Nicholas James Christopher Lowther,2nd Viscount Ullswater (born 9 January 1942),is a British hereditary peer and former member of the House of Lords who sat as a Conservative. He succeeded his great-grandfather in the viscountcy of Ullswater in 1949,being one of very few peers to have succeeded a great-grandfather in a title.
He served as a whip and a minister under Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1989 and 1995 culminating in serving as the Minister of State for Housing from 1994 to 1995.
Early life
Lowther was the son of John Lowther (1910–1942) and Priscilla Lambert (1917–1945). His father was secretary to HRH The Duke of Kent,who served as best man at their 1937 wedding.[1] His father died alongside the Duke in the Dunbeath air crash.
As a member of a Royal Household he could not take part in partisan politics and did not seek to remain in the House of Lords when the House of Lords Act 1999 was passed. But after the death of the Viscount of Oxfuird in January 2003,he won the all-house by-election,enabling him to return to the House of Lords.[2]
On 22 May 2006,Lord Ullswater was nominated for the newly created post of Lord Speaker,and in the election held on 28 June 2006 emerged in third place out of nine candidates. He served as one of the Deputy Speakers in the Lords until May 2020;from June 2020 until May 2021,he served as Deputy Chairman of Committees.[3] His great-grandfather,James Lowther,served as Speaker of the House of Commons 1905–1921.
Ullswater retired from the House of Lords on 20 July 2022.[4]
Other interests
Lord Ullswater is the Chairman of Lonsdale Settled Estates Ltd and a Director of Lowther Trustees Limited,both companies that manage the family landholdings in Cumbria.[5]
Arms
Coat of arms of Nicholas Lowther,2nd Viscount Ullswater
Crest
A dragon passant Argent.
Escutcheon
Or six annulets three two and one and in chief a crescent for difference all Sable.
Supporters
On either side a horse Argent gorged with a wreath of laurel Vert and charged on the shoulder with a portcullis chained Or.
Motto
Magistratum Indicat Virum (The Office Shows The Man)[6]
Personal life
Lord Ullswater was an amateur jockey in his youth.
In 1967,he married Susan Weatherby. The couple has two sons and two daughters:
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