George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth

George Morgan Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth, KT, PC, DL, FRSE (16 January 1921 – 3 October 2008) was a journalist and British politician who served as a Labour Party MP. He was a member of Harold Wilson's cabinet, and later became a European Commissioner.

In the 1980s, he joined the Social Democratic Party. Following the SDP's merger with the Liberal Party, he became a Liberal Democrat and sat as a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.

Early life

Thomson was educated at Grove Academy, Broughty Ferry, Dundee, and served in the Royal Air Force from 1941–46. He was the assistant editor and then editor of Forward, a socialist newspaper, from 1946–53.^[1]

Political career

At the 1950 and 1951 general elections, Thomson stood unsuccessfully in Glasgow Hillhead. In 1952, he was elected Member of Parliament in a by-election for Dundee East, where he served until his resignation in 1972. He served in the Wilson government as Minister of State, Foreign Office, from October 1964 to April 1966, then as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1966–67, and again from 1969–70, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs from 1967–68, and Minister without Portfolio from 1968–69. During his time as Commonwealth Secretary he had responsibility for trying to reach a settlement of the Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) question and for implementing sanctions against the regime there. He was one of the first British Commissioners of the European Community (EC) from 1973–77, with responsibility for regional policy. As chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority from 1981–88 he oversaw the introduction of Channel 4 and TV-am.^[2]

He was Chair of the Advertising Standards Authority from 1977–80; Chair of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) 1981–88; a European Commissioner, with responsibility for Regional Policy 1973–76; First Crown Estate Commissioner from 1977–80; and a Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life from 1994 until 1997. He was Deputy Chair of the Woolwich Building Society from 1988–91. He had been a Lords' Member of the Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit since 1993. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Television Society, and a patron of Sustrans.^[3]

In 1985 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland; he chose "Does Public Broadcasting Have a Future? The Challenge of the New Technologies". After moving with his wife, Grace, to Charing, Kent, Thomson held the position of Party President, for Ashford Liberal Democrats, from 1999–2006.

Death

He died on Friday 3 October 2008 at London's St Thomas' Hospital, from a viral infection.^[4][5] He was survived by his wife, Grace, Lady Thomson (1925-2014),^[6] and their two daughters, Ailsa and Caroline,^[7] the former Chief Operating Officer of the BBC.

Honours and styles of address

Honours

Thomson received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1973.^[8]

Thomson was made a Privy Counsellor in 1966, was created a Life Peer on 23 March 1977 as Baron Thomson of Monifieth, of Monifieth in the District of the City of Dundee,^[9] and became a Knight of the Thistle in 1981.^[10]

Styles of address

• 1921-1952: Mr George Thomson
• 1952-1966: Mr George Thomson MP
• 1966-1972: The Right Honourable George Thomson MP
• 1972-1977: The Right Honourable George Thomson
• 1977-1981: The Right Honourable The Lord Thomson of Monifeith PC
• 1981-2008: The Right Honourable The Lord Thomson of Monifeith KT PC

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Thomson

European Commissioners from the United Kingdom
Soames Thomson Jenkins Tugendhat Richard Clinton-Davis Cockfield Brittan Millan Kinnock Patten Mandelson Ashton Hill