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Revision as of 12:25, 28 April 2006 by Alci12 (talk | contribs) (MoS)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Brian Stanley Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney, (born 26 July 1940) is a British politician. He was a member of the Cabinet and a Member of Parliament until 2005.
Mawhinney, an Ulsterman, studied physics at the Queen's University of Belfast, gaining an upper second class degree in 1963. He obtained a Ph.D. in radiation physics at the Royal Free Hospital in London. A post at a university in Iowa followed, before returning to the Royal Free as a lecturer.
He was first elected to Parliament in 1979 from Peterborough. He was a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Office from 1986 to 1992, then became Minister of State at the Department of Health until 1994. He then entered the cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport until 1995, when he became Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio. He served in this position until the Tories lost the 1997 elections. He had led the Tories' campaign and had himself moved to a safer seat, North West Cambridgeshire, to avoid defeat. He served as Shadow Home Secretary for a year under William Hague.
Highly religious, Mawhinney is a leading member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship and was a member of the General Synod for five years. In 2003, he was appointed Chairman of the Football League.
He stepped down from the House of Commons in May 2005. On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer, and on 24 June he was created Baron Mawhinney, of Peterborough in the County of Cambridgeshire.
| Preceded byMichael Ward | Member of Parliament for Peterborough 1979–1997 |
Succeeded byHelen Clark |
| Preceded by(new constituency) | Member of Parliament for North West Cambridgeshire 1997–2005 |
Succeeded byShailesh Vara |
| Preceded byJohn MacGregor | Secretary of State for Transport 1994-1995 |
Succeeded byGeorge Young |
| Preceded byJeremy Hanley | Chairman of the Conservative Party 1995-1997 |
Succeeded byLord Parkinson |
| Preceded byJack Straw | Shadow Home Secretary 1997-1998 |
Succeeded byNorman Fowler |
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