{{Short description|British politician (1914–1988)}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Lord Peart | honorific_suffix = PC | image = Frederick Peart, 1974 (cropped).jpg | office = Leader of the Opposition in the Lords<br>Shadow Leader of the House of Lords | leader = James Callaghan<br>Michael Foot | term_start = 4 May 1979 | term_end = 4 November 1982 | predecessor = The Lord Carrington | successor = The Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos | office1 = Leader of the House of Lords | prime_minister1 = James Callaghan | term_start1 = 10 September 1976 | term_end1 = 4 May 1979 | predecessor1 = The Lord Shepherd | successor1 = The Lord Soames | office2 = Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal | prime_minister2 = James Callaghan | term_start2 = 10 September 1976 | term_end2 = 4 May 1979 | predecessor2 = The Lord Shepherd | successor2 = Ian Gilmour | prime_minister3 = Harold Wilson | term_start3 = 6 April 1968 | term_end3 = 1 November 1968 | predecessor3 = The Lord Shackleton | successor3 = The Lord Shackleton | office4 = Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food | prime_minister4 = Harold Wilson<br>James Callaghan | term_start4 = 5 March 1974 | term_end4 = 10 September 1976 | predecessor4 = Joseph Godber | successor4 = John Silkin | prime_minister5 = Harold Wilson | term_start5 = 18 October 1964 | term_end5 = 6 April 1968 | predecessor5 = Christopher Soames | successor5 = Cledwyn Hughes {{collapsed infobox section begin |Shadow Cabinet offices |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes |office6 = Shadow Secretary of State for Defence |leader6 = Harold Wilson |term_start6 = 7 December 1972 |term_end6 = 5 March 1974 |predecessor6 = George Thomson |successor6 = Ian Gilmour |office7 = Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |leader7 = Harold Wilson |term_start7 = 16 December 1971 |term_end7 = 7 December 1972 |predecessor7 = Cledwyn Hughes |successor7 = Norman Buchan |office8 = Shadow Leader of the House of Commons |leader8 = Harold Wilson |term_start8 = 20 June 1970 |term_end8 = 16 December 1971 |predecessor8 = Selwyn Lloyd {{small|(1965)}} |successor8 = Michael Foot {{collapsed infobox section end}}}} | office9 = Leader of the House of Commons<br>Lord President of the Council | prime_minister9 = Harold Wilson | term_start9 = 1 November 1968 | term_end9 = 20 June 1970 | predecessor9 = Dick Crossman | successor9 = William Whitelaw {{collapsed infobox section begin |Parliamentary offices |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes |office10 = Member of the House of Lords<br/>Lord Temporal |term_start10 = 23 September 1976 |term_end10 = 26 August 1988<br/>Life Peerage |office11 = Member of Parliament<br>for Workington |term_start11 = 5 July 1945 |term_end11 = 23 September 1976 |predecessor11 = Thomas Cape |successor11 = Richard Page {{collapsed infobox section end}}}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1914|4|30|df=y}} | birth_place = Durham, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1988|8|26|1914|4|30|df=y}} | death_place = London, England | party = Labour | alma_mater = Durham University | caption = Peart in 1974 | spouse = {{marriage|Bette Lewis|1945}} | children = 1 }} '''Thomas Frederick Peart, Baron Peart''', PC (30 April 1914 – 26 August 1988) was a British Labour politician who served in the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s and was a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Party.
==Early life and education== Thomas Frederick Peart was born in Durham, England, in 1914, the son of Emerson Featherstone Peart, a headmaster and leading Labour member of Durham County Council, and Florence Blissenden.<ref name = ODNB>{{cite ODNB|title = Peart, (Thomas) Frederick, Baron Peart (1914–1988), politician|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/39855|last = Morris|first = Alfred|date = 2004}}</ref> The younger Peart qualified as a teacher at the University of Durham in 1936.<ref name = ODNB/> During his time at university he was President of the Durham Union for Epiphany term of 1936.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=P. D. A. |title=A Short History of the Durham Union Society |date=1952 |publisher=Durham County Press |page=17}}</ref> He studied at the Inner Temple but did not enter the legal profession, instead teaching economics in Durham.<ref name = ODNB/> He served in the Royal Artillery in World War II, gaining the rank of captain.<ref name = ODNB/>
==Political career== Peart was elected Member of Parliament for Workington in 1945, serving until 1976.<ref name = ODNB/> He initially served as PPS to the Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries (Tom Williams).<ref name = ODNB/>
Peart, along with the rest of the Labour Party, went into opposition following Winston Churchill's 1951 election victory. In 1964, he returned to government after Harold Wilson defeated Alec Douglas-Home at that year's election. He was appointed to the Cabinet holding the Cabinet post of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.<ref name = ODNB/> His tenure saw advances in pay for agricultural labourers, and in technology.
In 1968, Peart became Lord Privy Seal, with no particular responsibilities.<ref name = ODNB/> Seven months later, Peart became Leader of the House of Commons, taking the subsidiary title Lord President of the Council.<ref name = ODNB/> After Labour lost the 1970 election, Peart returned to opposition as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. He held that position until December 1971, when he became Shadow Agriculture Minister.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z9A9AAAAIBAJ&pg=5921,3423474&dq=shadow-leader&hl=en |title=Wilson Gives Foot Key Market Role |date=17 December 1971 |access-date=18 January 2011 |work=The Glasgow Herald |page=22 |last=Warden |first=John}}</ref> When Labour returned to power, Peart once more took the Agriculture portfolio.
On 23 September 1976, Peart was created a life peer as '''Baron Peart''', of Workington in the County of Cumbria,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=47025 |date=28 September 1976 |page=13129}}</ref> to serve as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal at a time when the Labour faction in the Lords was tiny compared to the vast Tory majority, mainly composed of hereditary peers.<ref name = ODNB/>
After Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election, Peart continued as Leader of the Labour Peers and thus became Shadow Leader of the House of Lords. He served in those roles until 1982, when he was defeated for re-election by Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos in a vote among Labour peers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FsJAAAAAIBAJ&pg=3257,912850&dq=peart+lords&hl=en |title=No whip's job for Canavan |work=The Glasgow Herald |page=6 |date=5 November 1982}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== In 1945, Peart married Bette Lewis, and they had one son.<ref name = ODNB/>
On 6 June 1975, Peart was on board the train which derailed in the Nuneaton rail crash; he survived with minor injuries.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nuneaton train crash: Vivid memories 40 years on|url=http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/nuneaton-train-crash-vivid-memories-9396818|newspaper=Coventry Telegraph|access-date=23 October 2016}}</ref>
In 1984, Peart was attacked by two robbers who broke into his London home. This preceded a terminal decline in his health, and he died at a hospital in London on 26 August 1988, at the age of 74.<ref name = ODNB/>
==See also== * List of Durham University people * List of presidents of the Durham Union
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-thomas-peart | Fred Peart }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef|before=Thomas Cape}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament<br>for Workington|years=1945–1976}} {{s-aft|after=Richard Page}} |- {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Christopher Soames}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food|years=1964–1968}} {{s-aft|after=Cledwyn Hughes}} |- {{s-bef|before=The Lord Shackleton}} {{s-ttl|title=Lord Privy Seal|years=1968}} {{s-aft|after=The Lord Shackleton}} |- {{s-bef|rows=2|before=Dick Crossman}} {{s-ttl|title=Leader of the House of Commons|years=1968–1970}} {{s-aft|rows=2|after=William Whitelaw}} |- {{s-ttl|title=Lord President of the Council|years=1968–1970}} |- {{s-vac|last=Selwyn Lloyd}} {{s-ttl|title=Shadow Leader of the House of Commons|years=1970–1971}} {{s-aft|after=Michael Foot}} |- {{s-bef|before=George Thomson}} {{s-ttl|title=Shadow Secretary of State for Defence|years=1972–1974}} {{s-aft|after=Ian Gilmour}} |- {{s-bef|before=Joseph Godber}} {{s-ttl|title=Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food|years=1974–1976}} {{s-aft|after=John Silkin}} |- {{s-bef|rows=2|before=The Lord Shepherd}} {{s-ttl|title=Leader of the House of Lords|years=1976–1979}} {{s-aft|after=The Lord Soames}} |- {{s-ttl|title=Lord Privy Seal|years=1976–1979}} {{s-aft|after=Ian Gilmour}} |- {{s-bef|before=The Lord Carrington}} {{s-ttl|title=Shadow Leader of the House of Lords|years=1979–1982}} {{s-aft|after=The Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos}} |- {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=The Lord Shepherd}} {{s-ttl|title=Leader of the Labour Party in the House of Lords|years=1976–1982}} {{s-aft|after=The Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos}} {{s-end}}
{{UK Labour Party}} {{Leaders of the Opposition UK}} {{Shadow Defence Secretaries}} {{Leader of the House of Commons}} {{Second Wilson Ministry}} {{Callaghan Ministry}} {{Authority control}} {{1970 Labour Party deputy leadership election}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peart, Fred}} Category:1914 births Category:1988 deaths Category:Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom Category:Alumni of the College of the Venerable Bede, Durham Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:Cumbria MPs Category:GMB (trade union)-sponsored MPs Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:Labour Party (UK) life peers Category:Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Category:Leaders of the House of Lords Category:Lords president of the Council Category:Lords Privy Seal Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Category:Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Category:Presidents of the Durham Union Category:Royal Artillery officers Category:Survivors of railway accidents or incidents Category:UK MPs 1945–1950 Category:UK MPs 1950–1951 Category:UK MPs 1951–1955 Category:UK MPs 1955–1959 Category:UK MPs 1959–1964 Category:UK MPs 1964–1966 Category:UK MPs 1966–1970 Category:UK MPs 1970–1974 Category:UK MPs 1974 Category:UK MPs 1974–1979 Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II Category:Schoolteachers from County Durham