Fred Peart, Baron Peart

The Right Honourable The Lord Peart PC
Peart in 1959
Leader of the Opposition in the Lords Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
In office 4 May 1979 – 4 November 1982
Leader	James Callaghan Michael Foot
Preceded by	The Lord Carrington
Succeeded by	The Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
Leader of the House of Lords
In office 10 September 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Preceded by	The Lord Shepherd
Succeeded by	The Lord Soames
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office 10 September 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Preceded by	The Lord Shepherd
Succeeded by	Ian Gilmour
In office 6 April 1968 – 1 November 1968
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	The Lord Shackleton
Succeeded by	The Lord Shackleton
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office 5 March 1974 – 10 September 1976
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson James Callaghan
Preceded by	Joseph Godber
Succeeded by	John Silkin
In office 18 October 1964 – 6 April 1968
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Christopher Soames
Succeeded by	Cledwyn Hughes
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
In office 10 April 1972 – 5 March 1974
Leader	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	George Thomson
Succeeded by	Ian Gilmour
Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office 16 December 1971 – 10 April 1972
Leader	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Cledwyn Hughes
Succeeded by	???
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In office 20 June 1970 – 16 December 1971
Leader	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Selwyn Lloyd (1965)
Succeeded by	Michael Foot
Leader of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council
In office 1 November 1968 – 20 June 1970
Prime Minister	Harold Wilson
Preceded by	Dick Crossman
Succeeded by	Willie Whitelaw
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 23 September 1976 – 26 August 1988 Life Peerage
Member of Parliament for Workington
In office 5 July 1945 – 23 September 1976
Preceded by	Thomas Cape
Succeeded by	Richard Page
Personal details
Born	(1914-04-30)30 April 1914 Durham, England
Died	26 August 1988(1988-08-26) (aged 74) London, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Bette Lewis ​ (m. 1945)​
Children	1
Alma mater	Durham University

Thomas Frederick Peart, Baron Peart, PC (30 April 1914 – 26 August 1988) was a British Labour politician who served in the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s and was a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Party.

Early life and education

Thomas Frederick Peart was born in Durham, England, in 1914, the son of Emerson Featherstone Peart, a headmaster and leading Labour member of Durham County Council, and Florence Blissenden. The younger Peart qualified as a teacher at the University of Durham in 1936. During his time at university he was President of the Durham Union for Epiphany term of 1936. He studied at the Inner Temple but did not enter the legal profession, instead teaching economics in Durham. He served in the Royal Artillery in World War II, gaining the rank of captain.

Political career

Peart was elected Member of Parliament for Workington in 1945, serving until 1976. He initially served as PPS to the Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries (Tom Williams).

Peart, along with the rest of the Labour Party, went into opposition after Sir Winston Churchill's 1951 election victory. In 1964, he returned to government after Harold Wilson defeated Sir Alec Douglas-Home at that year's election. He was appointed to the Cabinet holding the Cabinet post of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. His tenure saw advances in pay for agricultural labourers, and in technology.

In 1968, Peart became Lord Privy Seal, with no particular responsibilities. Seven months later, Peart became Leader of the House of Commons, taking the subsidiary title Lord President of the Council. After Labour lost the 1970 election, Peart returned to opposition as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. He held that position until December 1971, when he became Shadow Agriculture Minister. When Labour returned to power, Peart once more took the Agriculture portfolio.

On 23 September 1976, Peart was created a life peer as Baron Peart, of Workington in the County of Cumbria, to serve as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal at a time when the Labour faction in the Lords was tiny compared to the vast Tory majority, mainly composed of hereditary peers.

After Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election, Peart continued as Leader of the Labour Peers and thus became Shadow Leader of the House of Lords. He served in those roles until 1982, when he was defeated for re-election by Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos in a vote among Labour peers.

Personal life and death

In 1945, Peart married Bette Lewis, and they had one son.

On 6 June 1975, Peart was on board the train which derailed in the Nuneaton rail crash; he survived with minor injuries.

In 1984, Peart was attacked by two robbers who broke into his London home. This preceded a terminal decline in his health, and he died at a hospital in London on 26 August 1988, at the age of 74.

See also

• List of Durham University people
• List of presidents of the Durham Union

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Fred Peart