Thomas Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde.html



The Right Honourable  The Lord Strathclyde  PC
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords
Incumbent
Assumed office  1998
Preceded by	The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Cranborne PC
Born	February 22, 1960 (1960-02-22) (age 48) Glasgow, Scotland
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	University of East Anglia

Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, PC (born 22 February 1960, Glasgow, Scotland) is a United Kingdom politician and the leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords. He is known informally as Tom Strathclyde.

Early life

Strathclyde's father, Tam Galbraith, was Conservative MP for Glasgow Hillhead (1948–82) but died before his own father in 1982, triggering the famous by-election that saw the election of Roy Jenkins.

Strathclyde was educated at Wellington College and the University of East Anglia.

Career

He is also a director of Auchendrane Estates Ltd, a landowning company in Scotland.

Conservative Party

Strathclyde first entered the House of Lords in 1986, becoming a junior whip in 1988, then Minister for Tourism in 1989. Between 1990 and 1992 he was Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in the Scottish Office. He then served in the Department of the Environment and the Department of Trade and Industry before being appointed Conservative Chief Whip in the House of Lords in 1994, succeeding Lord Ullswater. The next year, he was sworn of the Privy Council. He retained this post when the Conservatives entered opposition in 1997.

In 1998 Strathclyde, along with the entire of the Conservative front bench in the House of Lords, tendered his resignation if the party refused to accept a proposed compromise plan for reform of the Lords that had been negotiated by Lord Cranborne, Conservative leader in the Lords, to the disapproval of party leader William Hague. Hague accepted the proposals, though Cranborne was dismissed for the way in which they had been negotiated, and Strathclyde was appointed to succeed him. Under his leadership the House of Lords Act 1999 passed. Strathclyde was subsequently selected as one of the 92 hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords.

Styles

• The Hon. Thomas Galbraith (1960–1985)
• The Rt. Hon. The Lord Strathclyde (1985–1995)
• The Rt. Hon. The Lord Strathclyde PC (1995–)

See also

• Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK)

External links

• Conservatives: Lord Strathclyde

Offices held