Michael Jopling

Thomas Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling, PC, DL (born 10 December 1930) is a politician in the United Kingdom, and sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Conservative Party.[1]

The Right Honourable The Lord Jopling PC DL
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office 11 June 1983 – 13 June 1987
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Peter Walker
Succeeded by	John MacGregor
Chief Whip of the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office 4 May 1979 – 11 June 1983
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Michael Cocks
Succeeded by	John Wakeham
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office 30 October 1973 – 4 March 1974
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	Oscar Mutton
Succeeded by	Vacant
Assistant Government Whip
In office 8 November 1971 – 30 October 1973
Parliamentary Representation Prime Minister Edward Heath Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Incumbent Assumed office 5 June 1997 Life Peerage Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale In office 9 June 1983 – 1 May 1997 Preceded by Constituency created Succeeded by Tim Collins Member of Parliament for Westmorland In office 15 October 1964 – 9 June 1983 Preceded by William Fletcher-Vane Succeeded by Constituency Abolished
Personal details
Born	Thomas Michael Jopling 10 December 1930 Ripon, Yorkshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Children	Nicholas Jopling, Jay Jopling
Relatives	Caspar Jopling (grandson) Ellie Goulding (granddaughter-in-law)
Alma mater	Durham University Newcastle University

Life and career

Jopling is the son of Mark Bellerby Jopling (1886–1958), of Masham, North Yorkshire, a partner in Imeson and Jopling (later Jopling, Cawthorn and Blackburn), surveyors, auctioneers and estate agents.[2][3][4] He was educated at Cheltenham College and Durham University. He was a farmer and company director, and served on the national council of the National Farmers Union. He was a councillor on Thirsk Rural District Council.

Having previously stood unsuccessfully in Wakefield in 1959, Jopling was elected Conservative MP for Westmorland, now in Cumbria, in 1964 and became Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from 1979 to 1983. In 1983, he was elected for Westmorland and Lonsdale after boundary changes, and was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1983 to 1987.

In his Diaries, the military historian and Tory member of Parliament Alan Clark famously quoted what he claimed was Jopling's "snobby but cutting" dismissal of the ambitious Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine: "The trouble with Michael is that he had to buy all his furniture".[5]

After over 32 years as a member of the House Commons, he stood down at the 1997 general election and was succeeded by Tim Collins. He was absent during the last few weeks of his Commons career as he was severely injured in a car accident in February 1997. He returned to the House on the last day the house sat before it dissolved for the election, and was greeted at Prime Minister’s Questions by John Major at his last question session on 20 March.[6]

Jopling was made a life peer as Baron Jopling, of Ainderby Quernhow in the County of North Yorkshire on 5 June 1997.[7] He is a member of the Privy Council and the America All Party Parliamentary Group.

His eldest son Nicholas is also active in the Conservative Party. He contested the Sedgefield constituency at the 1992 general election, but lost to the future Labour Party leader and Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

His younger son, Jay Jopling, is a British contemporary art dealer and gallerist.[8]

His grandson, Caspar Jopling (son of elder son Nicholas Jopling) is married to singer Ellie Goulding.[9]

See also

• Politics of the United Kingdom
• Members of the House of Lords
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

References

1. The International Who's Who 2004. Europa Publications. 2004. p. 832. ISBN 9781857432176. Michael Jopling 1930 Ripon, Yorks.
2. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 2003, vol. 2, p. 1115
3. http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-22516/version/2
4. http://www.mashamhistory.com/joplings.html
5. Alan Clark Diaries: In Power 1983–1992 (Wednesday 17 June 1987) 1993 Weidenfeld & Nicolson
6. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1997/mar/20/engagements#S6CV0292P0_19970320_HOC_105
7. "No. 54789". The London Gazette. 10 June 1997. p. 6745.
8. Sawyer, Miranda (10 November 2001). "Happy return". The Guardian.
9. Fitzpatrick, Katie (31 August 2019). "Who is Ellie Goulding's husband Caspar Jopling?". men. Retrieved 1 September 2019.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Michael Jopling