1. Patrick Cormack served as a member of Parliament for 40 years, from 1970 to 2010.
36 Facts About Patrick Cormack
1. 2.
Patrick Cormack was elected for Cannock at the 1970 general election.
3.
Patrick Cormack was elected chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee in 2005.
4.
Patrick Cormack was twice a candidate for the speakership of the House of Commons.
5.
Patrick Cormack was educated locally at the St James's Choir School and the Havelock School, before attending the University of Hull, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961.
6.
Patrick Cormack was a teacher at his former school, St James's Choir School, in 1961.
7.
Patrick Cormack contested the safe Labour parliamentary seat of Bolsover at the 1964 general election, where he lost to the sitting MP Harold Neal, who won with a majority of 23,103 votes.
8.
At the 1966 general election, Patrick Cormack contested his hometown seat of Grimsby, but again was defeated, this time by the secretary of state for education and science, Anthony Crosland, who had a majority of 8,126.
9.
Patrick Cormack became a training and education officer with Ross Ltd in 1966.
10.
At the 1970 general election, Patrick Cormack stood for the seat of Cannock, and this time was elected, narrowly defeating the incumbent Labour MP Jennie Lee.
11.
From 1970 to 1973, Patrick Cormack served as a parliamentary private secretary at the Department of Health and Social Security.
12.
Patrick Cormack moved constituencies at the February 1974 general election, leaving the marginal seat of Cannock and instead contesting the adjacent newly drawn seat of South West Staffordshire, which he won comfortably with a majority of 9,758.
13.
Patrick Cormack became chairman of the editorial board of The House magazine in 1976, and editor of the magazine in 1979.
14.
An opponent to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's monetarist economic policies, in November 1981, with national unemployment approaching 3,000,000, Patrick Cormack urged Thatcher to change her government's policies if Britain was to avoid economic disaster.
15.
Patrick Cormack resigned from this position in early 2000, standing later that year for the position of Speaker of the House of Commons.
16.
Patrick Cormack became life president of The House magazine in 2005.
17.
In February 2007, it was announced that Patrick Cormack had failed to win the re-adoption of his constituency party for the next general election.
18.
Consequently, a vote of all local party members was held to decide whether Patrick Cormack should remain the party's candidate at the following general election.
19.
Patrick Cormack expressed his gratitude and called the victory a "great relief".
20.
Subsequently, on 1 December 2009, Patrick Cormack announced his intention to stand down at the 2010 general election.
21.
Patrick Cormack was created a life peer on 18 December 2010, as Baron Patrick Cormack, of Enville in the County of Staffordshire.
22.
Patrick Cormack sat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords.
23.
Patrick Cormack opposed the Coalition's plans to reform the House of Lords, speaking out against them numerous times in the chamber.
24.
Patrick Cormack took an active interest in historical issues, particularly those related to English Heritage.
25.
Patrick Cormack wrote many books on subjects ranging from the history of Parliament, British castles, English cathedrals, and a book on William Wilberforce.
26.
Patrick Cormack was a trustee of the Churches Preservation Trust from 1972 until his death.
27.
Patrick Cormack was a council member of British Archaeology since 1979, and was a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass for the same length of time.
28.
Patrick Cormack was a consultant and adviser to FIRST, an international affairs organisation, since 1985.
29.
Patrick Cormack was a vice-president of the Royal Stuart Society and the Heritage Crafts Association.
30.
Patrick Cormack served as president of the British Association of Friends of Museums from 2023 until his death in 2024.
31.
Patrick Cormack was a longstanding Vice President of the National Churches Trust.
32.
Patrick Cormack was President of the Prayer Book Society for many years.
33.
Patrick Cormack listed his recreations in Who's Who as "fighting philistines, walking, visiting old churches, avoiding sitting on fences".
34.
Patrick Cormack was a member of the Athenaeum and Lincolnshire clubs.
35.
Patrick Cormack was a longtime resident of Lincoln, living near its famed cathedral.
36.
Patrick Cormack died on 25 February 2024, at the age of 84.