via mime (including pretending to strangle himself) while Boyson talked. Fellow guest Maureen Lipman was observed to wipe away tears caused by a mixture of amusement and embarrassment. He has also appeared (and been lampooned) on shows such as Brass Eye and Ali G. Again, most of the humour in these appearance stemmed from Boyson's apparent failure to recognise the comedic or satirical nature of what he was engaged in and his apparent on-face acceptance of extremely exaggerated comic scenarios put to him.

Boyson lost his Brent North seat in the Labour landslide of 1997, his 24% majority turning to a 10% majority for the opposition; in 2001, the seat, no longer contested by Boyson, swung a further 9% to Labour, suggesting that he had a high personal following.

[edit] Publications and references

• Boyson, Rhodes, Centre Forward - A Radical Conservative Programme, Temple Smith publishers, London, 1978, ISBN 0-85117-148-6

• Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1991, 172 edition, East Sussex, ISBN 0-905702-17-4

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Brent North 1974–1997	Succeeded by Barry Gardiner