Timothy Kitson

Sir
Timothy Kitson
Sir Timothy Kitson
Member of Parliament; for Richmond, North Yorkshire
	In office; 8 October 1959 – 13 May 1983
Preceded by	Thomas Dugdale
Succeeded by	Leon Brittan
Personal details
Born	Timothy Peter Geoffrey Kitson; 28 January 1931; Leeds, England
Died	18 May 2019 (aged 88); Middleham, North Yorkshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Sally Fattorini (m. 1959)
Children	3
Alma mater	Royal Agricultural College
Profession	Farmer

Sir Timothy Peter Geoffrey Kitson (28 January 1931 – 18 May 2019) was a British Conservative politician who was Member of Parliament for Richmond, North Yorkshire. He was first elected at the 1959 general election, and stood down at the 1983 general election.

Background

Kitson was born in Leeds, the son of Geoffrey H. and Kathleen Kitson.^[1]^[2] His family ran a locomotive manufacturing company which went into receivership during his childhood.^[1] He was educated at Charterhouse and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.^[1] He farmed in Australia from 1949 to 1951.^[2]

Kitson married Diana Mary "Sally" Fattorini in 1959; the couple had two daughters and one son.^[1]

Political career

From 1954 to 1957, Kitson served as a councillor on Thirsk Rural District Council, and from 1957 to 1961 on North Riding County Council.^[2] In 1959, he was elected to Parliament for Richmond, North Yorkshire, after Thomas Dugdale was elevated to a peerage.^[1] He acted as joint honorary secretary of the Conservative parliamentary committee on agriculture, fisheries and food from 1965 to 1966 and a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Prime Minister Edward Heath from 1970 to 1974.^[1] He showed no interest in promotion to higher office, and kept a relatively low profile.^[1]

In 1964 and 1965, Kitson supported the Labour MP Sydney Silverman's successful 'Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Bill'.^[3] He opposed abolition in the form finalised in 1969, however.^[4] Kitson received a knighthood in Heath's resignation honours list in 1974.^[5]

Kitson was part of Heath's campaign team in the 1975 Conservative Party leadership election, though when Heath failed to surpass Margaret Thatcher in the first round, it fell upon Kitson to inform him of his loss.^[1] Uncomfortable with the direction the party took under Thatcher, Kitson stood down from parliament at the 1983 general election.^[1] He was a staunch defender of Heath's legacy for the rest of his life.^[1]

Later life

After leaving parliament, Kitson was chairman of the Provident Financial Group from 1983 to 1995, and of the Halifax Building Society from 1995 to 1998.^[1]

Kitson lived in Middleham, North Yorkshire, in retirement, where he died on 18 May 2019, aged 88.^[1]^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Garnett, Mark (2023). "Kitson, Sir Timothy Peter Geoffrey (1931–2019), politician and farmer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381271. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ ^a ^b ^c Who's Who 1974, London : A. & C. Black, 1974, pg.1839.
^ Times (London, England), 23 December 1964 April 1974, pg.5.
^ Hansard, House of Commons, vol. 793, c.1296, 16 December 1969.
^ Times (London, England), 5 April 1974, pg.1.
^ "Sir Timothy Kitson obituary". The Times. 21 May 2019.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Timothy Kitson

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Thomas Dugdale	Member of Parliament for Richmond, North Yorkshire 1959–1983	Succeeded by Leon Brittan

[ODNB-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Garnett, Mark (2023). "Kitson, Sir Timothy Peter Geoffrey (1931–2019), politician and farmer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000381271. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[WhosWho-2] Who's Who 1974, London : A. & C. Black, 1974, pg.1839.

[3] Times (London, England), 23 December 1964 April 1974, pg.5.

[4] Hansard, House of Commons, vol. 793, c.1296, 16 December 1969.

[5] Times (London, England), 5 April 1974, pg.1.

[6] "Sir Timothy Kitson obituary". The Times. 21 May 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
to Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Carr-Gomm 1906–1908
to H. H. Asquith	Howard 1908–1909 Lyell 1908–1915
to David Lloyd George	Barran 1916–1918 D. Davies 1916–1918 Sutherland 1916–1918, 1919–1920 Astor 1918 Sassoon 1920–1922
to Bonar Law	Davidson 1922–1923
to Stanley Baldwin	Herbert 1923–1924, 1924–1927 Rhys 1927–1929 Geoffery-Lloyd 1935 Dugdale 1935–1937
to Ramsay MacDonald	Weir 1924, 1929–1931 R. Morrison 1929–1931 Markham 1931–1932 Glyn 1931–1935 Worthington 1931–1935
to Neville Chamberlain	Douglas-Home 1937–1940
to Winston Churchill	Bracken 1940–1941 Harvie-Watt 1941–1945 Soames 1952–1955
to Clement Attlee	de Freitas 1945–1946 Moyle 1946–1951
to Anthony Eden	Carr 1955 Allan 1955–1956
to Harold Macmillan	Barber 1957–1959 K. Cunningham 1959–1963
to Alec Douglas-Home	Pearson 1963–1964
to Harold Wilson	Fernyhough 1964–1967 Shore 1965–1966 H. Davies 1967–1970 Varley 1968–1969 Hamling 1974–1975 Marks 1975 Tomlinson 1975–1976
to Edward Heath	Kitson 1970–1974
to James Callaghan	J. Cunningham 1976–1977 Stott 1977–1979
to Margaret Thatcher	Gow 1979–1983 Alison 1983–1987 Hamilton 1987–1988 Lennox-Boyd 1988–1990 P. Morrison 1990
to John Major	Bright 1990–1994 Ward 1994–1997
to Tony Blair	Coffey 1997–1998 Grocott 1997–2001 Hanson 2001–2005 Hill 2005–2007
to Gordon Brown	Austin 2007–2008 Smith 2007–2009 Trickett 2008–2010 Snelgrove 2009–2010
to David Cameron	Swayne 2010–2012 Gyimah 2012–2013 Williamson 2013–2016
to Theresa May	Hollingbery 2016–2018 Kennedy 2017–2019 Bowie 2018–2019
to Boris Johnson	Burghart 2019–2021 Heappey 2019 Harrison 2019–2021 Dines 2021–2022 Griffith 2021–2022 Duddridge 2022 Nici 2022 Morrissey 2022 Stafford 2022
to Liz Truss	Webb 2022
to Rishi Sunak	Williams 2022–2024
to Keir Starmer	Twist 2024– Ward 2024–