Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb

The Right Honourable
 The Lord Plumb
 DL
15th President of the European Parliament
In office
1987–1989
Preceded by Pierre Pflimlin
Succeeded by Enrique Barón Crespo
Personal details
Born 27 March 1925 (1925-03-27) (age 86)
Political party Conservatives, European Democrats

Charles Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb DL (born 27 March 1925) is a British farmer who went into politics as a leader of the National Farmers Union. He later became active in the Conservative Party and was elected as a Member of the European Parliament. Plumb was President of the European Parliament from 1987 to 1989, the first and only Briton to hold the post.

Contents

Background

Plumb's family were from Cheshire and had been in farming for several generations. His father farmed at Coleshill in Warwickshire, on which his son joined him in 1940. He took over running the farm in 1952 when his father died. The farm ran to 300 acres (1.2 km2) and consisted primarily of a dairy herd (200 pedigree Ayrshire cattle) with 70 breeding sows and 100 acres (0.40 km2) of grain.[1]

National Farmers Union

After rising through the county branch, In 1965 Plumb was elected Vice-President of the National Farmers Union. Although only 40 years old he was considered for the Presidency,[2] but had to settle for a promotion to Deputy President in 1966.[3] In the late 1960s Plumb was a member of the Northumberland Committee inquiring into the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, being the only working farmer on the committee. Towards the end of the committee's deliberations, a report from political correspondent J.W. Murray in Farmer and Stockbreeder claimed that Plumb had single-handedly persuaded the committee to recommend prohibiting the import of carcass meat from countries where foot and mouth was endemic.[4]

President of the NFU

In January 1970 the incumbent President of the NFU Gwilym Williams failed to get the 80% support necessary to be re-elected, and Plumb was elected President of the NFU in his place.[5] Plumb's term of office included British accession to the European Economic Community and its Common Agricultural Policy and Plumb negotiated for greater support for British agriculture; he stressed that Britain no longer had the economic power to bring cheap food prices.[6] However Plumb was a strong supporter of British membership of the European Communities; he was considered as a possible director for the pro-market campaign in the 1975 referendum campaign[7] and was described as one of its most indefatigable spokesmen.[8] Plumb was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 1973.[9]

European Parliament

Having joined the Conservative Party, he was elected Member of the European Parliament for the Cotswolds seat in 1979 and remained in the European Parliament until 1999, being President of the European Parliament 1987-1989.

He was made a Life peer as Baron Plumb, of Coleshill in the County of Warwickshire on 6 April 1987. He was also Chancellor of Coventry University between 1995 and 2007 and a founder of leading EU lobbying law firm Alber & Geiger.

Personal

Married 1947, Marjorie Dorothy Dunn; one son John, two daughters Elizabeth and Christine.

References

  1. ^ Leonard Amey, "A fighter to lead the farmers", The Times, 30 January 1970, p. 10.
  2. ^ "Probables And Possibles For N.F.U. Presidency", The Times, 29 December 1965, p. 4.
  3. ^ "N.F.U. Choose New President", The Times, 9 April 1966, p. 6.
  4. ^ "MP's motion on alleged farm report leak", The Times, 8 February 1969, p. 3.
  5. ^ Leonard Amey, "President of NFU is ousted", The Times, 30 January 1970, p. 2.
  6. ^ Leonard Amey, "Britain can no longer attract cheap food, NFU chief says", The Times, 23 January 1973, p. 11.
  7. ^ David Butler and Uwe Kitzinger, "The 1975 Referendum", Macmillan, 1975, p. 73.
  8. ^ Butler & Kitzinger p. 171.
  9. ^ "Birthday Honours", The Times, 2 June 1973, p. 4.
Common Assembly: 1952–1958
Parliamentary Assembly: 1958–1962
European Parliament (Appointed): 1962–1979
European Parliament (Elected): 1979–present