James Prior, Baron Prior
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The Right Honourable The Lord Prior PC |
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|---|---|
| Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |
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In office 14 September 1981 – 27 September 1984 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Humphrey Atkins |
| Succeeded by | Douglas Hurd |
| Secretary of State for Employment | |
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In office 4 May 1979 – 14 September 1981 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Albert Booth |
| Succeeded by | Norman Tebbit |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Employment | |
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In office 29 October 1974 – 4 May 1979 |
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| Leader | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Reg Prentice |
| Succeeded by | Albert Booth |
| Shadow Home Secretary | |
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In office 11 March 1974 – 13 June 1974 |
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| Leader | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Roy Jenkins |
| Succeeded by | Keith Joseph |
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Leader of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council |
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In office 5 November 1972 – 4 March 1974 |
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| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Robert Carr |
| Succeeded by | Edward Short |
| Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | |
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In office 20 June 1970 – 5 November 1972 |
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| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Cledwyn Hughes |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Godber |
| Member of Parliament for Waveney Lowestoft (1959–1983) |
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In office 8 October 1959 – 11 June 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Edward Evans |
| Succeeded by | David Porter |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Michael Leathes Prior 11 October 1927 |
| Died | 12 December 2016 (aged 89) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior, PC (11 October 1927 – 12 December 2016), usually known as Jim Prior, was a British Conservative politician. A member of parliament from 1959 to 1987, he represented the Suffolk constituency of Lowestoft until 1983 and then the renamed constituency of Waveney from 1983 to 1987, when he stood down from the House of Commons and was made a life peer. He served in two Conservative Cabinets, and outside parliament was Chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce from 1996 to 2004.
Under Edward Heath, Prior was Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1970 to 1972, then Leader of the House of Commons until Heath lost the election of 1974. His party returned to office under Margaret Thatcher in 1979, and Prior was Secretary of State for Employment from 1979 to 1981, disagreeing with some of her views on trade unions and her monetarist economic policies generally. This made him a leader of the so-called "wet" faction in the Conservative ranks. In 1981 he was moved to the less pivotal role of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, standing down in 1984 and never returning to government.
Prior was educated at Charterhouse School, before going on to Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he earned a first class honours degree in Land economy at Pembroke College. He did military service as an officer in the Royal Norfolk Regiment of the British Army, serving in Germany and India.
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