Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler

Last updated

Fiona Poole
​
(m. 1979)​
The Right Honourable
The Lord Fowler
PC
Official portrait of Lord Fowler crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2018
Lord Speaker of the House of Lords
In office
1 September 2016 –30 April 2021
Children2
Alma mater Trinity Hall, Cambridge

Peter Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler, PC (born 2 February 1938) is a British politician who served as a member of both Margaret Thatcher and John Major's ministries during the 1980s and 1990s. [1] He held the office of Lord Speaker from 1 September 2016 to 30 April 2021.

Contents

After serving as Shadow Minister of Transport, Fowler was appointed Minister of Transport in 1979, being responsible for making seat belts compulsory. Later, as Secretary of State for Health and Social Services, he drew public attention to the dangers of AIDS. He resigned from the cabinet as Employment Secretary, and was knighted in 1990.

Fowler was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1992 to 1994, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions from 1997 to 1998, and Shadow Home Secretary from 1998 to 1999. In 2001, he was created a Conservative life peer. He renounced party political allegiance upon taking office as Lord Speaker. On 25 February 2021, he announced that in April he would be stepping down as Lord Speaker to focus on campaigning work, particularly in relation to AIDS. [2]

Early life

The son of Norman Frederick Fowler and Katherine (née Baker), he was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, Essex; [3] after which he did National Service as a second lieutenant in the Essex Regiment. Whilst studying at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA Economics & Law 1961), he was Chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association in Michaelmas 1960, in which term he entertained both the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Home Secretary Rab Butler. He then became a journalist, and worked at The Times . [4]

Member of Parliament

Fowler, who had aspired to become an MP since childhood, was elected for Nottingham South in 1970; after the seat was abolished, he switched to Sutton Coldfield at the February 1974 election. [4]

In opposition

During the mid-1970s, Mr. Fowler was Shadow Minister of Transport. In April 1976, he was photographed outside the Palace of Westminster having just taken delivery of his third four-cylinder MG MGB GT – he had reportedly rejected the idea of buying a V8 version on account of the cost. [5]

In government

Upon Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister in 1979, she did not immediately appoint Fowler to her Cabinet, explaining: "we were short of one place. As a result, Norman Fowler, as Minister of State at Transport, was not able to be an official member of the Cabinet, although he attended all our meetings." [6]

As Secretary of State for Transport, Fowler drove through Lord Nugent's 1981 bill to make seat belts compulsory, a law that came into force in 1983. [7] [8]

As Secretary of State for Health and Social Security in 1986, Fowler implemented the first official drive to educate the British public to the dangers of AIDS. [4] Under his tenure, awareness about how the disease was spread was transmitted through posters, newspaper advertisements, and television campaigns. [4] The main campaign "Don't Die of Ignorance" included mailing a leaflet to 23 million homes. By 1987 a Gallup Poll showed that 98% of the public was aware of how HIV was transmitted, and the vast majority supported Fowler's campaign. [4] By 1990 infection rates in the UK were below those of peer nations, including France and the US. [9]

Some Conservatives, including Thatcher herself, objected to the frank content of these messages, which contained material about needle usage and intravenous drugs, as well as discussions about the risks of unprotected sex. [4] During this time, Thatcher told Fowler that she felt he had become known as the "minister for Aids", and she disapproved of this. [4] The following year, she moved him to the role of Secretary of State for Employment. [10]

Backbenches, retirement and Shadow Cabinet

Fowler later resigned from the Cabinet in January 1990. He later claimed that he was the first politician to cite a desire to spend more time with family as the reason for leaving office. [11] The phrase has been reused by many others as a reason for a resignation, and is often treated as insincere or euphemistic, though Fowler has said he was being literal, as he worried he was growing distant from his young children. [12]

Following his resignation from the frontbench, Fowler was knighted in 1990. [13]

Fowler then returned twice to front-line politics, first as Chairman of the Conservative Party (as a backbencher in Parliament) from 1992 to 1994, during which time he oversaw the parliamentary boundary changes of the early 1990s; [12] then on the Conservative front bench as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–98) and finally as Shadow Home Secretary (1998–99).

In 2001, Fowler stepped down as a Member of Parliament.

House of Lords

Fowler speaking from the Woolsack in 2021. His deputy and successor, Lord McFall of Alcluith, sits on the steps of the throne behind him. The Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler (51111276104).jpg
Fowler speaking from the Woolsack in 2021. His deputy and successor, Lord McFall of Alcluith, sits on the steps of the throne behind him.

After standing down from the House of Commons, he entered the House of Lords, sitting on the Conservative benches as Baron Fowler, of Sutton Coldfield, in the County of West Midlands . [14] He had first been offered a peerage in 1989. [15]

In 2003, Lord Fowler proposed that the European Union should appoint a high-level coordinator with ambassadorial rank to deal with the AIDS epidemic. [16]

In 2006, he chaired a House of Lords select committee which criticised the use of the television licence fee, which is used to fund the BBC.

His book A Political Suicide (Politico's Publishing ISBN   978-1-84275-227-2) was published in 2008, and was shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year Award.

In May 2013, Fowler gave his support to legislation aiming to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples, stating: "Parliament should value people equally in the law, and that enabling same-sex couples to marry removes the current inequity." [17]

He was elected as Lord Speaker in 2016. [18] He is the third person and first man to hold the office since it was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Fowler has stated that he favours reducing the House of Lords to 600 members. [19]

On 19 March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic he announced that he would be withdrawing from Westminster and remote working, with deputy speakers taking over his role in the House of Lords, but he returned in July to continue his role. [20]

On 25 February 2021, Fowler announced that he would be stepping down ahead of the introduction of a series of structural and organisational changes and announced that it would be best if those changes were "seen through by the team who will be implementing them". [21] He also stated his desire to stand down in order to "speak his mind" as an independent member of the House of Lords on issues he has campaigned for, in particular LGBT rights in the United Kingdom and HIV and AIDS. [22] In March 2021, Fowler backed calls for the UK's first ever national AIDS memorial, with the aim of fighting stigma and discrimination against those with HIV and AIDS. [23]

Private sector

Lord Fowler has served on the board of directors of several companies and is non-executive chairman of Aggregate Industries plc. [24] He is a member of the National Union of Journalists. [25]

Personal life

After a previous marriage ended in divorce, Fowler married Fiona Poole, a library clerk at the House of Commons, in 1979. [10] [26] They had two daughters, and Fowler became a stepfather to his wife's son from her prior marriage. [10]

As of 2023, Fowler lives in Fulham, London. [12]

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ↑ Known as Minister of Transport until January 1981.
  2. ↑ As Shadow Minister of Transport.

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References

  1. ↑ "Mr Norman Fowler". Hansard. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Lord Speaker announces he is stepping down". UK Parliament. 25 February 2021.
  3. ↑ Dod's Parliamentary Companion 2005, 173rd edition, London, 2004, p.581.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Godfrey, Chris (17 March 2021). "Former health secretary Norman Fowler: 'Some said those with HIV should be in isolation. Perpetually'". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "News: An MG for Shadow Minister". Autocar . Vol. 144 (nbr 4146). 24 April 1976. p. 27.
  6. ↑ Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years (HarperCollins, 1993), p. 29.
  7. ↑ "Seat belt law introduction recalled by Lord Fowler". BBC News. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 October 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "RoSPA History - How Belting Up Became Law". Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  9. ↑ Our World in Data
  10. 1 2 3 Stanford, Peter (26 March 2021). "Lord Speaker Norman Fowler: 'There is a strong case for having a complete review of the House of Lords'" . The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  11. ↑ Norman Fowler (5 July 2008). "Family first". Guardian Unlimited. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  12. 1 2 3 Rayner, Gordon (12 November 2023). "Norman Fowler: 'We should not be under any illusion, the Government is looking defeat in the face'" . The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  13. ↑ "No. 52026". The London Gazette . 23 January 1990. p. 973.
  14. ↑ "No. 56266". The London Gazette . 6 July 2001. p. 1.
  15. ↑ Fowler, Norman (15 June 2023). "One good can come from the Boris Johnson debacle: The will to look afresh at the House of Lords". The Guardian.
  16. ↑ Michael White (21 February 2003). "Europe should appoint Aids envoy, peer says". Guardian Unlimited. Archived from the original on 4 December 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  17. ↑ "Conservative Lord Fowler: If Parliament values people equally, it must make same-sex marriage legal". PinkNews. 10 May 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  18. ↑ "Lord Fowler elected as new Lord Speaker". UK Parliament. 13 June 2016. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "House of Lords size should be cut by 200 peers, Lords Speaker says". The Independent. 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  20. ↑ "Lord Speaker announces withdrawal from Parliament amid coronavirus outbreak". PoliticsHome. 19 March 2020.
  21. ↑ Walker, Peter (25 February 2021). "Normal Fowler to step down early as Lord Speaker". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  22. ↑ "Lord Fowler steps down as Lord Speaker to campaign on Aids". BBC News. 25 February 2021.
  23. ↑ "Speaker Lord Fowler backs calls for National Aids memorial". BBC News. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  24. ↑ "The board at Aggregate Industries". www.aggregate.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  25. ↑ "Freelance May00: Freedom of Information: your task". www.londonfreelance.org. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  26. ↑ "Biography". Norman Fowler. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Nottingham South
1970–1974 		Constituency abolished
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Sutton Coldfield
1974–2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Speaker
2016–2021		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded byas Secretary of State for Transport Minister of State for Transport
1979–1981		Succeeded by
Himself
as Secretary of State for Transport
Preceded by
Himself
as Minister of State for Transport		 Secretary of State for Transport
1981		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Health and Social Services
1981–1987		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Employment
1987–1990		Succeeded by
Minister without Portfolio [ citation needed ]
1992–1994		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Environment Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment,
Transport and the Regions
1997–1998		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Preceded by Shadow Home Secretary
1998–1999		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Conservative Party
1992–1994		Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Fowler		Followed by
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