Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater

The Right Honourable The Lord King of Bridgwater CH PC
Secretary of State for Defence
In office 24 July 1989 – 11 April 1992
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher John Major
Preceded by	George Younger
Succeeded by	Malcolm Rifkind
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 3 September 1985 – 24 July 1989
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Douglas Hurd
Succeeded by	Peter Brooke
Secretary of State for Employment
In office 16 October 1983 – 2 September 1985
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Norman Tebbit
Succeeded by	David Young
Secretary of State for Transport
In office 11 June 1983 – 16 October 1983
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	David Howell
Succeeded by	Nicholas Ridley
Secretary of State for the Environment
In office 6 January 1983 – 11 June 1983
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Michael Heseltine
Succeeded by	Patrick Jenkin
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy
In office 19 November 1976 – 4 May 1979
Leader	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	John Biffen
Succeeded by	David Owen
Member of Parliament for Bridgwater
In office 12 March 1970 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Gerald Wills
Succeeded by	Ian Liddell-Grainger
Personal details
Born	(1933-06-13) 13 June 1933 Rugby, United Kingdom
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Thomas Jeremy King, Baron King of Bridgwater, CH PC (born 13 June 1933), is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1983–92, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bridgwater in Somerset from 1970–2001. He was made a life peer in 2001.

Life and career

Education

Rugby School

King was educated at two independent schools: at St Michael's School, a former boys' preparatory school (later co-educational), in the village of Tawstock in North Devon, followed by Rugby School (Sheriff House), a boarding school for boys in Warwickshire, before attending Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge.

Military service

King served as an officer in the Somerset Light Infantry and during this period of national service he was seconded to the King's African Rifles.

Political career

King was elected to Parliament at the 1970 Bridgwater by-election, following the death of the sitting MP, Sir Gerald Wills.

King was brought into the Cabinet in 1983 by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. After brief stints as the Environment Secretary and Transport Secretary, he went on to hold the posts of Employment Secretary and Northern Ireland Secretary at a time when these were high-profile roles with the potential for controversy. King's career in the Cabinet may appear odd to some observers due to his many quick moves between departments. King never had a strong public profile compared to other members of the Cabinet, but neither did he draw attention to himself by elementary errors or public gaffes.

King went on to serve as Defence Secretary under Prime Minister John Major during the Gulf War. He left the Cabinet after the 1992 general election, and returned to the backbenches where he served as Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 1994–2001, during which time KGB agent Vasili Mitrokhin defected to reveal 87-year-old Melita Norwood as a Soviet spy.

King left the House of Commons at the 2001 general election, and was made a life peer as Baron King of Bridgwater. He now sits in the House of Lords. He serves as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party's Policy Group on National and International Security, which was set up by David Cameron in 2006.

In popular culture

King was portrayed by Peter Blythe in the 2004 BBC production of The Alan Clark Diaries.

King was the subject of a song in the satirical ITV programme Spitting Image in which he was depicted as the Invisible Man during his term as Employment Secretary.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Tom King