Marmaduke Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley

Marmaduke James Hussey, Lord Hussey of North Bradley (29 August 1923 – 27 December 2006), known as Duke Hussey, was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1986 to 1996, fulfilling two terms in that role.

Education and career

Hussey was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Oxford. He served in the Grenadier Guards in World War II and was severely injured at Anzio, having to have a leg amputated as a prisoner-of-war, which resulted in his repatriation. He joined Associated Newspapers where he had a long career, culminating in the position of managing director, before joining Times Newspapers as chief executive and managing director, a post he held from 1971 to 1980.

Chairman of the BBC

He was appointed Chairman of the BBC in 1986, upon the death of Stuart Young, thanks in part to his close connections to the ruling Conservative Party. Within three months of joining the BBC, he had forced the resignation of the Director-General, Alasdair Milne, following a series of rows in recent years between the BBC and the Conservative government.^[1] In the 1990s, Hussey fell out with Director General John Birt over his management style and Panorama’s controversial interview with Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995.

On 11 September 1996, Hussey was made a life peer as Baron Hussey of North Bradley, of North Bradley in the County of Wiltshire.^[2]

Hussey gave up several boardroom appointments when he took up his job at the BBC, but he remained chairman of the Royal Marsden Hospital until 1998.

Family

His wife Lady Susan Hussey is a Woman of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth II and is also godmother to the Duke of Cambridge. They had a son and a daughter.

Marmaduke Hussey died at the age of 83 on 27 December 2006.

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