Sir Kenneth Melville Carlisle (born 25 March 1941) is a politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament for Lincoln from 1979 to 1997.

Early life

Born in Hiraethog,

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

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, he is the son of Kenneth Ralph Malcolm Peter Carlisle and Elizabeth Mary McLaren. His father was a Director then Chairman of Liebig Extract of Meat Company which owned the brands of Oxo and Fray Bentos. The company was bought by

Brooke Bond Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions, except in India, Nepal, and Indonesia where it is owned by Unilever. Brooke Bond was formerly an independent tea- trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known ...

in 1970 and

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

in 1984, and Kenneth Carlisle worked at the company for eight years from 1966 to 1974. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, where he gained a BA in Law. He became a barrister at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1965. In 1974, he took over running of an arable farm on his father's Wyken estate near Stanton in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Parliamentary career

Carlisle was elected as MP for Lincoln at the 1979 general election, becoming the first Conservative to win the seat in 50 years. ''The Almanac of British Politics'' noted that his win was helped by the presence of a candidate for the Democratic Labour Party, which drew votes away from the incumbent Labour MP Margaret Jackson. In the 1980s he substantially increased his majority, thanks in part to the addition of several middle-class suburbs to the north of Lincoln before the 1983 general election. He was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

from October 1990 - March 1992 and the Minister for Roads and Traffic at the Department of Transport from May 1992 - May 1993. He is on the Council of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

. He retired as an MP at the 1997 general election. His successor as Conservative candidate in Lincoln lost the seat to Labour's Gillian Merron by over 11,000 votes. New boundaries introduced for the election contributed to this defeat, as it was projected that had Lincoln been fought on these boundaries in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, it would have had a Labour majority of about 1,000 (whereas Carlisle had won by just over 2,000 votes on the old boundaries).

Farming

His farm has a vineyard, shop and the Leaping Hare restaurant. The vineyard which has the

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

grape produces about 14,000 bottles of wine a year. He is interested in conservation via the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, notably that of the grey partridge.

Personal life

He married Carla from

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

in 1986. They have a son, Sam. From 1996 to 1998 and 2000–12, his wife wrote the weekly Spectator column for Country Life magazine.

Honours

* He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours List "For political service". This allowed him to be called " Sir Kenneth Carlisle".

References

External links

Wyken Vineyards

Patron of Stanton Preschool
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlisle, Kenneth 1941 births Living people People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 People from the Borough of St Edmundsbury Politics of Lincoln, England Knights Bachelor