| The Right Honourable The Lord Belstead PC |
|
|---|---|
| Paymaster General | |
| In office 28 November 1990 – 11 April 1992 |
|
| Prime Minister | John Major |
| Preceded by | Richard Ryder |
| Succeeded by | John Cope |
| Leader of the House of Lords | |
| In office 10 January 1988 – 28 November 1990 |
|
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Whitelaw |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Waddington |
| Lord Privy Seal | |
| In office 10 January 1988 – 28 November 1990 |
|
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | The Lord Wakeham |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Waddington |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 September 1932 |
| Died | 3 December 2005 (aged 73) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
John Julian Ganzoni, 2nd Baron Belstead PC (30 September 1932 – 3 December 2005) was a British Conservative politician and peer who served as Leader of the House of Lords under Margaret Thatcher from 1988 to 1990.
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Ganzoni was the only son of Sir Francis Ganzoni, a barrister and Conservative MP for Ipswich who was created Baron Belstead in 1938, by his wife Gwendolen Gertrude Turner, daughter of Arthur Turner, of Ipswich. He went to Eton before reading history at Christ Church, Oxford.[1]
Belstead showed little interest in politics at first, and waited six years after succeeding to the peerage on his father's death in 1958 before making his maiden speech. In 1970 Edward Heath appointed him to become Parliamentary Under-Secretary to Margaret Thatcher at the Department of Education and Science, he was moved in the same rank to the Northern Ireland Office three years later. When Margaret Thatcher led the Tories back to power in 1979, she sent him to the Home Office. He was then made Minister at the Foreign Office when Lord Carrington and his team resigned after the Falklands invasion.
He next moved to the Ministry of Fisheries and Food, and went back to the Education Department again before becoming Deputy Leader to William Whitelaw as Leader of the House of Lords. He succeeded Whitelaw in that post in 1988. After losing his Cabinet seat in 1990 he became Paymaster-General and Northern Ireland Minister under John Major, retiring from the Government to become Chairman of the Parole Board in 1992.
In 1983, he was sworn of the Privy Council. After the House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, he was created a life peer as Baron Ganzoni, of Ipswich in the County of Suffolk, an honour given to all former Leaders of the House of Lords. He also gave his name to the new "Belstead Centre" at Woodbridge School.
Lord Belstead never married. He died in December 2005, aged 73, when both the hereditary peerage and the baronetcy became extinct.[1]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Viscount Whitelaw |
Leader of the House of Lords 1988–1990 |
Succeeded by The Lord Waddington |
| Preceded by John Wakeham |
Lord Privy Seal 1988–1990 |
|
| Preceded by Richard Ryder |
Paymaster General 1990–1992 |
Succeeded by John Cope |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Viscount Whitelaw |
Leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords 1988–1990 |
Succeeded by The Lord Waddington |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Joshua Rowley |
Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk 1994–2003 |
Succeeded by The Lord Tollemache |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Francis Ganzoni |
Baron Belstead 1958–2005 |
Extinct |