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Peter Temple-Morris

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Temple-Morris
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
22 June 2001 – 1 May 2018
Life peerage
Member of Parliament
for Leominster
In office
28 February 1974 – 14 May 2001
Preceded bySir Clive Bossom
Succeeded byBill Wiggin
Personal details
Born(1938-02-12)12 February 1938
Cardiff, Wales
Died1 May 2018(2018-05-01) (aged 80)
London, England
Political party
Spouse
Taheré Khozeimé-Alam
​
​
(m. 1964)​
RelationsOwen Temple-Morris (father)
Children4
Alma materSt Catharine's College, Cambridge

Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris (12 February 1938 – 1 May 2018) was a British politician. He was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Leominster in 1974; he stood down in 2001 after changing parties. He sat in the House of Lords as a Labour peer.

Early life

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Born in Cardiff, Temple-Morris attended Llandaff Cathedral School and Hillstone School (Malvern College's preparatory school) in Malvern, then Malvern College.[1] He went to St Catharine's College, Cambridge, gaining a BA in Law in 1958. He became a barrister, like his father, from 1962 at the Inner Temple, practising until 1989.[1] His family home was in Cardiff, as his father Sir Owen Temple-Morris was MP for Cardiff East.[1]

Parliamentary career

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Temple-Morris was selected as the Conservative candidate for Newport (Monmouthshire) in 1964 and 1966 and Norwood in 1970.[1] In February 1974, he was elected for Leominster, having been selected for the seat in March 1973.[1] That same year, he was appointed vice-chairman, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (UK Branch). In 1979, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Norman Fowler, Executive Member, Inter-Parliamentary Union (British Group) and Founding Co-Chairman, British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. He was a member of the Select Committees on Agriculture (1982–83) and on Foreign Affairs (1987–90). Temple-Morris was a strong supporter of Michael Heseltine.[1]

Crossing the floor

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Temple-Morris resigned after he was suspended from the Conservative Party in 1997 because Tory officials said he had "repeatedly and publicly questioned his continued commitment to the Conservative Party."[2] Speaking after his resignation, the MP told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I'm not surprised in all the circumstances and not a little bit relieved in view of the unhappy state of politics of the Conservative Party for some years now."

The BBC reported that Conservative leader William Hague's action would be seen as an attempt to deflect attention from disappointing election results in Winchester and Beckenham. As for Temple-Morris, his disaffection toward his old party grew due to their hard-line stance on the euro.[1]

From 1997 to 1998, Temple-Morris sat on the government Labour benches, but did not take the whip, instead sitting as a one-man 'Independent One-Nation Conservative' group. However, on Saturday 20 June 1998 he joined the Labour Party but stood down as an MP at the 2001 general election. He is the only person ever to serve as a Labour MP representing Herefordshire, though he was never elected as a member of that party.

House of Lords

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Temple-Morris was made a life peer on 22 June 2001 as Baron Temple-Morris, of Llandaff in the County of South Glamorgan and of Leominster in the County of Herefordshire.[3] He sat in the House of Lords as a Labour peer.

Outside politics, Temple-Morris was appointed Chairman of the Macleod Group, an association of left-of-centre Conservative MPs, in 1979. In 1995, he became President of the British-Iranian Business Association Society.

Temple-Morris contributed to the book What next for Labour? Ideas for a new generation in September 2011, his piece being entitled "Labour: Progressive Politics".[4]

Personal life

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Temple-Morris's father, Owen Temple-Morris, was also a Conservative MP.[5] His son, Eddy Temple-Morris, is a DJ, Virgin Radio presenter, record producer and former MTV presenter.[6][7][8]

Temple-Morris married Taheré Khozeimé-Alam (the daughter of Amir-Hossein Khozeimé Alam of Dezashib who fled to London from Iran in 1979)[9] in 1964 in London.[10] The couple had two sons and two daughters.[5]

When he was an MP, Temple-Morris was known for his love of shooting, wine and food.[10]

Temple-Morris died from cancer in London on 1 May 2018, at the age of 80.[1][11]

Coat of arms of Peter Temple-Morris
Crest
In front of a Representation of Aitoff's Projection of the Globe a Mullet as in the Arms
Escutcheon
Argent in front of Representation of Aitoff's Projection of the Globe Azure the Land Masses Argent a Mullet of four points gyronny of eight Argent and Sable the fesswise points extended on a Chief Argent four Workmen hauling on a rope Argent
Supporters
Dexter: a Surveyor supporting by the exterior hand a Theodolite; Sinister: a Carpenter holding in the exterior hand a Tenon Saw, each wearing a Safety Helmet all proper
Motto
Conjuncti Laboramus [12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Radice, Giles (2022). "Morris, Peter Temple-, Baron Temple-Morris (1938–2018), politician and author". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380605. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ "Pro-European quits Tories". BBC News online. 22 November 1997. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2006.
  3. ^ "No. 56257". The London Gazette. 27 June 2001. p. 7571.
  4. ^ "Contributors". What Next for Labour?. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  5. ^ a b Dod's Parliamentary Companion Archived 8 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Charles Roger Dod, Vacher Dod Publishing, Limited, Robert Phipps Dod, Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Limited, 2004, page 737
  6. ^ Why Boris Johnson Playing the Hitler Card Was So, So Wrong Archived 16 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Huffington Post UK, 15 May 2016
  7. ^ Our Ambassador Archived 29 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine, British Tinnitus Association
  8. ^ "Eddy Temple-Morris to do mid-mornings on Virgin Radio". Wireless Group. Archived from the original on 11 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  9. ^ Obituary: Amir Hossein Khozeimé-Alam Archived 3 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Daily Telegraph, 25 May 2002
  10. ^ a b End of uneasy Tory marriage of beliefs Archived 30 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 20 June 1998
  11. ^ "TEMPLE-MORRIS, PETER 1938 GRO Reference: DOR Q2/2018 in LAMBETH (241-1A) Entry Number 517282257". General Register Office. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Life Peerages - T". Cracroft's Peerage. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Leominster
February 1974–2001 		Succeeded by
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