| The Right Honourable Sir Rhodes Boyson |
|
|---|---|
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary Department of Education and Science |
|
| In office 1979–1983 |
|
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Minister of State for Social Security | |
| In office 1983–1984 |
|
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Minister of State for Northern Ireland | |
| In office 1984–1986 |
|
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Minister of State for the Environment | |
| In office 1986–1987 |
|
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Member of Parliament for Brent North |
|
| In office 1974–1997 |
|
| Preceded by | (new constituency) |
| Succeeded by | Barry Gardiner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 May 1925 Haslingden, Lancashire |
| Political party | Conservative |
Sir Rhodes Boyson (born 11 May 1925 in Haslingden, Lancashire) is a British educator, author and politician and a former Conservative Member of Parliament for Brent North. He was knighted and made a member of the Privy Council in 1987.
The son of Alderman William Boyson MBE JP, Rhodes Boyson was educated at Haslingden Grammar School, University College Cardiff, the University of Manchester, the London School of Economics and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
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He served with the Royal Navy based in India at the time of Independence and then was a head teacher, first at Lea Bank Secondary Modern School in Rossendale (1955–61), then at Robert Montefiore Secondary School, Stepney, London (1961–66),[1] and finally and famously from 1967 to 1974 at Highbury Grove School, a new all-boys comprehensive in Islington, North London, of which he was the founding head; in this capacity, and subsequently as an MP, he was vocal and outspoken in support of the retention of corporal punishment in British schools. He opposed "progressive" teaching methods and what he perceived to be lax discipline both in modern education and in the wider society, and at Highbury Grove he introduced an unfashionably traditional regime, with strictly enforced uniforms, caning for misbehaviour, and a house system. This proved so popular with local parents that the school was consistently oversubscribed.[2]
In 1977 he was co-author (with Prof. C.B. Cox) of one of the series of Black Papers on education,[3] criticising many aspects of the comprehensive schools system.
Boyson was a severe critic of what he regarded as the influence of "mindless sociologists" and the accompanying "mush which has corrupted the national character", noting in 1978 that "it has not gone unnoticed that crime has increased parallel with the number of social workers". The Daily Mirror responded with an editorial comment "that crime has also increased parallel with speeches from Dr. Boyson".[4]
He served as Chairman of the National Council for Educational Standards.
Rhodes Boyson was first elected to the House of Commons in 1974, and was Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Education and Science 1979-1983. In this capacity he sought to uphold schools' right to use the cane, and was nicknamed the "Minister for Flogging" by the anti-corporal-punishment campaign STOPP. He was Minister of State for Social Security 1983-1984, for Northern Ireland 1984-1986 and for Local Government 1986-1987.
Boyson was a strong opponent of homosexuality and a supporter of Section 28. He said:
"It is wrong biblically, is homosexuality. It is unnatural. AIDS is part of the fruits of the permissive society. The regular one-man, one-woman marriage would not put us at risk in this way. If we could wipe out homosexual practices, then Aids would die out." [5]
Boyson was a supporter of the Conservative Monday Club and frequently addressed them. At the Conservative Party Annual Conference at Blackpool on 10 October 1991 he was the principal speaker at a Club fringe meeting on the subject of A Conservative Revolution in Education.
In 1994 he appeared on the BBC topical panel TV show Have I Got News For You and seemed not to appreciate the light-hearted nature of the programme. He also appeared on Brass Eye[6] and was an early interviewee of Ali G[7].
Boyson lost his Brent North seat in the Labour landslide of 1997, his 24% majority turning to a 10% majority for the opposition, partly because of what was perceived to be his lack of commitment to the campaign to retain Edgware General Hospital; in 2001, the seat, no longer contested by Boyson, swung a further 9% to Labour.
In 2007 he received an honorary degree from The University of Buckingham. He now lives in Cedar House nursing home in Harefield.
Distinctive personal features are his mutton chop whiskers and his strong Lancashire accent.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by (new constituency) |
Member of Parliament for Brent North Feb 1974–1997 |
Succeeded by Barry Gardiner |