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Patrick Cormack

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Cormack
DL FSA FRHistS
Official portrait, 2019
Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee
In office
14 July 2005 – 12 April 2010
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byLaurence Robertson
Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
In office
20 June 1997 – 19 January 2000
LeaderWilliam Hague
Preceded byGillian Shephard
Succeeded byJames Cran
Shadow Minister for Constitutional Affairs
In office
20 June 1997 – 19 January 2000
LeaderWilliam Hague
In office
21 December 2010 – 25 February 2024
Life peerage
Member of Parliament
for South Staffordshire
In office
28 February 1974 – 12 April 2010
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byGavin Williamson
Member of Parliament
for Cannock
In office
18 June 1970 – 8 February 1974
Preceded byJennie Lee
Succeeded byGwilym Roberts
Personal details
Born(1939-05-18)18 May 1939
Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
Died25 February 2024(2024-02-25) (aged 84)
Lincoln, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Kathleen Mary MacDonald
​
​
(m. 1967)​
Children2
Education
Alma materUniversity of Hull

Patrick Thomas Cormack, Baron Cormack, DL, FSA, FRHistS (18 May 1939 – 25 February 2024) was a British politician, historian, journalist and author. He served as a member of Parliament (MP) for 40 years, from 1970 to 2010. Cormack was a member of the Conservative Party and was seen as a one-nation conservative.

Before entering Parliament, Cormack was a teacher. He was elected for Cannock at the 1970 general election. Following boundary changes he was elected for South West Staffordshire in 1974, renamed South Staffordshire in 1983. He was elected chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee in 2005. He was also twice a candidate for the speakership of the House of Commons. After standing down from the House of Commons in 2010, he served as an active life peer in the House of Lords.

Early life and career

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Cormack was born to Thomas Charles Cormack, a local government officer and master mariner, and his wife Kathleen Mary Cormack in Grimsby just before the outbreak of the Second World War.[1][2][3] He was educated locally at the St James's Choir School and the Havelock School, before attending the University of Hull, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961.

Cormack was a teacher at his former school, St James's Choir School, in 1961. Cormack contested the safe Labour parliamentary seat of Bolsover at the 1964 general election, where he lost to the sitting MP Harold Neal, who won with a majority of 23,103 votes. At the 1966 general election, Cormack contested his hometown seat of Grimsby, but again was defeated, this time by the secretary of state for education and science, Anthony Crosland, who had a majority of 8,126. Cormack became a training and education officer with Ross Ltd in 1966. In 1967, he was appointed an assistant house master at the Wrekin College in Wellington, Shropshire, for two years, after which he became the head of history at Brewood Grammar School in 1969.[2]

Prior to 1970, Cormack was a member of the Bow Group and the Conservative Monday Club, resigning from both at the end of 1971.[4]

Parliamentary career

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At the 1970 general election, Cormack stood for the seat of Cannock, and this time was elected, narrowly defeating the incumbent Labour MP Jennie Lee. Cormack won with a majority of 1,529.

From 1970 to 1973, Cormack served as a parliamentary private secretary at the Department of Health and Social Security. He moved constituencies at the February 1974 general election, leaving the marginal seat of Cannock and instead contesting the adjacent newly drawn seat of South West Staffordshire, which he won comfortably with a majority of 9,758.

Cormack became chairman of the editorial board of The House magazine in 1976, and editor of the magazine in 1979.[5]

Cormack was a member of the Education Select Committee for the duration of the 1979–83 Parliament.[6]

An opponent to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's monetarist economic policies, in November 1981, with national unemployment approaching 3,000,000 (compared to 1,500,000 two years previously), Cormack urged Thatcher to change her government's policies if Britain was to avoid economic disaster.[7]

In the 1983 general election, Cormack was elected to the renamed seat of South Staffordshire, covering a similar area to the former South West Staffordshire seat. In 1997, after 27 years as an MP on the backbenches, he was promoted by the then leader of the Opposition, William Hague, to become the opposition's Deputy Leader of the House of Commons.

Cormack resigned from this position in early 2000, standing later that year for the position of Speaker of the House of Commons (following the retirement of Betty Boothroyd). However, he was unsuccessful in his bid for the speakership, with the House instead choosing Labour MP Michael Martin for the role. Cormack became life president of The House magazine in 2005.[5] During the 2005–10 parliament, Cormack was the chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee.

The vote in South Staffordshire was postponed at the 2005 general election due to the death of the Liberal Democrat candidate Jo Harrison. When the election did take place on 23 June 2005, Cormack won comfortably. In February 2007, it was announced that Cormack had failed to win the re-adoption of his constituency party for the next general election. This vote was later declared invalid, for the number of votes recorded exceeded the number of people present at the meeting.[8][9] In July 2007, the South Staffordshire Conservatives' executive council voted on the matter, but it resulted in a tie. Consequently, a vote of all local party members was held to decide whether Cormack should remain the party's candidate at the following general election.[10] In the vote, held on 14 September, Cormack was readopted as the Conservative candidate, receiving the backing of over 75% of participating party members. Cormack expressed his gratitude and called the victory a "great relief".[11] Subsequently, on 1 December 2009, Cormack announced his intention to stand down at the 2010 general election.[12]

Although having a reputation as a serious parliamentarian, on occasions he was known for asking light hearted questions in the House of Commons, once simply asking Prime Minister Gordon Brown at PMQ's what he wanted for Christmas.[13]

Cormack was created a life peer on 18 December 2010, as Baron Cormack, of Enville in the County of Staffordshire.[14][15] He sat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords. Cormack opposed the Coalition's plans to reform the House of Lords, speaking out against them numerous times in the chamber.

Cormack was seen as a One Nation Tory. He was a Heathite, and was a frequent rebel under Margaret Thatcher – one of the so-called "wets".[16]

Other interests

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Cormack took an active interest in historical issues, particularly those related to English Heritage. He was also a knowledgeable Parliamentary historian. He wrote many books on subjects ranging from the history of Parliament, British castles, English cathedrals, and a book on William Wilberforce.[2]

Cormack was a trustee of the Churches Preservation Trust from 1972 until his death. He was a council member of British Archaeology since 1979, and was also a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass for the same length of time. From 1983 to 1993, he was Trustee on the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. He was a consultant and adviser to FIRST, an international affairs organisation, since 1985. He was a vice-president of the Royal Stuart Society and the Heritage Crafts Association.[2]

A committed Christian, Cormack was a rector's warden at Parliament's parish church, St Margaret's, Westminster, from 1978 to 1990.

Cormack served as president of the British Association of Friends of Museums from 2023 until his death in 2024.[17]

Cormack was a longstanding Vice President of the National Churches Trust.[18]

Cormack was President of the Prayer Book Society for many years

Personal life and death

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Cormack married Kathleen Mary MacDonald in 1967. They had two sons. He listed his recreations in Who's Who as "fighting philistines, walking, visiting old churches, avoiding sitting on fences". He was a member of the Athenaeum and Lincolnshire clubs.[2] He was a longtime resident of Lincoln, living near their famed cathedral.

Cormack died on 25 February 2024, at the age of 84.[19] Among those who paid tribute to him were Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer.[20]

Honours

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Insignia of a Knight Bachelor

Arms

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Coat of arms of Patrick Cormack
Crest
A demi-lion Vert winged and grasping in the dexter paw a quill Or.
Escutcheon
Per pale Or and Vert on a chevron between three cod bendwise sinister three portcullises chained each upper bar set with a Stafford Knot all counterchanged.
Supporters
On either side a goose Or that to the dexter holding in the beak a bluebonnet flower slipped Proper and that to the sinister holding in the beak a flax flower slipped Proper both resting the interior foot on a lamp with three flames Gules.[28]

References

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  1. ^ "Lord Cormack obituary". The Times. 11 April 2024. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Cormack, Baron, (Patrick Thomas Cormack) (born 18 May 1939)". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u11910. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Sir Patrick Cormack (Hansard)". api.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  4. ^ Copping, Robert, The Story of The Monday Club – The First Decade, Current Affairs Information Unit, London, April 1972: 21 & 28
  5. ^ a b "Experience for Lord Cormack". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Your representative: Patrick Cormack". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Those were the days". expressandstar.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  8. ^ "MP Cormack fails to get readopted". BBC News. 13 February 2007. Archived from the original on 16 February 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2007.
  9. ^ "Cormack ousting vote is invalid". BBC News. 23 February 2007. Archived from the original on 25 February 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2007.
  10. ^ "Tories fail to decide on Cormack". BBC News. 13 July 2007. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  11. ^ "Cormack 'resoundingly readopted'". BBC News. 14 December 2007. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  12. ^ "Veteran Tory MP Sir Patrick Cormack to stand down". BBC News. 1 December 2009. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  13. ^ Engagements: Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 28 November 2007.
  14. ^ "No. 59641". The London Gazette. 22 December 2010. p. 24505.
  15. ^ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Lords. "Lords Hansard text for 21 Dec 201021 Dec 2010 (pt 0001)". publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (1 January 2002). The Almanac of British Politics. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415268332.
  17. ^ Adgar, David (2023). "BAFM News & Highlights". BAFM Journal (131): 4.
  18. ^ "Our Presidents and Patrons". Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Lord Cormack". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  20. ^ Engagements: Volume 746: debated on Wednesday 28 February 2024
  21. ^ "Lord Patrick Cormack". The Society of Antiquaries of London. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  22. ^ "No. 54058". The London Gazette. 9 June 1995. p. 8075.
  23. ^ "Fellows" (PDF). The Royal Historical Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  24. ^ "Honorary Fellows of the Historical Association" (PDF). The Historical Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  25. ^ "Deputy Lieutenant Commissions Lieutenancy of the County of Staffordshire". The London Gazette. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  26. ^ "Honorary Degrees Conferred by The Catholic University of America" (PDF). The Catholic University of America. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  27. ^ Jaines, Daniel (18 March 2022). "Lincoln arts champion to be presented with Freedom of the City". The Lincolnite. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  28. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Cannock
1970–1974 		Succeeded by
Constituency established Member of Parliament
for South West Staffordshire
1974–1983 		Constituency abolished
Constituency established Member of Parliament
for South Staffordshire
1983–2010 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
 Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
1997–2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Shadow Minister for Constitutional Affairs
1997–2000 		Succeeded by
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