Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville

The Right Honourable
The Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville
CH PC
Secretary of State for National Heritage
In office
22 September 1992 – 20 July 1994
Prime Minister John Major
Preceded by David Mellor
Succeeded by Stephen Dorrell
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
24 July 1989 – 10 April 1992
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
John Major
Preceded by Tom King
Succeeded by Patrick Mayhew
Paymaster General
In office
13 July 1987 – 24 July 1989
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by Kenneth Clarke
Succeeded by The Earl of Caithness
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office
13 July 1987 – 24 July 1989
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by Norman Tebbit
Succeeded by Kenneth Baker
Member of Parliament
for Cities of London and Westminster
City of London and Westminster South (1977-1997)
In office
1 May 1997 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by Christopher Tugendhat
Succeeded by Mark Field
Personal details
Born 3 March 1934 (1934-03-03) (age 77)
Political party Conservative
Alma mater Balliol College, Oxford
Harvard Business School

Peter Leonard Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, CH, PC (born 3 March 1934), is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Cities of London and Westminster from 1977-2001.

He is the son of Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor, a former Home Secretary, and Barbara Brooke, Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte. (His parents were one of the few married couples where both partners held noble titles in their own right.) He was educated at Marlborough College and Balliol College, Oxford, (where he was President of the Oxford Union) before going on to the Harvard Business School in the United States. After leaving university he worked as a headhunter and was Chairman of Spencer Stuart.

He was elected as MP for the Cities of London and Westminster in 1977. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1988. He was made Chairman of the Conservative Party in 1987, and then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 1989. He remained in this position until the reshuffle after the 1992 general election. After the 1992 general election, Brooke left the Cabinet and stood unsuccessfully for the position of Speaker of the House of Commons. (The House instead elected the Labour MP Betty Boothroyd to the role, with several Conservative MPs voting against Brooke on the grounds that he had too recently been in the Cabinet and was thus not sufficiently close to the backbenches.) Brooke then remained on the backbenches for a short time before being brought back into the Cabinet later in the year as Secretary of State for National Heritage, a role he held until 1994. During his time as Heritage Secretary, he oversaw the restoration of Windsor Castle following the fire that had struck the state apartments in 1992.

Brooke stepped down as an MP at the 2001 general election and was made a life peer as Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville of Sutton Mandeville in the County of Wiltshire in October 2001. He was Chairman of the Association of Conservative Peers. He was appointed Companion of Honour, as his father had been, in 1992.

References

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Christopher Tugendhat
Member of Parliament for the City of London and Westminster South
19771997
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster
19972001
Succeeded by
Mark Field
Party political offices
Preceded by
Norman Tebbit
Chairman of the Conservative Party
1987–1989
Succeeded by
Kenneth Baker
Political offices
Preceded by
Kenneth Clarke
Paymaster General
1987–1989
Succeeded by
The Earl of Caithness
Preceded by
Tom King
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
1989–1992
Succeeded by
Patrick Mayhew
Preceded by
David Mellor
Secretary of State for National Heritage
1992–1994
Succeeded by
Stephen Dorrell