Malcolm Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness
Malcolm Ian Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness, PC (born 3 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords as one of the remaining hereditary peers. He is also chief of Clan Sinclair. The Earl was educated at Marlborough College and Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.
Lord Caithness served as a House of Lords government whip under Margaret Thatcher from 1984 to 1985. He then moved to the Department of Transport as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, serving until 1986 when he became a Minister of State at the Home Office. In 1988 he was once again moved, this time to be Minister of State at the Department of Environment. In 1989, he became Paymaster-General.
In 1990, Lord Caithness was again shuffled to the Foreign Office as a Minister of State, and then in 1992 back to the Department of Transport. In January 1994, Lord Caithness resigned from the Government following the death of the Countess of Caithness.
With the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Lord Caithness, along with almost all other hereditary peers, lost his automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. He was however elected as one of the 90 elected hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords pending completion of House of Lords reform.
He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1990. He married Diana Caroline Coke (1953-1994) in 1975.
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Sinclair |
Earl of Caithness 1965 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Peter Brooke |
Paymaster-General 1989–1990 |
Succeeded by Richard Ryder |
Sources
- Ministerial posts
- This page incorporates information from Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page.
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