Christopher Samuel Tugendhat, Baron Tugendhat (born 23 February 1937), [1] is a British politician, businessman, journalist and author. A member of the Conservative Party, he first served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1970 to 1977, when he was appointed to the European Commission, of which he served from 1981 until 1985 as its First Vice-President. Lord Tugendhat entered the House of Lords in 1993, where he sits as a life peer. [2]
Tugendhat was born at Marylebone, Middlesex. His father, Dr Georg Tugendhat (1898–1973), who was born in Vienna, came to Britain after the First World War to pursue a doctorate at the London School of Economics, [3] marrying Marie Littledale in 1934.
Dr Georg Tugendhat traced his paternal origins to the town of Bielitz in Silesia, which until 1918 was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire becoming part of Poland in 1920. [4] His father hailed from a prosperous Jewish family, and converted to Catholicism. [5] [6]
Tugendhat was educated at King's College School, Cambridge, [7] and Ampleforth College, before going up to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. After university, he took up a career in journalism, becoming a features editor and leader writer for the Financial Times from 1960 to 1970. In 1970 he was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the Cities of London and Westminster, remaining in the House of Commons until 1977, when he resigned after being appointed a Member of the European Commission. He was first appointed to the EC by a Labour Government over the head of the nominee of the Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher, but four years later, as Prime Minister, Thatcher reappointed him, and he served as Vice-President of the European Commission from 1981 until 1985.
On 3 December 1980, when leaving his home in Brussels, two bullets were fired at Tugendhat from a car, narrowly missing him; he recalled the attack "closer than I would have liked". [8] The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt. [9]
Following his role at the European Commission, Tugendhat was Chairman of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House) from 1986 to 1995, and of the Civil Aviation Authority from 1986 to 1991, when he was succeeded by Sir Christopher Chataway. In 1993 he was created a Life Peer on the nomination of Prime Minister John Major.
Lord Tugendhat later went on to become the Chairman of Abbey National, Blue Circle Industries, the European Advisory Board of Lehman Brothers, and the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He also served as a director of Rio Tinto and Eurotunnel, among other companies.
Tugendhat is a member of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) advisory board, an independent financial think tank which serves as a neutral, non-lobbying platform for exchanges among official institutions and private sector counter-parties worldwide. [10]
He married Julia Lissant Dobson; [11] they have two sons, James (born 1971) and Angus (born 1974). [12]
His younger brother, Sir Michael Tugendhat, was a Judge of the High Court of England and Wales, and his nephew Tom Tugendhat has served as the Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling since May 2015.
Knighted in the 1990 Birthday Honours, [13] he was elevated on 15 October 1993 to the peerage for life as Baron Tugendhat, of Widdington in the County of Essex. [14]
In 1998 he became the Chancellor of the University of Bath, standing down in 2013 to be succeeded by Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh. [15] In 1998 Lord Tugendhat was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Bath, [16] becoming Chairman of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, the UK's first academic health science centre, from 2007 until December 2011.
|
Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden, was a British barrister and politician.
Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst, Baron Haselhurst,, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017, having previously represented Middleton and Prestwich from 1970 to February 1974. Haselhurst was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010, and later Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2011 and 2014. The oldest Conservative MP to stand down at the 2017 general election, he was created a life peer on 22 June 2018, sitting in the House of Lords as Baron Haselhurst.
William Michael Hardy Spicer, Baron Spicer, was a British politician and life peer who was a Conservative member of the House of Lords from 2010 until 2019. He served as Member of Parliament for West Worcestershire from 1974 to 2010 and was a minister from 1984 to 1990. He later served as chairman of the 1922 Committee from 2001 to 2010.
Arthur Christopher John Soames, Baron Soames, was a British Conservative politician who served as a European Commissioner and the last Governor of Southern Rhodesia. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Bedford from 1950 to 1966. He held several government posts and attained Cabinet rank.
Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1983 and 1992.
Ivor Seward Richard, Baron Richard, was a British Labour politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 until 1974. He was also a member of the European Commission and latterly sat as a life peer in the House of Lords.
Roger Norman Freeman, Baron Freeman, PC, is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major from 1995 to 1997. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Kettering from 1983 to 1997, and was made a life peer in 1997.
Eric George Molyneux Fletcher, Baron Fletcher, was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Preston is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2000 by Sir Mark Hendrick, a member of the Labour Party and Co-operative Party.
Tonbridge and Malling was a constituency in western Kent, in South East England, in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented for its entire creation since 1974 by members of the Conservative Party.
David Gifford Leathes Prior, Baron Prior of Brampton is the former chairman of NHS England and chairman of University College Hospital. He served as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 1997 until the 2001 general election, when he lost his seat to Norman Lamb of the Liberal Democrats by 483 votes. In 2015, he was appointed as a life peer in the House of Lords.
Donald Kaberry, Baron Kaberry of Adel, MC, TD, known as Sir Donald Kaberry, 1st Baronet, from 1960 to 1983, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 33 years and was later a life peer. On March 13, 1991, he died at aged 83 from his injuries from a 1990 Carlton Club bombing by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
Edward Charles Gurney Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth, was a British Conservative Party politician and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds.
Martin Henry FitzPatrick Morris, 2nd Baron Killanin, PC(Ire) was an Irish Unionist (Conservative) Member of Parliament (MP).
The Hon. Daphne Winifred Louise Fielding was a British author in the 20th century.
Wandsworth was the name of a borough constituency created in 1885, abolished in 1918, covering the vast bulk of today's London Borough of Wandsworth in South London but excluding Battersea. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Benedict Michael Gummer is a British businessman and former politician. He is a partner of Gummer Leathes, a property developer. He is a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company, the management consultancy, a visiting fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University and a member of the advisory board of the Office for Place.
Thomas Georg John Tugendhat is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tonbridge, previously Tonbridge and Malling, since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Shadow Minister for Security since 2024. He previously served in the Cabinet as Minister of State for Security from September 2022 to July 2024.
The Conservative Friends of India is linked to the Conservative Party in the UK, and is a membership organisation which engages with the British Indian community and played a significant role in the Conservative campaign in the 2019 general election, as well as supporting the development of stronger India–United Kingdom relations. It actively campaigns for the Conservative Party in the British Indian community. The organisation was also responsible for releasing Hindi campaign songs for the Conservative Party in recent elections supporting David Cameron, Theresa May and Zac Goldsmith.
  | ||
| Hospitals | |
|---|---|
| Notable people |
|
| Associated institutions | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
