earl ferrers, born 1929
hereditary peer and conservative minister
Robert Shirley, 13th Earl Ferrers, was a hereditary member of the House of Lords, and a conservative politician. Educated at Winchester College and Magdalene College Cambridge, he served in Malaya as an officer in the Coldstream Guards. He had the rare distinction of serving as a Minister under five Prime Ministers: Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Sir Alec Douglas Hume, Margaret Thatcher, and John Major. With the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Ferrers along with almost all other hereditary peers lost his automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. He was, however, elected as one of the 92 elected hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords pending completion of House of Lords reform, coming first in the ballot.
Source: This life story comprises excerpts from Earl Ferrers’ autobiography ‘Whatever Next?’, published in 2012 by Biteback Publishing. It is archived with acknowledgement and thanks. It was contributed in 2020 by Alex Reid, nephew of Earl Ferrers’ sister Elizabeth.
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