Andrew McIntosh, Baron McIntosh of Haringey

The Right Honourable
The Lord McIntosh of Haringey
PC
Speaking in the Lords chamber, March 2010
Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Lords
Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard
In office
3 May 1997 – 13 June 2003
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byThe Lord Chesham
Succeeded byThe Lord Davies of Oldham
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
17 January 1983 – 27 August 2010
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
Andrew Robert McIntosh

(1933-04-30)30 April 1933
London, England
Died27 August 2010(2010-08-27) (aged 77)
London, England
Political partyLabour
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1962; died 2006)​
Children2

Andrew Robert McIntosh, Baron McIntosh of Haringey, PC (30 April 1933 – 27 August 2010) was a British Labour politician and last elected Principal of the Working Men's College.

Personal life

McIntosh was born at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead on 30 April 1933.[1] He was educated at Haberdasher Aske's Hampstead School, the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, Jesus College, Oxford and Ohio State University.[2]

In 1962, McIntosh married Naomi Sargant, an academic, and they were together until her death in 2006.[1][3] They had two sons, and McIntosh became a stepfather to her son from a prior marriage.[1]

McIntosh divided his time between a home in Highgate, London, and one in the Provence region of France.[1] On 27 August 2010, he died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma at his home in Highgate, aged 77.[1] He was cremated, and his ashes were buried at Highgate Cemetery.[1]

Politics

He served as a councillor in the London Borough of Haringey (1964–68). He represented Tottenham on the Greater London Council (1973–83). When Labour won control of the GLC in 1981, McIntosh was leader of the Labour group. A centrist, McIntosh narrowly beat left-winger Ken Livingstone for the leadership. However, the day after Labour won a small majority, he was ousted and Livingstone voted leader of the Labour Group and of the GLC in his place by 30 to 20.

He was raised to the peerage as a life peer on 17 January 1983 as Baron McIntosh of Haringey of Haringey in Greater London.[4] He served as a whip and a culture spokesman in the House of Lords. He was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in 2002.

Andrew McIntosh was the UK's Minister for the Media and Heritage at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2003 to 2005. His responsibilities included broadcasting and press regulation, heritage and architecture, libraries, and gambling regulation. He was also spokesman in the House of Lords for HM Treasury from 1997 to 2005.

In September 2005, he became a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe[5] sitting as Chairman of the Assembly's Committee on Culture, Science and Education from January 2010[6] and chairman of its Sub-Committee on the Media from 2008 to 2009.[7]

Following the passing of a resolution on "Threats to the lives and freedom of expression of journalists" on 27 January 2007 the Council of Europe appointed him its rapporteur on media freedom.[8]

McIntosh became an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group.[citation needed]

Grave of Andrew and Naomi McIntosh in Highgate Cemetery
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Labour Party on the Greater London Council
1980–1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Fabian Society
1985 – 1986 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
1997–2003 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Corbett, Ann (2014). "McIntosh, Andrew Robert, Baron McIntosh of Haringey (1933–2010), market researcher and politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Lord McIntosh of Haringey - Scotland Office Spokesman in the House of Lords Archived 11 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, 26 June 2001, Scotland Office
  3. ^ Obituary: Naomi Sargant, The Guardian, 28 July 2006
  4. ^ "No. 49242". The London Gazette. 20 January 1983. p. 881.
  5. ^ Council of Europe profile Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Council of Europe - Committee on Culture, Science and Education[failed verification] Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Council of Europe - Sub-Committee on the Media[failed verification] Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ PACE Resolution 1535 (2007)[failed verification] Archived 30 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine