Michael Ancram

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Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, QC, MP (born 7 July 1945), known as Michael Ancram, is a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician. He is Member of Parliament for Devizes, and a former member of the Shadow Cabinet.

Born in London, Ancram was educated at Ampleforth College, Christ Church, Oxford (BA History 1966, MA) and the University of Edinburgh (LLB 1968). For many years he was referred to as the Earl of Ancram, as son and heir of the 12th Marquess of Lothian. He dropped use of his title after becoming a lawyer because he believed it might confuse the jury if the judge called him "M'Lord".^[1] He became the Marquess of Lothian upon his father's death in 2004, but does not use the title. He was able to remain in the House of Commons as a hereditary peer though before the Peerage Act 1963, he would have had to leave the Commons, and between then and the House of Lords Act 1999 he would have had to renounce his title had he wanted to stay in the Commons.

He married a fellow Roman Catholic, Lady Jane Fitzalan Howard (a daughter of the 16th Duke of Norfolk) in 1975 and they have two daughters, the eldest of whom is the eventual heir of Lady Herries of Terregles. Previously a member of the Faculty of Advocates, he unsuccessfully contested the East Lothian parliamentary seat in 1970. He won Berwick and East Lothian for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party in the February 1974 election, only to lose it again in October, then represented Edinburgh South from 1979-87. He has been Member of Parliament for Devizes in Wiltshire since April 1992.

He was a member of the House of Commons Energy Select Committee between 1979 and 1983, and Chairman of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party from 1980 to 1983. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office with responsibility for Home Affairs, Housing, Local Government, Rating Reform and the Environment from 1983 until 1987.

He was a member of the Public Accounts Committee and Chairman of the Backbench Constitutional Affairs Committee from 1992 until May 1993, when he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office. He was promoted to Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office in January 1994, and was made a Privy Councillor in January 1996. While serving at the Northern Ireland office he frequently attended the GAA All-Ireland finals at Croke Park in Dublin each year.

After the Conservatives' defeat at the 1997 election he served in the Shadow Cabinet as Constitutional Affairs Spokesman from June 1997 to June 1998, and as Chairman of the Conservative Party from October 1998 to September 2001.

In 2001, he stood against Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Portillo, Kenneth Clarke and David Davis for the party leadership. In the first poll he and David Davis were tied for last place, leading to a re-run in which Ancram was placed bottom. He was eliminated, and Davis withdrew. Both swung their support behind Iain Duncan Smith, who went on to win, beating Clarke and Portillo in the second round. Duncan Smith made Ancram Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in September 2001. He remained in this position after Michael Howard took over in 2003.

In the reshuffle following the 2005 election, Ancram was moved to Shadow Secretary of State for Defence but remained the Deputy Leader. He stood down from the shadow cabinet in October 2005, following the election of David Cameron as party leader.^[2] In January 2006 he was appointed to the Intelligence and Security Committee, replacing James Arbuthnot.

Ancram was a founding signatory in 2005 of the Henry Jackson Society principles, advocating a proactive approach to the spread of liberal democracy across the world, including when necessary by military intervention. However on April 21, 2006 he became one of the first senior Conservative MPs to call for British troops to withdraw from Iraq, saying Iraq was effectively in a state of civil war and "It is time now for us to get out of Iraq with dignity and honour while we still can."^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Michael Ancram MP official Parliamentary site
• Rt Hon Michael Ancram QC MP official political site
• Conservative Party - Hon Michael Ancram QC MP official biography
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Michael Ancram MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Michael Ancram MP
• The Public Whip - Michael Ancram MP voting record
• BBC News - Michael Ancram profile 17 October, 2002
• Open Directory Project - Michael Ancram directory category

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by John Mackintosh	Member of Parliament for Berwick and East Lothian Feb 1974–Oct 1974	Succeeded by John Mackintosh
Preceded by Michael Clark Hutchison	Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South 1979–1987	Succeeded by Nigel Griffiths
Preceded by Charles Morrison	Member of Parliament for Devizes 1992 – present	Incumbent
Party Political Offices
Preceded by Cecil Parkinson	Chairman of the Conservative Party 1998–2001	Succeeded by David Davis
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by Peter Kerr	Marquess of Lothian 2004 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by The Most. Hon. the Marquess of Tweeddale	United Kingdom Order of Precedence gentlemen	Succeeded by The Most Hon. The Marquess of Lansdowne