Malcolm Ian Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness, PC (born 3 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords as one of the remaining hereditary peers. He is also chief of Clan Sinclair. He is the Chief Executive of the Clan Sinclair Trust.
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The Earl was educated at Marlborough College and Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.
Lord Caithness served as a House of Lords government whip under Margaret Thatcher from 1984 to 1985. He then moved to the Department of Transport as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, serving until 1986 when he became a Minister of State at the Home Office. In 1988 he was once again moved, this time to be Minister of State at the Department of Environment. In 1989, he became Paymaster-General.
In 1990, Lord Caithness was again shuffled to the Foreign Office as a Minister of State, and then in 1992 back to the Department of Transport. He married Diana Caroline Coke (1953–1994) in 1975. In January 1994, Lord Caithness resigned from the Government following the suicide of his wife, Diana Countess of Caithness, who according to the BBC "shot herself in despair at his relationship with another woman."[1] In 2004, he married Leila C. Jenkins in Rosslyn Chapel.[2] The Earl filed for divorce a year later.
With the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Lord Caithness, along with most other hereditary peers, lost his automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. He was however elected as one of the 90 representative peers to remain in the House of Lords under the provisions of the Act.
He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1990. He is an opponent of fractional-reserve banking.[3]
In 2009 the Earl said "...I do not believe there is an obligation towards the clan in any formal sense. For many years I took no interest in the Clan because I was too busy earning a living and bringing up the family...If a chief can give the time, particularly to the Diaspora, then there are huge rewards for everyone and I would hope that most chiefs can do that."[4]
In 2010, the chief of the Clan Sinclair was advertised on the internet as the host for a £7,588 UK trip most of which was to be in Scotland, including a tour of Westminster and the chance to meet "various colleagues" including the Speaker. The trip was to raise funds for a charity, the Clan Sinclair Trust, but a disgruntled donor to the Trust, as part of a wider campaign against the Trust, complained to The House of Lords Commissioner for Standards Paul Kernaghan that this would breach the rules on use of Westminster facilities. Although the trip did not take place the Earl apologised for any unintentional misleading of the public.[5][6]
In 2010, the chief of the Clan Sinclair was advertised on the internet as the host for a £7,588 UK trip most of which was to be in Scotland, including a tour of Westminster and the chance to meet "various colleagues" including the Speaker. The trip was to raise funds for a charity, the Clan Sinclair Trust, but a disgruntled donor to the Trust, as part of a wider campaign against the Trust, complained to The House of Lords Commissioner for Standards Paul Kernaghan that this would breach the rules on use of Westminster facilities. Although the trip did not take place the Earl apologised for any unintentional misleading of the public.[5][6]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Brooke |
Paymaster-General 1989–1990 |
Succeeded by Richard Ryder |
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by James Sinclair |
Earl of Caithness 1965—present |
Incumbent |
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