Priscilla Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie
Priscilla Jean Fortescue Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie PC (née Thomson; 25 January 1915 – 11 March 1978),[1] styled as Priscilla, Lady Grant between 1934 and 1944, and as Lady Tweedsmuir between 1948 and 1970, was a Unionist and Conservative politician.
The Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
| In office 7 April 1972 – 4 March 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | Richard Wood |
| Succeeded by | Julian Amery |
| Minister of State for Scotland | |
| In office 23 June 1970 – 7 April 1972 | |
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath |
| Preceded by | The Lord Hughes |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Polwarth |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland | |
| In office 3 December 1962 – 16 October 1964 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan Alec Douglas-Home |
| Preceded by | Tam Galbraith |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Hughes |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 1 July 1970 – 11 March 1978 Life peerage | |
| Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South | |
| In office 26 November 1946 – 10 March 1966 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Douglas Thomson, Bt |
| Succeeded by | Donald Dewar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Priscilla Thomson 25 January 1915 |
| Died | 11 March 1978 (aged 63) Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Political party | Scottish Conservative Party |
| Other political affiliations | Unionist Party (until 1965) |
| Spouses | |
Early life
The daughter of Brigadier Alan F. Thomson DSO, she married Major Sir Arthur Lindsay Grant, 11th Baronet, Grenadier Guards, in 1934. He was killed in action in 1944. She subsequently married author and politician the 2nd Baron Tweedsmuir in 1948.
House of Commons
Lady Tweedsmuir was an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate for Aberdeen North in July 1945, and was elected for Aberdeen South in 1946, holding the seat until 1966. She consistently polled at least 50% of the vote with the exception of her defeat in 1966, a feat never achieved by any succeeding candidates in the constituency.
She was a delegate to the Council of Europe from 1950 to 1953, a UK Delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations, 1960–1961; Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1962 to 1964.
House of Lords
On 1 July 1970 she was created a life peer as Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie, of Potterton in the County of Aberdeen.[2]
Tweedsmuir was Minister of State at the Scottish Office from 1970 to 1972 and at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1972 to 1974 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1974.[3] In the House of Lords she served as Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees, 1974–1977, and as Chairman of the Select Committee on European Communities, 1974–1977. She was also a Deputy Speaker.
She died of cancer in 1978, aged 63.
Legacy
She was mentioned several times in the 2014 Loyal Address to Parliament on 4 June in the House of Commons by Penny Mordaunt.
In 1983, the veteran Labour politician Emanuel Shinwell stated Tweedsmuir was 'the best' female MP Britain had had.[4]
References
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
- "No. 45142". The London Gazette. 3 July 1970. p. 7377.
- "No. 46254". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 April 1974. p. 4395.
- Kenneth Baxter (2011). "Chapter Nine: Identity, Scottish Women and Parliament 1918-1979". In Campbell, Jodi A; Ewan, Elizabeth; Parker, Heather (eds.). The Shaping of Scottish Identities: Family, Nation and the Worlds Beyond. Guelph, Ontario: Centre for Scottish Studies, University of Guelph. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-88955-589-1.
External links