Timothy Eric Boswell, Baron Boswell of Aynho (born 2 December 1942) is a British politician who 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 ...

MP for

Daventry Daventry ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, Daventry had a populati ...

from

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

until he stood down at the 2010 general election, after which he was appointed to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

Personal life

The son of a farmer, Tim Boswell was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he obtained a degree in

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and a diploma in

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. Boswell was married to Helen Delahay Boswell, née Rees, for 50 years until her death in 2019. They had three daughters together including the former

Member of Parliament

Victoria Prentis Victoria Mary Prentis, Baroness Prentis of Banbury, ( Boswell; born 24 March 1971) is a British politician and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party, Prentis served as the Member of Parliament for Banbury from 2015 until her defeat i ...

Political career

Conservative Party

He joined the

Conservative Research Department The Conservative Research Department (CRD) is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters in Westminster. The CRD has been descri ...

in 1966, becoming head of the economics section in 1974. He stood for

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the February 1974 general election in

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

but lost by 6,154 votes to Labour's William Price. He was elected as the Treasurer of the Daventry Conservative Association in 1976 and subsequently its Chairman from 1979 to 1983. He became a political advisor to the

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889 ...

Michael Jopling Thomas Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling, PC, DL (born 10 December 1930) is a British politician who sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Conservative Party. Life and career Jopling is the son of Mark Bellerby Jopling (1886–1958), of ...

for two years from 1984.

House of Commons

Boswell was chosen to contest the Daventry constituency after the sitting Conservative MP

Reg Prentice Reginald Ernest Prentice, Baron Prentice, PC (16 July 1923 – 18 January 2001) was a British politician who held ministerial office in both Labour and Conservative Party governments. He was the most senior Labour figure ever to defect to th ...

announced his retirement. He was elected as the Conservative MP for Daventry at the 1987 general election with a majority of 19,690 and held the

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

comfortably until his retirement from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. Tim Boswell's

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

career began unsurprisingly as a Member of the

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

Select committee in 1987. He became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The Financial Secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the ch ...

Peter Lilley Peter Bruce Lilley, Baron Lilley, PC (born 23 August 1943) is a British politician and life peer who served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Pa ...

in 1989. Tim Boswell entered

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

's government in 1990 as an Assistant Government Whip, following the 1992 general election he was promoted within the Whip's Office and became a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury. In December 1992, Tim Boswell was appointed

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. T ...

at the

Department of Education 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 ...

and moved in the same position at the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

until the Major government fell at the 1997 general election. In opposition Boswell was a spokesman on the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

in the immediate aftermath of the 1997 election defeat and became a spokesman on

Trade and Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a Ministry (government), ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Min ...

under

William Hague William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...

, before speaking on

Education and Employment The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's services in England. Th ...

in 1999 until after the 2001 general election. He became the spokesman for Work and Pensions under the leadership of

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Le ...

, moving briefly to speak on

Constitutional Affairs The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003; it took over the functions of the Lord Chancellor's Department. On 28 March 2007 it was announced that the D ...

in 2003 under

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...

and back to Work and Pensions in 2004, where he remained following the 2005 general election. On 31 March 2006, Boswell announced his intention not to contest the subsequent general election, provided it did not take place unexpectedly soon. The Daventry seat was split in two at the 2010 general election, with the northern portion becoming part of a new Daventry constituency and the southern part becoming part of a

South Northamptonshire South Northamptonshire was a local government district in Northamptonshire, England, from 1974 to 2021. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority ...

constituency. In May 2009, he was listed by ''The Telegraph'' as one of the "Saints" in the expenses scandal. After his retirement from the House of Commons the seat remained Conservative under

Chris Heaton-Harris Christopher Heaton-Harris (born 28 November 1967) is a British former politician who served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from September 2022 to July 2024, and as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliament ...

House of Lords

He was raised to the

as a Conservative

Life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

being created Baron Boswell of Aynho, of

Aynho Aynho (, formerly spelt ''Aynhoe'') is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, on the edge of the Cherwell valley south-east of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury and southwest of Brackley. Along with its neighbour ...

in the County of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

on 8 July 2010. In May 2012, he resigned the Conservative whip after being made Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees in the House. He also became Chairman of the

European Union Committee The European Union Committee was a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its terms of reference were "to consider European Union documents and other matters relating to the European Union", as well as " ...

Honours

On 10 March 2016, Boswell was elected a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

(FSA). He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Northamptonshire in 2010.Deputy Lieutenant Commissions
/ref>

References

External links

* *
Profile
on Conservative Party website
Daventry ConservativesTheyWorkForYou.com - Tim Boswell MPThe Public Whip - Tim Boswell MP
voting record
BBC News - Tim Boswell
profile 15 February 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Boswell, Tim 1942 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of New College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy lieutenants of Northamptonshire Life peers created by Elizabeth II Contestants on British game shows Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Aynho