Anthony Barber - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Anthony Barber, Baron Barber) British politician (1920–2005) For other people named Anthony Barber, see Anthony Barber (disambiguation).

The Right HonourableThe Lord BarberPC DL TD
Barber in the 1970s

Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 25 July 1970 – 4 March 1974
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Chief Secretary	Maurice Macmillan Patrick Jenkin Tom Boardman
Preceded by	Iain Macleod
Succeeded by	Denis Healey
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 20 June 1970 – 25 July 1970
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	George Thomson
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Rippon
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office 10 January 1967 – 20 June 1970
Leader	Edward Heath
Preceded by	Edward du Cann
Succeeded by	Peter Thomas
Minister of Health
In office 20 October 1963 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister	Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded by	Enoch Powell
Succeeded by	Kenneth Robinson
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office 16 July 1962 – 20 October 1963
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	Edward Boyle
Succeeded by	Alan Green
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
In office 22 October 1959 – 16 July 1962
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	Frederick Erroll
Succeeded by	Edward du Cann
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister
In office 10 January 1957 – 22 October 1959
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	Robert Allan
Succeeded by	Knox Cunningham
Member of Parliament for Altrincham and Sale
In office 4 February 1965 – 20 September 1974
Preceded by	Frederick Erroll
Succeeded by	Fergus Montgomery
Member of Parliament for Doncaster
In office 25 October 1951 – 25 September 1964
Preceded by	Ray Gunter
Succeeded by	Harold Walker

Personal details
Born	Anthony Perrinott Lysberg Barber (1920-07-04)4 July 1920 Kingston upon Hull, England
Died	16 December 2005(2005-12-16) (aged 85) Ipswich, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouses	Jean Asquith (m. 1950; died 1983) Rosemary Youens (m. 1989)
Children	2
Relatives	Noel Barber (brother)
Alma mater	University of London Oriel College, Oxford Middle Temple
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army Royal Air Force
Years of service	1939−1945
Rank	Lieutenant Pilot officer
Unit	Royal Artillery No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF
Battles/wars	Second World War (POW)

Anthony Perrinott Lysberg Barber, Baron Barber, TD, PC, DL (4 July 1920 – 16 December 2005) was a British Conservative politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1970 to 1974.

After serving in both the Territorial Army and the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Barber studied at Oxford and became a barrister. Elected as MP for Doncaster in 1951, Barber served in government under Harold Macmillan as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Financial Secretary to the Treasury, before being appointed Minister of Health by Alec Douglas-Home in 1963. After losing his seat in 1964, he won the 1965 by-election in Altrincham and Sale and returned to Parliament.

Barber was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer by Edward Heath in 1970, and oversaw a major liberalisation of the banking system, replaced purchase tax and Selective Employment Tax with Value Added Tax, and also relaxed exchange controls. During his term the economy suffered due to stagflation and industrial unrest, including a miners strike which led to the Three-Day Week. In 1972 he delivered a budget which was designed to return the Conservatives to power in an election expected in 1974 or 1975. This budget led to a brief period of growth known as "The Barber Boom," followed by a wage-price spiral and high inflation, culminating in the 1976 sterling crisis. He was forced to introduce anti-inflation measures, along with a Price Commission and a Pay Board. After the Conservatives lost the first general election of 1974, he did not stand in the second election of that year.

Birth and early life

Barber was born on 4 July 1920 in Kingston upon Hull. He was the third son of John Barber and his Danish wife, Musse. Barber's unusual middle names arose from his mother, who contributed the "Lysberg", and French grandmother, who contributed the "Perrinott". His father was company secretary and director of a Doncaster confectionery works. He had two brothers: Noel, who became a journalist and novelist, and Kenneth, who became company secretary of Midland Bank.

Barber was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Retford, Nottinghamshire. He became an articled clerk in a solicitors' firm, but joined the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry shortly before the Second World War started. He was commissioned into the Territorial Army Royal Artillery in 1939 and served in France with a unit from Doncaster as part of the British Expeditionary Force. He was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940, but later he became a pilot in the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit of the RAF. He ran out of fuel on a reconnaissance mission on 25 January 1942 and ditched near Mont St Jean, but was captured by the Germans.

He was mentioned in dispatches for helping escapees from the prison camp at Stalag Luft III; he himself once escaped as far as Denmark. His PoW experiences were recalled by his friend and fellow RAF pilot PoW Thomas D. Calnan who met Barber at Oflag IX-A/H at Spangenberg in February 1942:

"Complete uniforms were rare in our party, the one outstanding exception belonging to Tony Barber, who was resplendent in an Army lieutenant's uniform, complete with Sam Browne."

Barber is a prominent figure throughout Calnan's book:

"It was natural that Charles Hall, Tony Barber and I should plot escape together. We had known one another at Benson, before being shot down and we still felt that we all belonged to the same unit."

Barber also wrote a brief foreword to this volume: "What has struck me most forcibly is how, after more than twenty years, he has recounted our adventures with such accuracy. He has managed to make a reality, once again, of the hopes and fears, the depression and the excitement which, for most of us who were there, now seems more like a dream."

While still a prisoner, Barber took a law degree with first-class honours from the University of London, through the International Red Cross. On his return to England, he was awarded a state grant to Oxford University, where he took a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics in two years at Oriel College, and a scholarship to the Inner Temple. He then practised as a barrister from 1948, and specialised in taxation. From 1967 to 1970 he was chairman of Redfearn National Glass, with which his wife Jean's family was connected.

House of Commons

Anthony Barber stood in Doncaster at the 1950 general election but lost by 878 votes. He contested the seat again at the 1951 general election, however, and beat the incumbent Labour Member of Parliament, Raymond Gunter by 384 votes. He held a series of offices: Parliamentary private secretary to George Ward (Under Secretary for Air) from 1952 to 1958; junior Government whip from 1955 to 1958; and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan from 1958 to 1959. He then served four years as a junior minister in the Treasury, Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 1959 to 1962, and, following the "Night of the Long Knives" on 13 July 1962, as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1962 to 1963 (under the Chancellorships of Derick Heathcoat Amory, Selwyn Lloyd and Reginald Maudling). He became a Cabinet minister, as Minister of Health, in 1963, but lost his seat in the Commons in the 1964 general election to Labour's Harold Walker.

His absence from Parliament was short-lived, as four months later he won a 1965 by-election in Altrincham and Sale caused by the elevation to the peerage of Frederick Erroll. In opposition, he led Ted Heath's campaign to become Conservative party leader in 1965, and became party chairman in 1967. The Conservatives won the general election in 1970, and Barber held his seat until the general election of October 1974, when he himself entered the House of Lords.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

After winning the election in 1970, Edward Heath appointed Barber as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and gave him the responsibility for negotiating the entry of the UK into the European Economic Community. However, following the sudden death of Iain Macleod on 20 July, only four weeks after the election, Barber became the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, although he was initially reluctant to take the job. His appointment prompted Harold Wilson to remark that it was the first time that he had realised that Heath had a sense of humour. In line with the initial liberal instincts of Heath's 1970 government, he oversaw a major liberalisation of the banking system under the title of 'Competition and Credit Control', leading to a high level of lending, much of it to speculative property concerns. In his first Budget, in March 1971, he proposed to replace purchase tax and Selective Employment Tax with Value Added Tax, and also relaxed exchange controls; both were prerequisites to membership of the EEC. VAT came into force in 1973 at a standard rate of 10%. A year later, the rate was cut to 8%.

Barber also reduced direct taxes. High levels of economic growth followed, but the traditional capacity constraints of the British economy - especially currency and balance of trade concerns - quickly choked the economic boom. The banking system fell towards crisis as the bubble burst.

During his term the economy suffered due to stagflation and industrial unrest. In 1972 he delivered a budget which was designed to return the Conservative Party to power in an election expected in 1974 or 1975. This budget led to a period known as "The Barber Boom". The measures in the budget led to high inflation and wage demands from Public Sector workers. He was forced to introduce anti-inflation measures on the 6 November 1972, along with a Price Commission and a Pay Board. The inflation of capital asset values was also followed by the 1973 oil crisis which followed the Yom Kippur War, adding to inflationary pressures in the economy and feeding industrial militancy (already at a high as a result of the struggle over the Industrial Relations Act 1971).

In 1972, having said a week earlier in the House of Commons that he had "no reason to believe that the pound was overvalued", he floated it (most of the world currencies were floated at that time) "as a temporary measure". The pound immediately plunged on the markets, and it was impossible during his time as Chancellor to impose a new parity. It has remained floating ever since.

After a strike by the miners, and a Three-Day Week, Heath called for a general election on 28 February 1974 with the slogan "Who governs Britain?" The election returned a minority Labour government and Harold Wilson as Prime Minister.

Later years

Barber did not seek re-election at the general election of October 1974, and left front-line politics. He was made a life peer on 6 January 1975 as Baron Barber of Wentbridge in West Yorkshire, and served as Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank from 1974 to 1987, where future Prime Minister John Major was his personal assistant. In 1987, he was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of West Yorkshire. Barber was also a director of BP from 1979 to 1988. He visited Nelson Mandela in prison, and was a member of the Franks Committee that investigated the Falklands War. In 1991, he became chair of the RAF Benevolent Association's appeal for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, which raised £26 million.

Personal life and death

In 1950, Barber married Jean Asquith, who was also a Conservative parliamentary candidate in that year's election. They had two daughters and were married until her death in 1983. In 1989, he married Rosemary Youens.

Barber suffered from Parkinson's disease in later years, and died from bronchopneumonia at Ipswich Hospital on 16 December 2005.

References

Steele, G. R. (2010). "INFLATION ECONOMICS: THE HEATH–BARBER BOOM, 1972–74". Economic Affairs. 30 (3): 79–81. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0270.2010.02028.x. S2CID 152522190.
"Lord Barber". The Daily Telegraph. London. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
^ Kavanagh, Dennis (2009). "Barber, Anthony Perrinott Lysberg, Baron Barber (1920–2005), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/96242. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Calnan (1973), p. 49
Calnan (1973), p. 65
Calnan (1973), p. 1
Sked, Alan; Cook, Chris (1979). Post-war Britain (first ed.). London: Penguin. p. 294. OCLC 541571682. .
"No. 46459". The London Gazette. 9 January 1975. p. 309.
"No. 50816". The London Gazette. 29 January 1987. p. 1185.
^ Biffen, John (20 December 2005). "Lord Barber of Wentbridge". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2024.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Anthony Barber
Portraits of Anthony Barber at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Chancellor orders pound flotation (BBC, On This Day, 23 June 1972)
Obituary (The Independent, 17 December 2005)
Obituary (The Sunday Times, 18 December 2005)
Obituary (The Times, 19 December 2005)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded byRay Gunter	Member of Parliament for Doncaster 1951–1964	Succeeded byHarold Walker
Preceded byFrederick Erroll	Member of Parliament for Altrincham and Sale 1965–1974	Succeeded byFergus Montgomery
Political offices
Preceded byFrederick Erroll	Economic Secretary to the Treasury 1959–1962	Succeeded byEdward du Cann
Preceded byEdward Boyle	Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1962–1963	Succeeded byAlan Green
Preceded byEnoch Powell	Minister of Health 1963–1964	Succeeded byKenneth Robinson
Preceded byEdward du Cann	Chairman of the Conservative Party 1967–1970	Succeeded byPeter Thomas
Preceded byGeorge Thomson	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1970	Succeeded byGeoffrey Rippon
Preceded byIain Macleod	Chancellor of the Exchequer 1970–1974	Succeeded byDenis Healey

v t e Heath Cabinet
Edward Heath Anthony Barber Tom Boardman Gordon Campbell Robert Carr Lord Carrington John Davies Sir Alec Douglas-Home Ian Gilmour Lord Hailsham Sir Geoffrey Howe Earl Jellicoe Patrick Jenkin Sir Keith Joseph Iain Macleod Maurice Macmillan Reginald Maudling Michael Noble John Peyton Jim Prior Francis Pym Geoffrey Rippon Margaret Thatcher Peter Thomas Peter Walker Lord Windlesham William Whitelaw

v t e Chancellors of the exchequer
England	Eustace of Fauconberg Maunsell Leicester Westminster Chishull W. Giffard G. Giffard Chishull de la Leye Willoughby Benstead Sandale Hotham Stanton Harvington Wodehouse Stratford Ashby Ashton Barnham Somer Somerset Browne Witham Thwaites Witham Fowler Catesby Lovell Berners Cromwell Baker Sackville Mildmay Fortescue Dunbar Caesar Greville Portland Barrett Cottington Colepeper Hyde Ashley Duncombe Ernle Delamer Hampden Montagu Smith Boyle
Great Britain	Boyle Smith Harley Benson Wyndham Onslow Walpole Stanhope Aislabie Pratt Walpole Sandys Pelham Lee Bilson-Legge Lyttelton Bilson-Legge Mansfield Bilson-Legge Barrington Dashwood Grenville Dowdeswell Townshend North Cavendish Pitt Cavendish Pitt Addington Pitt Ellenborough Petty Perceval Vansittart
United Kingdom	Vansittart Robinson Canning Tenterden Herries Goulburn Althorp Denman Peel Spring Rice Baring Goulburn Wood Disraeli Gladstone Lewis Disraeli Gladstone Disraeli Hunt Lowe Gladstone Northcote Gladstone Childers Hicks Beach Harcourt R. Churchill Goschen Harcourt Hicks Beach Ritchie A. Chamberlain Asquith Lloyd George McKenna Law A. Chamberlain Horne Baldwin N. Chamberlain Snowden W. Churchill Snowden N. Chamberlain Simon Wood Anderson Dalton Cripps Gaitskell Butler Macmillan Thorneycroft Heathcoat-Amory Lloyd Maudling Callaghan Jenkins Macleod Barber Healey Howe Lawson Major Lamont Clarke Brown Darling Osborne Hammond Javid Sunak Zahawi Kwarteng Hunt Reeves
Italic: Interim Chancellor of the Exchequer, as Lord Chief Justice

v t e Health secretaries of the United Kingdom
Ministers of Health	Christopher Addison Alfred Mond Arthur Griffith-Boscawen Neville Chamberlain William Joynson-Hicks John Wheatley Neville Chamberlain Arthur Greenwood Neville Chamberlain Hilton Young Kingsley Wood Walter Elliot Malcolm MacDonald Ernest Brown Henry Willink Aneurin Bevan Hilary Marquand Harry Crookshank Iain Macleod Robin Turton Dennis Vosper Derek Walker-Smith Enoch Powell Anthony Barber Kenneth Robinson
Secretaries of State for Social Services	Richard Crossman Sir Keith Joseph Barbara Castle David Ennals Patrick Jenkin Norman Fowler John Moore
Secretaries of State for Health	Kenneth Clarke William Waldegrave Virginia Bottomley Stephen Dorrell Frank Dobson Alan Milburn John Reid Patricia Hewitt Alan Johnson Andy Burnham Andrew Lansley Jeremy Hunt
Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care	Jeremy Hunt Matt Hancock Sajid Javid Steve Barclay Thérèse Coffey Steve Barclay Victoria Atkins Wes Streeting

v t e Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
to Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Carr-Gomm 1906–1908
to H. H. Asquith	Howard 1908–1909 Lyell 1908–1915
to David Lloyd George	Barran 1916–1918 D. Davies 1916–1918 Sutherland 1916–1918, 1919–1920 Astor 1918 Sassoon 1920–1922
to Bonar Law	Davidson 1922–1923
to Stanley Baldwin	Herbert 1923–1924, 1924–1927 Rhys 1927–1929 Geoffery-Lloyd 1935 Dugdale 1935–1937
to Ramsay MacDonald	Weir 1924, 1929–1931 R. Morrison 1929–1931 Markham 1931–1932 Glyn 1931–1935 Worthington 1931–1935
to Neville Chamberlain	Douglas-Home 1937–1940
to Winston Churchill	Bracken 1940–1941 Harvie-Watt 1941–1945 Soames 1952–1955
to Clement Attlee	de Freitas 1945–1946 Moyle 1946–1951
to Anthony Eden	Carr 1955 Allan 1955–1956
to Harold Macmillan	Barber 1957–1959 K. Cunningham 1959–1963
to Alec Douglas-Home	Pearson 1963–1964
to Harold Wilson	Fernyhough 1964–1967 Shore 1965–1966 H. Davies 1967–1970 Varley 1968–1969 Hamling 1974–1975 Marks 1975 Tomlinson 1975–1976
to Edward Heath	Kitson 1970–1974
to James Callaghan	J. Cunningham 1976–1977 Stott 1977–1979
to Margaret Thatcher	Gow 1979–1983 Alison 1983–1987 Hamilton 1987–1988 Lennox-Boyd 1988–1990 P. Morrison 1990
to John Major	Bright 1990–1994 Ward 1994–1997
to Tony Blair	Coffey 1997–1998 Grocott 1997–2001 Hanson 2001–2005 Hill 2005–2007
to Gordon Brown	Austin 2007–2008 Smith 2007–2009 Trickett 2008–2010 Snelgrove 2009–2010
to David Cameron	Swayne 2010–2012 Gyimah 2012–2013 Williamson 2013–2016
to Theresa May	Hollingbery 2016–2018 Kennedy 2017–2019 Bowie 2018–2019
to Boris Johnson	Burghart 2019–2021 Heappey 2019 Harrison 2019–2021 Dines 2021–2022 Griffith 2021–2022 Duddridge 2022 Nici 2022 Morrissey 2022 Stafford 2022
to Liz Truss	Webb 2022
to Rishi Sunak	Williams 2022–2024
to Keir Starmer	Twist 2024– Ward 2024–

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