Richard Wood, Baron Holderness
|
The Right Honourable The Lord Holderness PC DL |
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|---|---|
| Minister of Pensions and National Insurance | |
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In office 20 October 1963 – 18 October 1964 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Alec Douglas-Home |
| Preceded by | Niall Macpherson |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Herbison |
| Minister of Power | |
|
In office 1959–1963 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan |
| Preceded by | Lord Mills |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Erroll |
| Minister of Overseas Development | |
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In office 1970–1974 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Judith Hart |
| Succeeded by | Judith Hart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 October 1920 |
| Died | 11 August 2002 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Diana Kellet |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
Richard Frederick Wood, Baron Holderness, PC DL (5 October 1920 – 11 August 2002) was a British Conservative politician who held numerous ministerial positions from 1955 to 1974. He was distinctive in having lost both his legs in action in North Africa during World War II.
Wood was the youngest son of Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, and Lady Dorothy Evelyn Augusta Onslow. He was educated at St Cyprian's School Eastbourne, Eton College and New College, Oxford. He became honorary attaché at the British Embassy in Rome in 1940, and in 1941 he gained the rank of Lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He fought in the Middle East between 1941 and 1943 and was severely wounded, losing both his legs in action. His elder brother Peter Wood was killed in action in Egypt in 1942.
Wood became MP for Bridlington in 1950 and held the seat until 1979. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Derick Heathcoat-Amory during his time successively as Minister of Pensions between 1951 and 1953, Minister of State at the Board of Trade between 1953 and 1954, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries between 1954 and 1955. Wood was then Joint Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance between 1955 and 1958, at the Ministry of Labour between 1958 and 1959 and at the Ministry of Power between 1959 and 1963. He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) in 1959. He was Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1963 until the Conservative Party lost power in 1964. He was Minister of Overseas Development from 1970 to 1974 for the duration of the Heath Government. From 1987 to 1991 he was an energetic chairman of the Disablement Services Authority, charged with the improvement of artificial limb services: he then served as a junior Minister on services for disabled people.
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