Lord Thomson of Monifieth Peer

Address:
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW

BIOGRAPHY

George Morgan Thomson was born on the 16^th January 1921, and educated at the Grove Academy Dundee.  He served during WWII, and was in the RAF from 1940 to 1946.  When he left the Air Force,  he became assistant editor on Forward, and in 1948 was made up to editor.  The same year, he was married to Grace Jenkins, and continued in the post of editor on Forward until 1953.  During that time, his interest in politics focused and he contested the Glasgow Hillhead seat for Labour, in 1950.  July 1952 brought him electoral success, when he became Labour MP for the Dundee East seat, which he continued to represent for 20 years.

For five years, from 1959 to 1964, George was Joint Chairman of the Council for Education in the Commonwealth, and from 1960 to 1964, he was Adviser to the Educational Institute of Scotland.  He was Minister of State in the Foreign Office from 1964 to 1966 and became a Privy Councillor the same year.  Between 1966 and 1967, George was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.  A year’s duty as Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs followed from 1967 to 1968, when he served another year as a Minister Without Portfolio, and again, a second term as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Minister for Europe preparing the UK’s application to join the EEC, until 1970.  The advent of the Heath government in 1970 saw George in a two year tour of duty as Shadow Defence Minister.  In 1972, there followed by a year as Chairman of the Labour Committee for Europe.  There were then four years as a Commissioner in the EEC until January 1977, and in that year,  he was also made Chancellor of Heriot Watt University – a post he held for 14 years.  At this point, George was created a Life Peer as Baron Thomson of Monifieth.

This appointment was followed by many years of prestigious posts in various organisations, beginning with the post of Chairman of the European Movement in Britain, the Advertising Standards Authority, the European TV and Film Forum, First Crown Estate Commissioner, Deputy Chairman then Chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority, Director of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, ICI plc, the Woolwich Equitable Building Society and ENO, and he went on to become Deputy Chairman of the Woolwich between 1988 and 1991.  During this period, he was also made President of the History of Advertising Trust, a position he held for 14 years.  Also in 1988, George became Chairman of the Value & Income Trust for 12 years.

In 1989, George became a Member of the Liberal Democrat Party, and was made spokesman in the House of Lords on foreign affairs and broadcasting for eight years, beginning in 1990.   Over the years, George has been and, in many cases, remains, involved with many Trusts and Foundations – he was Chairman of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust for three years, Deputy Chairman of the Ditchley Foundation, the FRSE and FRTS (he was Vice President for 7 years), a Pilgrim Trustee for 20 years, a Trustee to the Thomson Foundation since 1977, the Leeds Castle Foundation since 1978, and was its Chairman from 1994 to 2000.  He has honorary degrees from the Universities in Dundee, Aston, the New University of Ulster and Heriot-Watt.

George’s wife, Grace, was a liberal Democrat parish councillor in Charing, Kent from 1990 to 2000.  They have two daughters, Caroline and Ailsa.  Ailsa is the Vicar of an inner London parish in Vauxhall, and is married to the Liberal Democrat Peer, Dick Newby.