Prime Minister John Major Role Hereditary peer Name Nicholas 2nd | Political party Conservative Preceded by The Lord Hesketh Party Conservative Party | |
 | ||
Born 9 January 1942 (age 82) ( 1942-01-09 ) Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge Succeeded by Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde Education Eton College, Trinity College, Cambridge | ||
Nicholas James Christopher Lowther, 2nd Viscount Ullswater (born 9 January 1942), succeeded his great-grandfather in the Viscountcy of Ullswater in 1949, sitting in the House of Lords as a Conservative. He is one of very few peers to have succeeded a great-grandfather in a title.
Contents
- Education
- Political career
- Princess Margaret
- Return to politics
- Titles and Styles and Arms
- Personal life
- References
Education
He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Political career
Lord Ullswater was made a Lord-in-Waiting (whip) in January 1989 by Margaret Thatcher before becoming Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Employment in July 1990. He was retained by John Major in that role until 1993, when he became Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms (Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords). He remained in this role for a year when he became Minister of State for the Environment in 1994 (as well as a Privy Counsellor) in 1994, but he left the Government in a 1995 reshuffle.
Princess Margaret
In 1998, he became the Private Secretary to Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and continued in this office until her death in 2002. He was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in the special Honours List issued by the Queen after Princess Margaret's demise.
Return to politics
As a member of a Royal Household he could not take part in partisan politics and did not seek to remain in the House of Lords when the House of Lords Act 1999 was passed. But after the death of the Viscount of Oxfuird in January 2003, he won the all-house by-election, enabling him to return to the House of Lords.
On 22 May 2006, Lord Ullswater was nominated for the newly created post of Lord Speaker, and in the election held on 28 June 2006 emerged in third place out of nine candidates. His great-grandfather, James Lowther, served as Speaker of the House of Commons 1905–1921.
Titles and Styles and Arms
Personal life
Lord Ullswater was an amateur jockey in his youth. He has two sons and two daughters: