Cockfield joined the Inland Revenue in 1938, and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1942. He progressed rapidly within the Inland Revenue, serving as Director of Statistics from 1945 to 1952 and as a Commissioner from 1951 to 1952, before joining retailer Boots as its finance director. He was its managing director and chairman from 1961 to 1967. He was also a member of Selwyn Lloyd's National Economic Development Council from 1962 to 1964.[citation needed]
Cockfield was known by his first name, Frank, for most of his life but hated it. When he married his first wife, Ruth Simonis, his granddaughter, Emma, recalls how he told her he wished to use his middle name instead: "All my life I've been called Frank but I've hated it – you're to call me Arthur."[citation needed]
After the 1983 general election, Cockfield became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In this role he had no specific departmental responsibilities, so he effectively became an advisor and a sort of one-man think-tank to the Prime Minister. Lord Cockfield resigned from the cabinet in September 1984 to join the European Commission as commissioner for Internal Market, Tax Law and Customs under Jacques Delors, and a vice-president of the first Delors Commission. He was expected to follow Thatcher's eurosceptic line, but became a driving force in laying the groundwork for the creation of the Single European Market in 1992. Only a few months after he arrived in Brussels, he produced a mammoth white paper listing 300 barriers to trade, with a timetable for them to be abolished. He was not selected[clarification needed] to serve a second term, and was replaced by Leon Brittan.[citation needed]
Later career
After leaving the Commission in 1988, Cockfield became a consultant for accountants Peat, Marwick, McLintock. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium in 1990, and honorary doctorates and fellowships from a number of British and American universities.[citation needed]
Personal life
He married twice. He married his first wife, Ruth Helen Simonis, in 1943, but they divorced in the early 1960s. They had a daughter and a son. He later married choreographer Monica Mudie, in 1970; she died in 1992.
Lord Cockfield is buried, along with his wife Monica, on the Isle of Man.
Arms
Coat of arms of Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield
Crest
A globe rising Or issuing therefrom a lymphad sail furled Azure flying from the main and stern masts flags Gules therein two human figures that in the stern pulling an oar Or.
Escutcheon
Chequy Azure and Gules two flaunches conjoined to three barrulets Or.
Supporters
On either side a cock Azure combed wattled beaked and legged Gules gorged with a mural crown Or.
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