Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris

Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris (born 12 February 1938) is a British politician. He was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Leominster in 1974. He now sits in the House of Lords as a Labour peer.

Early life

Malvern College

Born in Cardiff, Temple-Morris attended Llandaff Cathedral School and Hillstone School (Malvern College's preparatory school) in Malvern, then Malvern College. He went to St Catharine's College, Cambridge gaining a BA in Law in 1958. He became a barrister, like his father, from 1962 at the Inner Temple, practising until 1989. His family home was in Cardiff, as his father Sir Owen Temple-Morris was MP for Cardiff East.

Parliamentary career

Temple-Morris was selected as the Conservative candidate for Newport (Monmouthshire) in 1964 and 1966 and Norwood in 1970. In February 1974, he was elected for Leominster, having been selected for the seat in March 1973. That same year, he was appointed vice-chairman, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (UK Branch). In 1979, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Norman Fowler, Executive Member, Inter-Parliamentary Union (British Group) and Founding Co-Chairman, British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. He was a member of the Select Committees on Agriculture (1982–83) and on Foreign Affairs (1987–90). He stayed an MP until 2001, although he defected from Conservative to Labour on 20 June 1998.

Temple-Morris was a strong supporter of Michael Heseltine.

Suspension

Temple-Morris was suspended from the party in 1997 because he had "repeatedly and publicly questioned his continued commitment to the Conservative Party".^[1] He then resigned from the party.

Defection

From 1997 to 1998, Temple-Morris sat on the government Labour benches, but did not take the whip, instead sitting as a one-man 'Independent One-Nation Conservative' group. However in 1998 he joined the Labour party but stood down as an MP in the 2001 general election.

House of Lords

Temple-Morris was made a Life peer on 22 June 2001 as Baron Temple-Morris, of Llandaff in the County of South Glamorgan and of Leominster in the County of Herefordshire.^[2] He sits in the House of Lords as a Labour peer.

Outside politics, Temple-Morris was appointed Chairman of the Macleod Group, an association of left-of-centre Conservative MPs, in 1979. Since 1995, he has been President of the British-Iranian Business Association (BIBA) Society.

Temple-Morris contributed to the book What next for Labour? Ideas for a new generation in September 2011, his piece was entitled Labour: Progressive Politics.^[3]

Personal life

Temple-Morris's father, Owen Temple-Morris, was also a Conservative MP. His son, Eddy Temple-Morris, is a DJ, XFM presenter, record producer and former MTV presenter.

Temple-Morris married Taheré Khozeimé-Alam (the daughter of Amir-Hossein Khozeimé Alam of Dezashib who fled to London from Iran in 1979) on 24 July 1964 in London, and then had a formal ceremony at Caxton Hall Register Office the following day. The reception was held at the Dorchester Hotel. They have two sons (including one born in 1967) and two daughters (including one born in 1977).

Temple-Morris was known for his love of shooting, wine and food. He enjoyed fast cars and was fined £50 in 1983 for driving at over 100 mph on the M5.

See also

• Iran – United Kingdom relations

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Peter Temple-Morris
• They Work For You
• European-Atlantic Group: CV of Peter Temple-Morris
• Guardian biography

News items

• Joining Labour in June 1998