Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton

The Earl of Stockton
Born	(1943-10-10) 10 October 1943
Title	Earl of Stockton
Tenure	29 December 1986 – present
Predecessor	Harold Macmillan
Spouse(s)	Birgitte Hamilton (m. 1970, div. 1991) Miranda, Countess of Stockton (m. 1995, div. 2011)
Issue	Daniel Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden Lady Rebecca Macmillan Lady Louisa Macmillan
Parents	Maurice Macmillan Katharine Macmillan, Viscountess Macmillan of Ovenden

Alexander Daniel Alan Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton (born 10 October 1943) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.^[1][2] He is the first son of the late Conservative politician Maurice Macmillan and the first grandson of former prime minister Harold Macmillan.

Life

Lord Stockton was educated at Eton College, the University of Paris, and at Strathclyde University.^[3] He was a member of the European Parliament for South West England from 1999 to 2004. He was one of the hereditary peers to have been excluded from the House of Lords. He inherited his peerage from his grandfather, Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963, on his death at the end of 1986, as his father was already deceased.^[4] He has several times been an unsuccessful candidate in the by-elections held among hereditary peers for a seat in the House of Lords: in 2007 he came third in a contest to replace Lord Mowbray, coming third behind the winner, Lord Cathcart, and Lord Younger of Leckie; in the 2010 by-election to replace Lord Northesk, he came second behind Lord Younger of Leckie; in 2011 he lost to Lord Hanworth in a ballot for the seat of the deceased Lord Strabolgi; and in 2014 he lost out to The Earl of Oxford and Asquith ^[5]

At the May 2011 local council elections, Lord Stockton was elected as a Conservative councillor on South Bucks district council.^[6] Both his father Maurice Macmillan (1921–1984) and his grandfather preceded him as Chairman of Macmillan Publishers Ltd., the publishing house long owned by the family. Stockton sold it to the German Holtzbrinck group. He ranked 253rd in the Sunday Times 2004 Rich List, with an estimated wealth of £165m.^[7]

Lord Stockton renovated Hayne Manor with his current wife in Devon and listed it for sale.^[8][9]

One of his more recent public appearances came on 29 April 2002, when he appeared alongside several other relatives of deceased former Prime Ministers, as well as the then Prime Minister Tony Blair and the four surviving former Prime Ministers, for a dinner at Buckingham Palace which formed part of the celebrations for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.^[10]

Lord Stockton is Vice President of the Royal Crescent Society, Bath.

Titles and styles

• Alexander Macmillan Esq (1943–1984)
• The Hon. Alexander Macmillan (1984)
• Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden (1984–1986)
• The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Stockton (1986–1999)
• The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Stockton MEP (1999–2004)
• The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Stockton (2004–)

Marriages

• Hélène Birgitte Hamilton, 1970, divorced 1991. There were three children of this marriage:
  • Daniel Maurice Alan Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden (b. 9 October 1974)^[11]
  • Lady Rebecca Elizabeth Macmillan (b. 1980)
  • Lady Louisa Alexandra Macmillan (b. 1982)

• Miranda Quarry (the third wife of Peter Sellers), 23 December 1995, divorced 2011. This union produced no children.

Ancestry

Arms

References

Sources

• The Times Online report on the 2nd Earl of Stockton
• Profile of Alexander Macmillan, Viscount Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Stockton