Humphrey Atkins

(Government spokesperson for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)In office
11 September 1981 – 7 April 1982Prime MinisterMargaret ThatcherPreceded byIan GilmourSucceeded byBaroness YoungSecretary of State for Northern IrelandIn office
4 May 1979 – 11 September 1981Prime MinisterMargaret ThatcherPreceded byRoy MasonSucceeded byJames PriorOpposition Chief Whip of the House of CommonsIn office
4 March 1974 – 4 May 1979LeaderEdward Heath
Margaret ThatcherPreceded byBob MellishSucceeded byMichael CocksGovernment Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the TreasuryIn office
2 December 1973 – 4 March 1974Prime MinisterEdward HeathPreceded byFrancis PymSucceeded byBob MellishGovernment Deputy Chief Whip
Treasurer of the HouseholdIn office
18 June 1970 – 2 December 1973Prime MinisterEdward HeathPreceded byCharles MorrisSucceeded byBernard WeatherillMember of Parliament
for SpelthorneIn office
18 June 1970 – 18 May 1987Preceded byBeresford CraddockSucceeded byDavid WilshireMember of Parliament
for Merton and MordenIn office
26 May 1955 – 29 May 1970Preceded byRobert RyderSucceeded byJanet Fookes Personal detailsBorn(1922-08-12)12 August 1922
Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, England^[1]Died4 October 1996(1996-10-04) (aged 74)
Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire, EnglandPolitical partyConservativeSpouseMargaret Spencer-NairnChildren4

Humphrey Edward Gregory Atkins, Baron Colnbrook, KCMG, PC (12 August 1922 – 4 October 1996) was a British politician and a member of the Conservative Party. He served for 32 years as a Member of Parliament (MP), and served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1982.^[2]

Early life

Atkins was born on 12 August 1922, in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, son of Captain Edward Davis Atkins and Violet Mary (née Preston) and lived in Kenya until the age of three. He and his wife, Margaret (née Spencer-Nairn; 1924–2012), had four children, three daughters and one son.^[1]

Atkins was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and served in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1948. He worked for Nairn's, his wife's family's linoleum business in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, then became a director of a financial advertising agency.

Political career

Atkins contested the constituency of West Lothian in 1951, and was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Merton and Morden in 1955. He became MP for Spelthorne in 1970.^{[citation needed]}

Atkins was the Conservative Chief Whip from 1973 to 1979, and served as a Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1979 to 1981. In September 1981, he was appointed as Lord Privy Seal, which was a role as the chief government spokesman in the House of Commons for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. This role was necessary because the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, sat in the House of Lords. He resigned in April 1982, along with Lord Carrington, over the Falklands invasion. ^{[citation needed]}

Atkins was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George as a Knight Commander (KCMG) in the 1983 Dissolution Honours.^[3] He left the House of Commons in 1987 and was created a life peer on 16 October as Baron Colnbrook, of Waltham St Lawrence in the Royal County of Berkshire.^[4][1]

Death

Atkins died from cancer on 4 October 1996 at the age of 74 in Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Humphrey Atkins
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Robert Ryder	Member of Parliament for Merton and Morden 1955–1970	Succeeded by Janet Fookes
Preceded by Beresford Craddock	Member of Parliament for Spelthorne 1970–1987	Succeeded by David Wilshire
Political offices
Preceded by Charles Morris	Treasurer of the Household 1970–1973	Succeeded by Bernard Weatherill
Preceded by Francis Pym	Chief Whip of the Conservative Party 1973–1979	Succeeded by Michael Jopling
	Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 1973–1974	Succeeded by Bob Mellish
Preceded by Roy Mason	Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1979–1981	Succeeded by James Prior
Preceded by Ian Gilmour	Lord Privy Seal 1981–1982	Succeeded by Baroness Young