Rhodes Boyson

Infobox Officeholder


name = Sir Rhodes Boyson
|imagesize =
office = Parliamentary Under-Secretary Department of Education and Science
term_start = 1979
term_end = 1983
primeminister = Margaret Thatcher
predecessor =
successor =
office2 = Minister of State for Social Security
term_start2 = 1983
term_end2 = 1984
primeminister2 = Margaret Thatcher
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
office3 = Minister of State for Northern Ireland
term_start3 = 1984
term_end3 = 1986
primeminister3 = Margaret Thatcher
predecessor3 =
successor3 =
office4 = Minister of State for the Environment
term_start4 = 1986
term_end4 = 1987
primeminister4 = Margaret Thatcher
predecessor4 =
successor4 =
constituency_MP5 = Brent North
majority5 =
term_start5 = 1974
term_end5 = 1997
predecessor5 = (new constituency)
successor5 = Barry Gardiner
party = Conervative Party
birth_date = birth date and age|1925|05|11|df=yes
birth_place = Manchester, England
death_date =
death_place =
party = Conservative Party
religion =

Sir Rhodes Boyson (born 11 May 1925 in Lancashire) is an author and politician in the United Kingdom, and former Conservative Member of Parliament for Brent North. He was knighted and made a member of the Privy Council in 1987.

The son of Alderman William Boyson MBE JP, Rhodes Boyson gained his unusual name from the area of Manchester where he was raised. He was educated at Haslingden Grammar School, University College Cardiff, the University of Manchester the London School of Economics and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Early career

He served with the Royal Navy based in India at the time of Independence and then was a Head teacher, most notably at the Highbury Grove School in Islington, North London; in this capacity, he controversially supported the retention of corporal punishment in British schools.

He served as Chairman of the National Council for Educational Standards.

Political career

He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1974, and was Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Education and Science 1979 - 1983. He was Minister of State for Social Security 1983 - 1984 and for Northern Ireland 1984 - 1986 and for Local Government 1986 - 1987. He then moved to the Department of the Environment.

Boyson was a supporter of the Conservative Monday Club and frequently addressed them. At the Conservative Party Annual Conference at Blackpool on 10 October 1991, he was the principal speaker at a Club fringe meeting on the subject of "A Conservative Revolution in Education".

In 1994, he made a somewhat infamous appearance on the BBC topical panel show "Have I Got News For You" in which he appeared not to appreciate either the light-hearted or quiz nature of the programme. His sometimes incoherent ramblings and tangents led to efforts by team captain Paul Merton to keep the audience amused via mime (including pretending to strangle himself) while Boyson talked. Fellow guest Maureen Lipman was observed to wipe away tears caused by a mixture of amusement and embarrassment. He has also appeared (and been lampooned) on shows such as "Brass Eye", "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", and "Ali G". Again, most of the humour in these appearance stemmed from Boyson's apparent failure to recognise the comedic or satirical nature of what he was engaged in and his apparent on-face acceptance of extremely exaggerated comic scenarios put to him.

Boyson lost his Brent North seat in the Labour landslide of 1997, his 24% majority turning to a 10% majority for the opposition; in 2001, the seat, no longer contested by Boyson, swung a further 9% to Labour, suggesting that he had a high personal following.

His mutton chop whiskers are a distinctive feature of his appearance.

Publications and references

* Boyson, Rhodes, "Centre Forward - A Radical Conservative Programme", Temple Smith publishers, London, 1978, ISBN 0-85117-148-6.
* "Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1991", 172 edition, East Sussex, ISBN 0-905702-17-4.