1. Horace Cutler was noted for his showmanship and flair for publicity, and some of his right-wing economic views were seen as forerunners of Thatcherism.
19 Facts About Horace Cutler
1. 2.
Horace Cutler went to Harrow County School for Boys and Hereford Cathedral School, later joining his father's building business, which he helped lead after his father's death in 1934.
3.
Horace Cutler spent World War II in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
4.
Horace Cutler became involved in politics due to dissatisfaction with the strictness of building laws.
5.
Horace Cutler was elected to Middlesex County Council and was its last Leader, in 1963, before it was abolished to make way for the Greater London Council.
6.
Horace Cutler took one of the Harrow seats on the GLC at its first election, switching to Harrow West from 1973.
7.
Horace Cutler remained a member of it throughout its existence, one of only eight people to do so.
8.
Horace Cutler believed that local authorities had no role in housing, and instituted a scheme to allow tenants to buy their own homes at a discounted price, which later became one of the tenets of Thatcherism.
9.
Horace Cutler forcibly transferred much of the GLC housing stock to the London Boroughs.
10.
Horace Cutler was sceptical of the merits of the GLC, seeing it as "too big, too remote and too shadowy", and set up an inquiry under Sir Frank Marshall into its powers and existence; Marshall found enough to justify the continuation of the GLC.
11.
Horace Cutler wanted to extend the Jubilee line into Docklands but was refused the money by the Labour Government.
12.
Horace Cutler was noted for meddling in detailed Underground management, which London Transport Chairman Peter Masefield had to persuade him to stop.
13.
Horace Cutler made a bid to host the 1988 Summer Olympics, but the national government were not supportive of this.
14.
Horace Cutler was knighted in the 1979 Birthday Honours with the support of Margaret Thatcher, whom he had deeply admired.
15.
Horace Cutler was the last Conservative leader of the GLC, and the last elected leader of the party in London-wide government until Boris Johnson in 2008.
16.
Horace Cutler concentrated on attacking Livingstone during the campaign, saying that he wished to establish a Marxist power-base in London.
17.
Horace Cutler was not informed of this before it was published; he viewed this as a profound betrayal by Thatcher, and a permanent rift formed between the two.
18.
In 1934, Horace Cutler married Betty Martin; they had one son and divorced in 1954.
19.
In retirement, Horace Cutler lived in Ibiza for many years, but returned to England at the end of his life, dying at a care home in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, on 2 March 1997, aged 84.