Lord Cope - 5 March 2024
Thank you to Lord Cope for joining us to speak about his political career.
Lord (John) Cope is a Chartered Accountant who became involved in Politics.
He was born in Leicester in 1937 and joined the Conservative Party in 1957.
He later worked for the Conservative Research Department on Tax Policy and was elected MP for South Gloucestershire (later called Northavon) in 1974.
He was a Minister under Margaret Thatcher as a Whip, Deputy Chief Whip, Minister of State for Small Businesses, and then Minister of State in Northern Ireland. When John Major became PM Cope was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Party and then Paymaster General at the Treasury. He was defeated in 1997 and appointed to the House of Lords where he became Conservative Chief Whip. He retired from active membership of the Lords in 2020 following a heart operation. He was a Parliamentary candidate in 8 General Elections, won 6 and lost 2. He was on the front bench of the Party for 25 of his 46 years in Parliament.
He and his wife have been married for over 50 years and they have 5 grandchildren aged between 8 and 30.