Frederick Mulley
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Frederick William Mulley, Baron Mulley PC (3 July 1918–15 March 1995) was a British Labour politician, barrister-at-law, and economist.
Mulley attended Warwick School between 1929 and 1936. He served in the Worcestershire Regiment in the Second World War, reaching the rank of sergeant, but was captured in 1940 and spent five years as a prisoner of war in Germany. During this time he obtained a BSc in economics and became a chartered secretary.[1]
At the end of the war, he received an adult scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, and after a brief spell on an economics fellowship at the University of Cambridge (1948-50) he trained as a barrister, being called to the Bar in 1954.
Mulley had joined the Labour Party since 1936 and in 1945 he unsuccessfully contested the constituency of Sutton Coldfield. He became Member of Parliament for Sheffield Park in 1950, a position he held until retiring at the 1983 General Election.
During a long career in politics he held many ministerial positions including Minister of Aviation (1965-7), Minister for Disarmament (1967-9), and Minister of Transport (1969-70, 1974-5). In 1975 Harold Wilson brought him to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Education and Science, and in 1976 became Secretary of State for Defence.
He is best remembered for falling asleep during the Queen's Jubilee Review of the Royal Air Force at RAF Finningley in 1977 when there was considerable noise around him. Having a small sleep during exercise was referred to by members of the RAF as having a "Fred Mulley". It was suggested in the satirical magazine Private Eye that Mulley was guilty of treason (then still a capital offence) for having slept with the Queen.
After retiring from the House of Commons in 1983, he was awarded a life peerage as Baron Mulley, of Manor Park in the City of Sheffield in 1984 and held a variety of directorial positions.
A main road in the Lower Don Valley in Sheffield is named after him.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas William Burden |
Member of Parliament for Sheffield Park 1950–1983 |
Succeeded by constituency abolished |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Reginald Prentice |
Secretary of State for Education and Science 1975–1976 |
Succeeded by Shirley Williams |
| Preceded by Roy Mason |
Secretary of State for Defence 1976–1979 |
Succeeded by Francis Pym |
