Misplaced Pages

The Right HonourableThe Lord WakehamPC DL
Official portrait, 2019
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 11 April 1992 – 20 July 1994
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	The Lord Waddington
Succeeded by	Viscount Cranborne
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office 11 April 1992 – 20 July 1994
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	The Lord Waddington
Succeeded by	Viscount Cranborne
In office 13 June 1987 – 10 January 1988
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	John Biffen
Succeeded by	The Lord Belstead
Secretary of State for Energy
In office 24 July 1989 – 11 April 1992
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher John Major
Preceded by	Cecil Parkinson
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Lord President of the Council
In office 10 January 1988 – 24 July 1989
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	The Viscount Whitelaw
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Howe
Leader of the House of Commons
In office 13 June 1987 – 24 July 1989
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	John Biffen
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Howe
Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office 9 June 1983 – 13 June 1987
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Michael Jopling
Succeeded by	David Waddington
Minister of State for the Treasury
In office 6 April 1982 – 9 June 1983
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	The Lord Cockfield
Succeeded by	Barney Hayhoe
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
In office 15 September 1981 – 6 April 1982
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Michael Marshall
Succeeded by	John Butcher
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office 9 January 1981 – 15 September 1981
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	David Waddington
Succeeded by	Tony Newton
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Life peerage 29 April 1992
Member of Parliament for South Colchester and Maldon (Maldon 1974–1983)
In office 28 February 1974 – 16 March 1992
Preceded by	Brian Harrison
Succeeded by	John Whittingdale
Personal details
Born	(1932-06-22) 22 June 1932 (age 92)
Political party	Conservative
Spouses	Roberta Wakeham ​ ​(m. 1965; died 1984)​ Alison Ward ​(m. 1985)​
Children	3
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

John Wakeham, Baron Wakeham, PC DL (born 22 June 1932) is a British businessman and Conservative Party politician. He was chancellor of Brunel University between 1998 and 2012, and since then has been its chancellor emeritus.

Wakeham was a director of Enron from 1994 until its bankruptcy in 2001.

Early life and education

Wakeham was educated at two independent schools in Surrey: Aldro School in Shackleford, and Charterhouse near Godalming. He became a successful accountant and later a businessman.

Political career

Wakeham stood unsuccessfully in Coventry East in 1966 and in Putney in 1970 before his election to the House of Commons at the February 1974 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maldon in Essex. He became a minister following Margaret Thatcher's victory in 1979.

During the late 1980s he served as Leader of the House of Commons, in which capacity he was responsible for the televising of Parliament, and as Energy Secretary (1989–92), where he drew up plans for the privatisation of electricity supply. Following a recommendation by John Major, he was created a life peer on 29 April 1992 taking the title Baron Wakeham, of Maldon in the County of Essex, serving as the Leader of the House of Lords until 1994.

Wakeham became chairman of the Press Complaints Commission in 1995, retiring in 2001. In 1997 he was appointed a Deputy lieutenant of Hampshire. Tony Blair appointed him in 1999 to head a Royal commission on reform of the House of Lords – the resulting Wakeham Report suggested a mainly-appointed Lords be maintained, with a small elected component.

Personal life

His first wife, Roberta, was killed in the Brighton hotel bombing in October 1984 and he was trapped in rubble for seven hours, suffering serious crush injuries to his legs. The couple had two children. Wakeham married his secretary, Alison Ward MBE, in 1985 and they have a son of their own. Before being Wakeham's secretary, Ward had been Margaret Thatcher's secretary.

Arms

Coat of arms of John Wakeham

Coronet A Coronet of a Baron. Crest A Greyhound statant Or, crowned with a Mural Crown chequy Azure and Argent, and supporting by the dexter foreleg a Cross Raguly Argent, nailed of three Or. Escutcheon Per fess embattled Azure and Argent, a Pale counterchanged, in the azure a Lion's Head guardant Or, langued Gules, and in the argent, a Bugle Horn Azure, garnished and stringed Or. Supporters Dexter: a Sea-Lion Azure, Mane and Head in trian aspect Argent, langued Gules, crowned with a Crown Tridenty Gold; Sinister: a Sea-Horse Azure, Head and Neck Argent, and crowned also with a Crown Tridenty Gold, the whole upon a Compartment consisting of three Bars wavy Azure, Argent and Azure, in front thereof a Grassy Mount growing therefrom three Double Roses Argent, upon Gules, barbed and seeded stalked and leaved proper. Motto Vigilo (I watch)

References

1. "Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Wakeham". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 9 April 2016.
2. "Mr John Wakeham". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 14 May 2021.
3. "Chancellor". Brunel University. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
4. Staff and agencies (30 January 2002). "Enron's board of directors". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
5. "UC reaches $168-million settlement with Enron directors in securities fraud case". University of California. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008.
6. ^ Roth, Andrew; Kerbey, Janice; Tench, Judy (1984). Parliamentary Profiles S–Z. Parliamentary Profile Services. pp. 854–856. ISBN 0-900582-24-3.
7. "No. 52907". The London Gazette. 29 April 1992. p. 7461.
8. "John Wakeham: The watchdog now has to explain why he didn't bark". The Independent. 3 February 2002. Archived from the original on 16 January 2011.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Wakeham
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Portraits of John Wakeham at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Wakeham profile Archived 4 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine, apfn.org

v t e Energy secretaries of the United Kingdom
Ministers of Fuel, Light and Power	Gwilym Lloyd George Manny Shinwell Hugh Gaitskell Philip Noel-Baker
Minister of Co-ordination of Transport, Fuel and Power	Frederik Leathers
Ministers of Fuel and Power	Geoffrey Lloyd Aubrey Jones
Ministers of Power	Percy Mills Richard Wood Frederick Erroll
Ministers of Technology	Frank Cousins Tony Benn
Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry	John Davies Peter Walker
Secretaries of State for Energy	Peter Lord Carrington Eric Varley Tony Benn David Howell Nigel Lawson Peter Walker Cecil Parkinson John Wakeham
Presidents of the Board of Trade and Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry	Michael Heseltine Ian Lang Margaret Beckett Peter Mandelson Stephen Byers Patricia Hewitt Alan Johnson Alistair Darling
Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform	John Hutton
Secretaries of State for Energy and Climate Change	Ed Miliband Chris Huhne Ed Davey Amber Rudd
Secretaries of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy	Greg Clark Andrea Leadsom Alok Sharma Kwasi Kwarteng Jacob Rees-Mogg Grant Shapps Kemi Badenoch

v t e Thatcher Cabinet
Margaret Thatcher Humphrey Atkins Kenneth Baker Lord Belstead John Biffen Leon Brittan Peter Brooke Mark Carlisle Lord Carrington Paul Channon Kenneth Clarke Lord Cockfield Nicholas Edwards Norman Fowler Sir Ian Gilmour Lord Gowrie John Gummer Lord Havers Lord Hailsham Michael Heseltine Michael Howard Sir Geoffrey Howe David Howell David Hunt Douglas Hurd Patrick Jenkin Michael Jopling Sir Keith Joseph Tom King Norman Lamont Nigel Lawson Peter Lilley John MacGregor James Mackay John Major Angus Maude John Moore Tony Newton John Nott Cecil Parkinson Chris Patten Jim Prior Francis Pym Peter Rees Nicholas Ridley Malcolm Rifkind Lord Soames Norman St John-Stevas Norman Tebbit David Waddington John Wakeham William Waldegrave Peter Walker William Whitelaw Lord Young of Graffham Baroness Young George Younger

v t e Major Cabinet
Cabinet Members	Jonathan Aitken Kenneth Baker Virginia Bottomley Peter Brooke Kenneth Clarke Viscount Cranborne Stephen Dorrell Michael Forsyth Roger Freeman John Gummer William Hague Jeremy Hanley Michael Heseltine Douglas Hogg Michael Howard David Hunt Douglas Hurd Tom King Norman Lamont Ian Lang Peter Lilley John MacGregor Lord Mackay John Major Brian Mawhinney Patrick Mayhew David Mellor Tony Newton Chris Patten John Patten Michael Portillo John Redwood Malcolm Rifkind Gillian Shephard Lord Waddington Lord Wakeham William Waldegrave George Young
Also attended meetings	Norman Fowler Alastair Goodlad Richard Ryder

• 1932 births
• Living people
• British Secretaries of State
• Conservative Party (UK) life peers
• Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
• Deputy lieutenants of Hampshire
• Enron people
• Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
• Leaders of the House of Lords
• Lord Presidents of the Council
• Lords Privy Seal
• Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
• People associated with Brunel University London
• People educated at Aldro
• People educated at Charterhouse School
• Survivors of terrorist attacks
• Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
• UK MPs 1974
• UK MPs 1974–1979
• UK MPs 1979–1983
• UK MPs 1983–1987
• UK MPs 1987–1992
• Members of Parliament for Maldon
• Rothschild & Co people
• Life peers created by Elizabeth II