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Michael Lewis Brotherton (born 26 May 1931) is a British journalist and politician. A
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 ...
, he had a promising Parliamentary career and worked as a Parliamentary consultant after his former constituency in Lincolnshire was abolished in boundary changes in 1983.


Royal Navy career

The son of a brewer, and brought up in the
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
faith, Brotherton went to Prior Park College. He enlisted in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and continued his education at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, qualifying as an Observer in 1955. He served in
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
in 1957 during a flare-up in communal conflicts and was mentioned in dispatches for distinguished conduct. Brotherton left the Navy after achieving the rank of lieutenant-commander in 1964.


Early political activity

Retraining as an advertising executive, Brotherton joined Times Newspapers in 1967. He also became politically active in the Conservative Party, speaking at the Party conference of 1966 in support of building an aircraft carrier for the Navy, and was chairman of Beckenham Conservative Political Centre for the year 1967–1968. At the 1970 general election, he was the unsuccessful Conservative candidate in
Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...
.


October 1974 election

Failing to find a seat for the February 1974 general election, Brotherton became more prominent during the short interval between elections that year. He attacked the Labour government's decision to write off the debt of the
National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...
. When
Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist and former politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth (Lincolnshire) from 1969 to 1974, but did not seek re-election after a fina ...
suddenly announced his decision to stand down from Parliament due to financial problems, Brotherton was selected as the candidate for Louth in the October 1974 general election. Brotherton won the seat but, in terms of swing, the result was one of the worst for the Conservatives in the election, attributed to the circumstances in which Archer left and the short time Brotherton had to make himself known.


Policy positions

Once in Parliament, Brotherton used the platform it gave him to express his views in somewhat forceful terms. During the Common Market referendum of 1975, Brotherton strongly attacked Edward du Cann who made a last minute anti-Market speech; Brotherton declared that du Cann "requires either psychiatric treatment or lessons in simple arithmetic". Brotherton demanded that the Royal Navy escort the British fishing fleet to defend it from Icelandic attacks during the Cod War. Early in January 1976 he challenged
James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...
, then Foreign Secretary, to substantiate Sheila Cassidy's claim that she had been tortured in Chile before making any protest to the Chilean government. In March 1976, he pressed the issue of a member of 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 ...
catering staff who had been found to be a supporter of the
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
, calling for stricter vetting. A strong supporter of
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
, Brotherton urged
Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...
not to make public criticisms of her. In 1977, he successfully moved a private member's motion that declared the House would not welcome
Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...
's presence at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference. He was also a supporter of Ian Smith in
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
, and urged the government not to make a deal with the "terrorists", including Robert Mugabe.


Under the Thatcher government

Brotherton supported the call for a boycott of the
1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...
, and voted against a rise in petrol duty which was proposed by Geoffrey Howe in the 1981 budget. He was placed on the Select Committee on the Contempt of Court Bill in 1981 as one of the few non-lawyers; he supported an amendment to allow unrestricted tape-recording of court proceedings, against government advice. He also opposed the 1981 Defence Review, with its proposed reductions in the Royal Navy. In March 1982, when the Adam Smith Institute rated MPs according to their tendency to vote for individual freedom, Brotherton and his Parliamentary neighbour Michael Brown topped the list. In December 1982, Brotherton (a strong opponent of wasteful spending) was embarrassed when he missed a rail connection and then asked three police cars to drive him from
Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...
to a charity event in
Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...
. The local Labour-controlled police authority questioned why it was so urgent for him to get there when he was not expected to attend (his wife was the guest of honour), and asked him to reimburse the cost. He was also twice convicted of driving offences in the early 1980s.


1983 election

At the 1983 general election, boundary changes merged most of his seat with Brigg and Scunthorpe to form a new Brigg and Cleethorpes; this pitched Brotherton into a contest with Michael Brown for the nomination, which Brown won in March 1983. The remainder of the area became part of the East Lindsey constituency, which adopted sitting Horncastle MP Sir Peter Tapsell. Brotherton then tried to find another constituency, but was unsuccessful.


Later career

Brotherton kept up contacts in his old constituency and continued living in
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
. In 1986, he formed Michael Brotherton Associates, a company of Parliamentary consultants. He kept up his correspondence to newspapers, and was critical of the
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 ...
government for giving concessions in
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
negotiations.


References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979'' *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brotherton, Michael 1931 births Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people Royal Navy officers UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 People educated at Prior Park College