Cecil Parkinson

British politician (1931–2016)

Cecil Edward Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC (1 September 1931 – 22 January 2016) was a British Conservative politician and cabinet minister.

Early life

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Parkinson was born in Carnforth, Lancashire on 1 September 1931. He studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Parkinson married Anne Jarvis in 1957. It would last until his death in 2016.

Career

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He entered Parliament in 1970 and was appointed a minister in 1979. In 1983, he became Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, but was forced to resign after revelations that his former secretary, Sara Keays, was pregnant with his child, which she later bore and named Flora Keays.[1]

Parkinson later served as Secretary of State for Energy, and later Transport. He resigned that office in 1990, on the same day that Margaret Thatcher resigned. He was created Baron Parkinson in 1992 and served in the House of Lords until his retirement in September 2015.[2]

Parkinson died of cancer on 22 January 2016 at the age of 84.[3] He was survived by his wife and four children.

References

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  1. "The only promise Cecil Parkinson ever kept - never to see his daughter". The Daily Telegraph. London. 6 January 2002. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. "Tory peer Cecil Parkinson retires from House of Lords". The Guardian. Press Association. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  3. "Lord Cecil Parkinson dies aged 84". Sky News. Retrieved 25 January 2016.

Other websites

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