Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford
The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres KT GCVO PC DL | |
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Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
In office 5 November 1972 – 4 March 1974 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Joseph Godber |
Succeeded by | David Ennals |
Minister of State for Defence | |
In office 23 June 1970 – 5 November 1972 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Ian Gilmour |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
In office 24 January 1975 – 28 November 2019 Life peerage | |
In office 13 December 1975 – 11 November 1999 Hereditary peerage | |
Preceded by | The 28th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres |
Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
Member of Parliament for Welwyn Hatfield | |
In office 28 February 1974 – 10 October 1974 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Helene Hayman |
Member of Parliament for Hertford | |
In office 26 May 1955 – 28 February 1974 | |
Preceded by | Sir Derek Walker-Smith |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Robert Alexander Lindsay 5 March 1927 |
Nationality | United Kingdom |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Ruth Meyer-Bechtler (m. 1949) |
Children | 2 sons, 2 daughters |
Parents | David Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford Mary Cavendish |
Residence | Balcarres House, Fife |
Education | Eton College |
Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
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Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford and 12th Earl of Balcarres, KT, GCVO, PC, DL (born 5 March 1927),[1] styled Lord Balniel between 1940 and 1975, is a Scottish hereditary peer and Conservative politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1955 to 1974. The elder son of the 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres, he succeeded to the family titles in 1975. Lord Crawford and Balcarres is Premier Earl of Scotland and Chief of Clan Lindsay. As of 2021, he is the earliest elected living former MP, having first entered Parliament at the 1955 general election.
Early life[]
He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] From 1945 to 1948, he served in the Grenadier Guards. He was honorary attache at the British Embassy in Paris from 1950 to 1951, and then worked for the Conservative Research Department.[3]
Career[]
Balniel was elected for the Conservative Party in Hertford at the 1955 United Kingdom general election, aged 28, and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Henry Brooke until 1959. From 1959 to 1965, Balniel was president of the Rural District Councils Association, and from 1963 to 1970, he was chair of the National Association for Mental Health.[3]
While the Conservative Party was in opposition, he served as spokesman on Foreign Affairs from 1965 until 1967, and then joined the Shadow Cabinet as spokesman on Social Services. Following the party's victory in the 1970 United Kingdom general election, he served as Minister of State for Defence, and then from 1972 was Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.[3]
Balniel switched to represent Welwyn and Hatfield at the February 1974 United Kingdom general election, narrowly winning the seat, but he was defeated in the general election in October. He was given a life peerage as Baron Balniel, of Pitcorthie in the County of Fife, in January 1975 before succeeding as Earl of Crawford in December the same year. After the passage of House of Lords Act 1999, he sat in the Lords by virtue of his life peerage.[3] He retired from the House of Lords on 28 November 2019. Following the death of The Lord Eden of Winton on 23 May 2020, Crawford became the earliest elected living former MP.
Appointments[]
Crawford was appointed First Crown Estate Commissioner from 1980 to 1985.[4] He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in the Special Honours List published after The Queen Mother's death.[5]
Honours[]
- Knight of the Thistle, 1996
- Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 2002
- Privy Counsellor, 4 February 1972[6]
Ancestry[]
Arms[]
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See also[]
References[]
- ^ "Crawford, 29th Earl of, (Robert Alexander Lindsay) (born 5 March 1927)". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u12260. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ "CRAWFORD, 29th Earl of, cr. 1398, AND BALCARRES, 12th Earl of, cr. 1651 (Robert Alexander Lindsay)". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2018 (online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription or UK public library membership required) (subscription required)
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Stenton, Michael; Lees, Stephen (1981). Who's Who of British Members of Parliament. IV. Brighton: Harvester Press. p. 16.
- ^ "No. 48258". The London Gazette. 23 July 1980. p. 10459.
- ^ "No. 56653". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 5 August 2002. p. 1.
- ^ Privy Council of the United Kingdom website, leighrayment.com; accessed 2 June 2016.
- ^ Mosley, Charles (ed.) (2003). Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 107th edn. London: Burke's Peerage & Gentry Ltd. p. 950 (CRAWFORD and BALCARRES, E). ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
External links[]
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Crawford
- 1927 births
- Living people
- Earls of Crawford
- Earls of Balcarres
- Knights of the Thistle
- People educated at Eton College
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Conservative Party (UK) life peers
- Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Grenadier Guards officers
- UK MPs 1955–1959
- UK MPs 1959–1964
- UK MPs 1964–1966
- UK MPs 1966–1970
- UK MPs 1970–1974
- UK MPs 1974
- UK MPs who inherited peerages
- UK MPs who were granted peerages
- Deputy Lieutenants of Fife
- Clan Lindsay
- British military personnel of the Palestine Emergency