Adam Butler (politician)

The Right Honourable Sir Adam Butler DL
Minister for Defence Procurement
In office 11 September 1984 – 2 September 1985
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Geoffrey Pattie
Succeeded by	Norman Lamont
Minister of State for Northern Ireland
In office 5 January 1981 – 11 September 1984
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Hugh Rossi
Succeeded by	Lord Gowrie
Minister of State for Industry
In office 6 May 1979 – 5 January 1981
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Alan Williams
Succeeded by	Norman Tebbit
Member of Parliament for Bosworth
In office 18 June 1970 – 18 May 1987
Preceded by	Woodrow Wyatt
Succeeded by	David Tredinnick
Personal details
Born	11 October 1931 Halstead, Essex, England, UK
Died	9 January 2008(2008-01-09) (aged 76) Lighthorne, Warwickshire, England, UK
Citizenship	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Felicity Molesworth-St Aubyn
Parent	Rab Butler (father)
Relatives	Montagu Butler (grandfather) Samuel Courtauld (grandfather)
Education	Maidwell Hall Eton College
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Cambridge
Occupation	Soldier, businessman

Sir Adam Courtauld Butler PC, DL (11 October 1931 – 9 January 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician, serving as an MP for 17 years and holding several junior ministerial offices.

Background

Butler was born in Halstead, the second of four children of Rab Butler and his wife, Sydney, only child of Samuel Courtauld. He was educated at Maidwell Hall prep school in Northamptonshire and Eton College.

Career

After national service from 1949 to 1951 as a second lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, he read history and economics at Pembroke College, Cambridge from 1951 to 1954 (where his grandfather, Sir Montagu Butler, had been Master). After graduating, he joined the Canadian Army for as a captain to serve as aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of Canada, Vincent Massey, for one year. His mother died of cancer in 1954, while he was in Canada. He returned to England in 1955, and he joined the family company, Courtaulds, working as a director of various subsidiaries.

Butler became Member of Parliament for Bosworth in 1970, surprisingly defeating the sitting Labour Party MP, Woodrow Wyatt. He was first Conservative MP to represent the seat since the 1920s, and barely retained his seat at the two general elections in 1974. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Joseph Godber, who was Minister of State in the Foreign Office and then at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. He became a whip in 1974. After Margaret Thatcher became Conservative leader in 1975, Butler became one of her two Parliamentary Private Secretaries, along with John Stanley. After the Conservative victory at the 1979 general election, he served as Minister of State for Industry at the Department of Industry until 1981, and then as minister for economic development in Northern Ireland until 1984, where he called in the receivers at the De Lorean motorcar company, and finally as minister for defense procurement until 1985. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1984, and knighted in 1986.

He was also a member of the Court of the Goldsmiths' Company and later chairman of the British Hallmarking Council from 1998 to 2004; chairman of the Samuel Courtauld Trustees, associated with the Courtauld Institute of Art, from 1989 to 2005; and chairman of the Airey Neave Trust from 1990 to 2000.

Personal life and family

He lived at his 200-acre (0.81 km²) farm at Lighthorne in Warwickshire. He became a Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire in 1993, and served as Vice Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire from 1998 to 2005. He enjoyed field sports, and was chairman of the Warwickshire Hunt for 23 years. He also was member of the Countryside Animal Welfare Group, and campaigned to end the RSPCA's support for a hunting ban as a member of its council.

He married Felicity Molesworth-St Aubyn in 1955. He died in Lighthorne, Warwickshire, survived by his wife and their two sons and daughter. Lady Butler died in 2022.

Arms

Coat of arms of Adam Butler

Notes Son of Rab Butler. Arms displayed at Goldsmiths' Hall. Crest A falcon rising belled and jessed the dexter leg resting on a covered cup all Or. Escutcheon Gules on a chevron cottised between three covered cups all Or a cross couped Azure. A crescent for difference. Motto Audentior

Sources

• The Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Ltd, 1983
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
• Obituary The Times.
• Obituary, The Guardian.
• Obituary, The Independent.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Adam Butler