Sir Michael Anthony Latham (20 November 1942 – 2 November 2017) was a British

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 ...

Political career

Latham was elected to the Churchill Ward on

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. He did not stand at the subsequent election in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, but became the Conservative MP for Melton in February 1974. In

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, following boundary changes, Latham was elected to represent Rutland and Melton, before standing down 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 ...

After Parliament

In 1994, he wrote the influential joint government and industry report on the UK construction industry, 'Constructing the Team' (known as the

Latham Report The Latham Report, titled ''Constructing the Team'', was an influential report written by Sir Michael Latham, published in July 1994. Latham was commissioned by the United Kingdom government and industry organisations to review procurement and cont ...

). In it he advocated partnerships within the fragmented and highly contentious construction industry. He made recommendations as to how conflict could be minimised within the industry. Such was the nature and extent of these recommendations that Mr Justice Jackson later described the report as "the whirlwind which hit the construction industry". In 1997, he was elected an honorary

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

. Royal Academy of Engineering. After standing down from parliament he has held numerous positions in the construction industry including chairman of the

Construction Industry Training Board The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is the industry training board for the UK construction industry. History The CITB was established on 21 July 1964 by the ( SI 1964/1079),Explanatory Note to The Industrial Training (Construction ...

(2002–10), chairman of ConstructionSkills (2003–10), chairman, then deputy chairman of Willmott Dixon Limited (1999–2002, 2002–09), chairman of Collaborative Working Centre Limited (since 2003) and deputy chairman of BIW Technologies (2000–05). Latham 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

1993 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1993 were appointments by most of the 16 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 count ...

for political service. He was also an

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

, FCGI, Hon. RICS, Hon. FRIBA, Hon. FCIOB and Hon. FICE.

References

External links

Debrett's People of Today
1942 births 2017 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy lieutenants of Leicestershire People from Southport UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 Knights Bachelor Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the City of Westminster Honorary Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub