John Julian Ganzoni, 2nd Baron Belstead, Baron Ganzoni, (30 September 1932 – 3 December 2005) was a British Conservative politician and peer who served as

Leader of the House of Lords The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...

under

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

from 1988 to 1990.

Background and education

Ganzoni was the only son of Sir John Ganzoni, a barrister and Conservative MP for

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

who was created Baron Belstead in 1938, and his wife Gwendolen Gertrude Turner, daughter of Arthur Turner, of

. He went to Eton before reading History at Christ Church, Oxford.

Political career

Belstead showed little interest in politics at first, and waited six years after succeeding to the peerage on his father's death in 1958 before making his maiden speech. In 1970,

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

appointed him to become Parliamentary Under-Secretary to

at the

Department of Education and Science An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

; he was moved in the same rank to the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...

three years later. When

led the Tories back to power in 1979, she sent him to the Home Office. He was then made Minister at the Foreign Office when Lord Carrington and his team resigned after the Falklands invasion. In 1980, he was interviewed by the BBC's Panorama current affairs program about Britain's preparations for a nuclear attack. He next moved to the Ministry of Fisheries and Food, and went back to the Education Department again before becoming Deputy Leader to

William Whitelaw William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fac ...

as Leader of the House of Lords. He succeeded Whitelaw in that post in 1988, taking the sinecure post of Lord Privy Seal at the same time. After losing his Cabinet seat, which he had gained when he became Lord Privy Seal, in 1990 he became

Paymaster-General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posit ...

and Northern Ireland Minister under John Major, retiring from the Government to become Chairman of the Parole Board in 1992. In the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, he was sworn of the Privy Council. After the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, he was created a life peer (an honour given to all former Leaders of the House of Lords) as Baron Ganzoni, of Ipswich in the County of Suffolk on 17 November 1999. He also gave his name to the new "Belstead Centre" at

Woodbridge School Woodbridge School is an independent school in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, founded in 1577, for the poor of Woodbridge. It was later supported by the Seckford Foundation. Woodbridge School has been co-educational since September 1974. Histor ...

Personal life

Lord Belstead never married. He died in December 2005, aged 73, when both the hereditary peerage and the baronetcy became extinct. He is buried in the churchyard of St Mary's,

Great Bealings Great Bealings is a small village in Suffolk, England. It has about 302 people living in it in around 113 households. Its nearest towns are Ipswich ( away) and Woodbridge (). Nearby villages include Little Bealings, Playford, Culpho, Has ...

, Suffolk. He was an active Freemason and president of the Board of General Purposes for the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic grand lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron ...

. He was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Suffolk on 2 April 1979.

Coat of arms

References

External links

*
Obituary
Guardian.co.uk. Accessed 8 January 2023.

House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 23 November 1999

House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 5 December 2005 , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Belstead, John Ganzoni, 2nd Baron 1932 births 2005 deaths English people of Italian descent Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Barons Belstead Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Ganzoni Leaders of the House of Lords Lord-Lieutenants of Suffolk Lords Privy Seal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College Politicians from Ipswich Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Northern Ireland Office junior ministers Ganzoni Life peers created by Elizabeth II