William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw

The Rt Hon William Whitelaw
Deputy Prime Minister
In office 4 May 1979 – 10 January 1988
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Rab Butler
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Howe
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council
In office 11 June, 1983 – 10 January, 1988
Preceded by	Janet Young
Succeeded by	John Ganzoni
In office 20 June 1970 – 7 April 1972
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	Fred Peart
Succeeded by	Robert Carr
Home Secretary
In office 4 May 1979 – 11 June 1983
Preceded by	Merlyn Rees
Succeeded by	Leon Brittan
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office 28 February 1974 – 11 February 1975
Preceded by	Peter Carington
Succeeded by	Peter Thorneycroft
Secretary of State for Employment
In office 2 December 1973 – 4 March 1974
Preceded by	Maurice Macmillan
Succeeded by	Michael Foot
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 24 March 1972 – 2 December 1973
Preceded by	office created
Succeeded by	Francis Pym
Born	28 June 1918(1918--) Nairn, Scotland
Died	July 01 1999 (aged 81) Penrith, England
Political party	Conservative
Religion	Church of Scotland

William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL (June 28, 1918 – July 1, 1999), commonly known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative politician.

Early life

Whitelaw was born in Nairn, in northeast Scotland. He was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won a blue for golf. He then joined the British Army, earning the rank of Major in the Scots Guards; during the Second World War, he was awarded the Military Cross.

Member of Parliament

After early defeats as a candidate for the constituency of East Dunbartonshire, he became Member of Parliament (MP) for Penrith and the Border at the 1955 general election, and represented that constituency for 28 years. After stints as a junior whip and as a parliamentary secretary, Alec Douglas-Home appointed him as Opposition Chief Whip in 1964, and Ted Heath promoted him to Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons in 1970. He was also appointed to the Privy Council during this time.

In government

Edward Heath appointed him as the first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland after the imposition of direct rule in March 1972 and he served in that capacity until November 1973. During his time in Northern Ireland he introduced 'Special Category Status for paramilitary prisoners. He left Northern Ireland to become Secretary of State for Employment shortly before the Sunningdale Agreement was reached, to confront the National Union of Mineworkers over pay demands. The dispute was followed by the Conservative party's losing the February 1974 general election. Also in 1974, Whitelaw became a Companion of Honour.

Bid for Conservative Leadership, Home Secretary and Peerage

Soon after Harold Wilson's Labour Party returned to government, Heath appointed Whitelaw as Deputy Leader of the Opposition. After a second defeat in the October 1974 general election, Heath was forced to call a leadership election in 1975. Whitelaw loyally refused to run against Heath; however, and to widespread surprise, Margaret Thatcher knocked Heath out of the contest in the first round. Despite standing, and losing convincingly, against Thatcher in the second round, Whitelaw managed to maintain his position as Deputy Leader until the 1979 general election, when he was appointed Home Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister in Thatcher's new government. As Home Secretary, Whitelaw adopted a hardline approach to law and order, but struggled to contain spiralling crime rates, overcrowded prisons and growing civil unrest across the United Kingdom.

Two days after the 1983 general election, Whitelaw received a hereditary peerage (the first created for 18 years) in order to become Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords. In the resulting Penrith and The Border by-election, the Conservative candidate David Maclean narrowly held the seat against a strong challenge from the SDP-Liberal Alliance.

Leader of the House of Lords

Whitelaw faced many challenges in attempting to manage the House of Lords, facing a major defeat over abolition of the Greater London Council within a year of taking over. However, his patrician and moderate style appealed to Conservative peers and his tenure is considered a success.

During his period as Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Lords, Margaret Thatcher relied on Whitelaw heavily, famously announcing that "every Prime Minister needs a Willie". He chaired the "star chamber" committee that settled the annual disputes between the limited resources made available by Treasury and the spending demands of other government departments. It was Whitelaw who managed to dissuade Thatcher in November 1980 from going to Leeds to take charge of the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry personally.

Whitelaw was usually portrayed on the satirical TV show Spitting Image wearing his dressing gown and pyjamas to cabinet meetings.

Resignation

After a stroke in December 1987, he was forced to resign. Some have argued that Thatcher's dependence on him could have caused his stroke at the end of 1987, as he was taking on five jobs at the same time. Some people have said, including Nicholas Ridley, that Whitelaw's retirement was the beginning of the end of the Thatcher premiership, as he was no longer around as often to give sensible advice. After listening to him, Thatcher may have moderated her stance on several issues. Whitelaw privately thought Thatcher should have resigned on the 10th anniversary of becoming Prime Minister.^{[citation needed]}

Retirement and Death

During his retirement and up until his death he was the Chairman of the Board of Governors at St Bees School, Cumbria. He was created a Knight of the Thistle in 1990, and died of natural causes at the age of 81 in 1999, survived by Cecilia, his wife of 56 years, and four daughters.

Although Whitelaw was given a hereditary peerage, the title became extinct on his death as his daughters were unable to inherit. However, his eldest daughter married and divorced the heir presumptive to the Earl of Swinton, and her two sons by that marriage are in line to inherit that title, so a special remainder to the Viscounty would have seen it submerged in the earldom in any event.

His home for many years was the mansion of Ennim just outside the village of Great Blencow near Penrith, Cumbria. On his death, he was buried at St. Andrew's Parish Church, Dacre.

References

• Burke's Peerage
• Guardian Unlimited Books (review) - The killing suit
• Obituary (The Guardian, July 2, 1999)

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