John Gilbert, Baron Gilbert
| The Right Honourable The Lord Gilbert | |
|---|---|
| Minister of State for Defence Procurement | |
|
In office 1 May 1997 – 17 May 1999 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | James Arbuthnot |
| Succeeded by | Elizabeth Symons |
| Minister of State for Defence | |
|
In office 10 September 1976 – 4 May 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | William Rodgers |
| Succeeded by | Euan Howard |
| Minister of State for Transport | |
|
In office 12 June 1975 – 10 September 1976 | |
| Prime Minister |
Harold Wilson James Callaghan |
| Preceded by | Fred Mulley |
| Succeeded by | William Rodgers (Secretary of State) |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | |
|
In office 8 March 1974 – 12 June 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Terence Higgins |
| Succeeded by | Robert Sheldon |
| Member of Parliament for Dudley East Dudley (1970–1974) | |
|
In office 18 June 1970 – 1 May 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Donald Williams |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 April 1927 |
| Died | 2 June 2013 (aged 86) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater |
St John's College, Oxford New York University |
John William Gilbert, Baron Gilbert PC (5 April 1927 – 2 June 2013) was a British Labour politician.[1]
Early life
Gilbert's father was a civil servant. Baron Gilbert was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, St John's College, Oxford where he studied philosophy, politics and economics and New York University where he gained a PhD in international economics. He then worked as a chartered accountant in Canada.[2]
Parliamentary career
He contested the Parliamentary seat of Ludlow in 1966 and a by-election in Dudley in 1968 before being elected for Dudley in 1970 and (after boundary changes) Dudley East in 1974, which he represented until 1997, when it became part of the new Dudley North constituency (which was held by a new Labour MP) and Gilbert retired from the House of Commons.
In the Labour governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan he was Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1974–1975), Minister for Transport (1975–1976), and Minister of State for Defence (1976–1979).[3] As Minister for Transport he approved the London M25 orbital motorway project and introduced the Bill to make the wearing of seat belts compulsory. He also served on the House of Commons Defence Committee (1979–1987) and the Trade and Industry Committee (1987–1992).[4]
House of Lords
After his retirement from the House of Commons, he was created a Life Peer as Baron Gilbert, of Dudley in the County of West Midlands on 16 May 1997 and from 1997–1999 he was the Minister of State for Defence Procurement in Tony Blair's first government.[4] Always a staunch proponent of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent, he caused controversy[5] when he proposed neutron bombing the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to "prevent people from infiltrating from one side to the other."[6] In October 2012 he said in the House of Lords "The A400M [the RAF's new transport aircraft] is a complete, absolute wanking disaster, and we should be ashamed of ourselves. I have never seen such a waste of public funds in the defence field since I have been involved in it these past 40 years."[7]
Death
He died in 2013 at the age of 86.[8]
References
- ↑ Andrew Roth (5 April 1927). "Lord Gilbert obituary | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
- ↑ Debrett's People of Today. Retrieved 3 June 2013
- ↑ Julian Desborough et al. (compilers) (1992). The Times Guide to the House of Commons, April 1992. Times Books Ltd. ISBN 0-7230-0497-8.
- 1 2 Parliament UK Biographies. Retrieved 3 June 2013
- ↑ Ned Simons "Lord Gilbert Suggests Dropping A Neutron Bomb On Pakistan-Afghanistan Border", The Huffington Post, 26 November 2012
- ↑ Hansard (Lords), 22 November 2012, col. 2000 ff
- ↑ "Lords Hansard text for 24 October 2012 GC68". Hansard. UK Parliament. 24 October 2012.
- ↑ Obituary: Lord Gilbert, telegraph.co.uk, 3 June 2013
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Gilbert
- Debrett's People of Today
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Donald Williams |
Member of Parliament for Dudley 1970–1974 |
Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Dudley East 1974–1997 | |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Terence Higgins |
Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1974–1975 |
Succeeded by Robert Sheldon |
| Preceded by Fred Mulley |
Minister of State for Transport 1975–1976 |
Succeeded by William Rodgers as Secretary of State for Transport |