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| The Right HonourableThe Lord Plummer of St MaryleboneTD DL FRSA | |
|---|---|
 1970 portrait | |
| 2nd Leader of the Greater London Council | |
| In office 1967–1973 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Fiske |
| Succeeded by | Reg Goodwin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Arthur Desmond Herne Plummer 25 May 1914 (1914-05-25) Temple Fortune, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 2 October 2009 (2009-10-03) (aged 95) London, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse |
Pat Holloway
(m. 1941; died 1998) |
| Children | 1 |
Arthur Desmond Herne Plummer, Baron Plummer of St Marylebone, TD, DL, FRSA (25 May 1914 – 2 October 2009) was a British Conservative Party politician in London and the longest serving Leader of the Greater London Council 1967–1973.
Education and military service
Plummer went to Hurstpierpoint College and the College of Estate Management. He qualified as a Surveyor but his career was curtailed by World War II where he served with the Royal Engineers leaving with the rank of Major. In 1950 he was awarded the Territorial Decoration for long service in the Territorial Army, and he was a member of the Territorial Army Sports Board from 1953 until 1979.
Political career
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Plummer was elected to St. Marylebone Borough Council in May 1952 and served as Mayor of the Borough in 1958. He was selected as a Conservative candidate for a byelection to the London County Council in St Marylebone in 1960, and returned unopposed for the safe seat. He was elected to its successor, the Greater London Council, in 1964 for Westminster and the City of London and in 1973 for St Marylebone.
By 1966 Plummer was chosen as Leader of the Opposition in succession to Sir Percy Rugg, just a year before the GLC elections. With Harold Wilson's Labour Government growing ever more unpopular he won a landslide victory in 1967. One of Plummer's first acts was the official opening of the Southbound Blackwall Tunnel, as witnessed by an inscription on its entrance . His GLC pioneered the sale of council housing, and negotiated from the Government the power to run the London Underground and the rest of London Transport in 1969. The Conservatives were re-elected under Plummer in 1970 a few weeks before the general election, although Labour regained control of the Inner London Education Authority. Plummer was the only Leader of the GLC to get a second term. He was knighted in 1971.
However, the second term saw the GLC embark on a highly controversial policy over urban transport. Plummer believed that London's streets, constructed before the car, were insufficient to cope with the growing traffic, and proposed to deal with the problem by creating urban Motorways in the 'Motorway Box'. The GLC would compulsorily purchase homes and construct three separate ring roads. Although previous administrations had built short stretches of motorway, this was the first comprehensive policy. The first stretch to be built was the Westway from Marylebone to Acton, which involved the demolition of thousands of homes and building a large concrete flyover which continues to be the major route into central London from the west. Residents in areas where the new motorways were to go declared their firm opposition, and the Labour opposition pledged to scrap the schemes and instead subsidise public transport. This, combined with the difficulties of Edward Heath's Conservative government, led to Plummer and the Conservatives being voted out in 1973.
Plummer had a series of prominent posts within the Conservative Party. He had already been Chairman of his own Association in 1965, and served on the Executive of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations from 1967 to 1976. When defeated, he was appointed Chairman of the Horserace Betting Levy Board in 1974. Plummer resigned the Leadership of the Conservative Group on the GLC that year, to be succeeded by Horace Cutler, and resigned from the Council in 1976.
Business
He resumed his business career, becoming a member of Lloyd's of London and Chairman of the Portman Building Society. He also took up the job of President of the Political Committee of the Carlton Club, the leading Conservative club, from 1979 to 1984.
Personal
Plummer was born in Temple Fortune. In 1941, he married Pat Holloway. They had one child, a daughter. The couple remained together until her death in 1998.
He was created a life peer on 29 May 1981 as Baron Plummer of St Marylebone in the City of Westminster. Plummer lived in St John's Wood later in life, and he continued to work and to attend the House of Lords well into his final years. He was not, as some authors have said, an angler but a supporter of making the Thames clean and took an active interest in the angling clubs on the river.
Plummer died at St John's Hospice in London on 2 October 2009, at the age of 95.
Arms
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References
- ^ Travers, Tony (9 October 2009). "Lord Plummer of St Marylebone obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- "No. 45534". The London Gazette. 30 November 1971. p. 13063.
- "Lord Plummer of St Marylebone". The Daily Telegraph. 5 October 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- "No. 48629". The London Gazette. 3 June 1981. p. 7567.
- "Arthur Plummer". Legacy.com. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- "Life Peerages – P". Cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
External links
- Lord Plummer of St Marylebone – Daily Telegraph obituary
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byBill Fiske | Leader of the Greater London Council 1967–1973 |
Succeeded bySir Reg Goodwin |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded byPercy Rugg | Leader of the Conservative Party on the Greater London Council 1966–1974 |
Succeeded byHorace Cutler |
- 1914 births
- 2009 deaths
- 20th-century English politicians
- 21st-century English politicians
- Alumni of University College of Estate Management
- British Army personnel of World War II
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
- Councillors in Greater London
- Deputy lieutenants of Greater London
- Knights Bachelor
- Mayors of places in Greater London
- Members of London County Council
- Members of St Marylebone Metropolitan Borough Council
- Members of the Greater London Council
- People educated at Hurstpierpoint College
- People from Bexhill-on-Sea
- People from St John's Wood
- Royal Engineers officers
- Life peers created by Elizabeth II
- Military personnel from the London Borough of Barnet