Thomas McNally,Baron McNally,PC (born 20 February 1943) is a British politician and a former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords.
Thomas McNally,Baron McNally,PC (born 20 February 1943) is a British politician and a former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords.
McNally was born in Blackpool. A Catholic of Irish descent,he attended St Joseph's College,Blackpool. He later attended University College London,where he was elected president of the Debating Society as well as Students' Union President.[ citation needed ]
He later worked for the Fabian Society,and then as a full-time employee of the Labour Party,becoming its international secretary. [2] He served as a political advisor to Foreign Secretary,James Callaghan during the conflict in Cyprus in the 1970s,before becoming head of the Prime Minister's political office at Downing Street in 1976 when Callaghan succeeded Harold Wilson. [3]
Elected to the House of Commons in 1979 as a member of the Labour Party for the constituency of Stockport South,in 1981 he was one of the later defectors to the new Social Democratic Party (SDP). Following constituency boundary changes for the 1983 general election McNally was the SDP candidate for the new constituency of Stockport,but finished in third place behind Labour and the Conservative victor,Tony Favell.
From 1993 he was Head of Public Affairs at Shandwick Consultants,and later non-executive vice-chairman of its successor Weber Shandwick. [3]
On 18 November 1995 it was announced McNally would receive a life peerage. [4] The Letters Patent were issued on 20 December and he took the title Baron McNally,of Blackpool in the County of Lancashire. [5]
After being elected unopposed to succeed Baroness Williams of Crosby,he took office as Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords at the beginning of the 2004/05 session of Parliament. [6]
In January 2006,McNally was linked to the resignation of Charles Kennedy as leader of the Liberal Democrats,with critical comments regarding Kennedy's leadership of the party,and the effect that infighting was having on their electoral prospects in the upcoming local elections in May.[ citation needed ] McNally criticised Kennedy,suggesting that his style and content were lacklustre.[ citation needed ] Also in January 2006,McNally revealed in an interview that he had himself been alcohol dependent in the 1980s. [7] He said,"I don't think the passing of a more boozy,ill-disciplined,ill-researched type of politics is to be regretted at all." [7]
He has been President of the Stockport Liberal Democrat Constituency Party since 2007. In May 2010,following the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government,Lord McNally was appointed Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice,under Kenneth Clarke. [8]
In 2012 McNally justified the absence of an official pardon of mathematician Alan Turing on indecency charges,saying that Turing was rightly prosecuted under the UK's 1950s laws. [9]
On 2 October 2013,Lord McNally announced he would be stepping down as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords,saying it had been "an enormous privilege to serve as Leader of a Group which,by its discipline and cohesiveness has constantly punched above its weight". [10]
Lord McNally resigned as Minister of State for Justice on 18 December 2013 following his appointment as Chair of the Youth Justice Board. [11] He is a vice-president of the Debating Group. [12]
Lord McNally is married with two sons and one daughter. [3]
Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams,Baroness Williams of Crosby,was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP),she served in the Labour cabinet from 1974 to 1979. She was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981 and,at the time of her retirement from politics,was a Liberal Democrat.
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen,Baron Owen,is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979,and later led the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He was a Member of Parliament for 26 years,from 1966 to 1992.
David Martin Scott Steel,Baron Steel of Aikwood,is a retired Scottish politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh,Selkirk,and Peebles,followed by Tweeddale,Ettrick,and Lauderdale,he served as the final leader of the Liberal Party,from 1976 to 1988. His tenure spanned the duration of the alliance with the Social Democratic Party,which began in 1981 and concluded with the formation of the Liberal Democrats in 1988.
Robert Adam Ross "Bob" Maclennan,Baron Maclennan of Rogart,was a British Liberal Democrat politician and life peer.
William Thomas Rodgers,Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank,,is a British politician and life peer. As a Labour Party member of Parliament,he served as Secretary of State for Transport from 1976 to 1979,and was one of the "Gang of Four" of senior Labour politicians who defected to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He subsequently helped to lead the SDP into the merger that formed the Liberal Democrats in 1988,and later served as the party's leader in the House of Lords between 1997 and 2001.
The politics of Scotland operate within the constitution of the United Kingdom,of which Scotland is a country. Scotland is a democracy,being represented in both the Scottish Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom since the Scotland Act 1998. Most executive power is exercised by the Scottish Government,led by the First Minister of Scotland,the head of government in a multi-party system. The judiciary of Scotland,dealing with Scots law,is independent of the legislature and the Scottish Government. Scots law is primarily determined by the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government shares some executive powers with the Scotland Office,a British government department led by the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Donald Michael Ellison Foster,Baron Foster of Bath,is a British politician and life peer who served as Government Deputy Chief Whip and Comptroller of the Household from 2013 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats,he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath from 1992 to 2015.
Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British former politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University,and a strategic adviser to Talgo,a Spanish manufacturer of trains. Hughes was deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014,and from 2013 until 2015 was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark from 1983 until 2015. He declined a position in the House of Lords in 2015.
Alan James Beith,Baron Beith,is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015.
James Robert Wallace,Baron Wallace of Tankerness,is a Scottish politician serving as a Liberal Democrat life peer in the British House of Lords since 2007 and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 2021 to 2022. He served as the Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 1999 to 2005,and during that time he served twice as acting First Minister,in 2000,in the aftermath of Donald Dewar's death and in 2001,following Henry McLeish's resignation. He was formerly Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 1992 to 2005 and Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords from 2013 to 2016.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) formed in 1988 was a political party in the United Kingdom led by David Owen,which lasted for only two years. A successor party to the original Social Democratic Party (SDP),it was known informally as the 'continuing' SDP.
The 1988 Social and Liberal Democrats leadership election was called following the formation of the then Social and Liberal Democrats. It was intended to replace the two interim leaders,David Steel and Robert Maclennan,with a single figurehead better able to represent both the former members of the Liberal Party and of the Social Democratic Party.
William Howard Goodhart,Baron Goodhart,was a British Liberal Democrat politician,a leading property and human rights lawyer,and a member of the House of Lords.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats is a liberal,federalist political party in Scotland,a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 4 of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons.
Matthew Alan Oakeshott,Baron Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay,is a British investment manager and member of the House of Lords,formerly sitting in Parliament as a Liberal Democrat.
Lindsay Patricia Northover,Baroness Northover,is a British academic,Liberal Democrat politician,member of the House of Lords,and former junior government minister.
The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom,founded in 1988. They have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast since the 1992 general election,with the exception of the 2015 general election. They have 15 members of Parliament in the House of Commons,84 members of the House of Lords,four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has nearly 3,000 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference,at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' conference rules,the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy,under a one member,one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online for its policies and in the election of a new leader. The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015;with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007;and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021.
The list that follows is the Liberal Democrats Frontbench Team/Shadow Cabinet led by Menzies Campbell from 2006 to 2007.
Benjamin Russell Mackintosh Stoneham,Baron Stoneham of Droxford is a British peer,journalist,and Liberal Democrat politician. He is currently the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip in the House of Lords,having been elected to that position in October 2016.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was a centrist to centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. The party supported a mixed economy,electoral reform,European integration and a decentralised state while rejecting the possibility of trade unions being overly influential within the industrial sphere. The SDP officially advocated social democracy,but its actual propensity is evaluated as close to social liberalism.
| Harold Wilson |
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| Edward Heath |
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| James Callaghan |
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| Margaret Thatcher |
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| John Major |
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| Tony Blair |
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| Gordon Brown |
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| David Cameron |
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| Theresa May |
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| Boris Johnson |
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| Liz Truss |
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| Rishi Sunak |
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