Humphrey Atkins
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The Right Honourable The Lord Colnbrook KCMG PC |
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|---|---|
| Lord Privy Seal | |
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In office 11 September 1981 – 7 April 1982 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Ian Gilmour |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Young |
| Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
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In office 4 May 1979 – 11 September 1981 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Roy Mason |
| Succeeded by | James Prior |
| Chief Whip of the Conservative Party | |
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In office 2 December 1973 – 4 May 1979 |
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| Leader |
Edward Heath Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Francis Pym |
| Succeeded by | Michael Jopling |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury | |
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In office 2 December 1973 – 4 March 1974 |
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| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Francis Pym |
| Succeeded by | Bob Mellish |
| Treasurer of the Household | |
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In office 18 June 1970 – 2 December 1973 |
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| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Charles Morris |
| Succeeded by | Bernard Weatherill |
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Member of Parliament for Spelthorne |
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In office 18 June 1970 – 11 June 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Beresford Craddock |
| Succeeded by | David Wilshire |
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Member of Parliament for Merton and Morden |
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In office 26 May 1955 – 18 June 1970 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Ryder |
| Succeeded by | Janet Fookes |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 August 1922 Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire |
| Died | 4 October 1996 (aged 74) |
| Political party | Conservative |
Humphrey Edward Gregory Atkins, Baron Colnbrook KCMG PC (12 August 1922 – 4 October 1996) was a British politician and a member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1982.
Atkins was born on 12 August 1922, in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, son of Captain Edward Davis Atkins and Violet Mary née Preston and lived in Kenya until the age of three. He and his wife Margaret née Spencer-Nairn (1924-2012) had four children, three daughters and one son.
Atkins was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and served in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1948. He worked for Nairn's, his wife's family's linoleum business in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, then became a director of a financial advertising agency. He contested the constituency of West Lothian in 1951, and was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Merton and Morden in 1955. He became MP for Spelthorne in 1970.
Atkins was a Conservative Chief Whip from 1973 to 1979, and served as a Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1979 to 1981. On September 1981, he was appointed as Lord Privy Seal, which was a role as the chief government spokesman in the House of Commons for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. This role was necessary because the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, sat in the House of Lords. He resigned in April 1982, along with Lord Carrington, over the Falklands invasion. Atkins left the House of Commons in 1987 and was made a life peer as Baron Colnbrook of Waltham St Lawrence in the County of Berkshire.
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Wikipedia