Sir Michael Addison John Wheeler-Booth (25 February 1934 – 26 March 2018) was a British public servant and Clerk of the Parliaments. He was educated at Leighton Park School, Reading, 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 ...

. He became a Clerk in the House of Lords in 1960, and spent his career in the service of the House apart from a period of secondment to HM Treasury from 1965 to 1969. From 1965 to 1967, he was Private Secretary to the Leader of the House ( Lord Longford) and Government Chief Whip ( Lord Shepherd). From 1967 to 1969, he was Joint Secretary of the Inter-Party Conference on House of Lords Reform. In 1973, he was clerk of the House of Lords Select Committee on Procedures for Scrutiny of Proposals for European Instruments chaired by the former House of Commons Speaker Lord Maybray-King. The Committee recommended the setting up of the House of Lords European Communities Committee (since 1999 the European Union Committee) to scrutinise proposal for Community legislation, and he became that Committee's first clerk (1974 to 1983). He served as Reading Clerk from 1983 to 1988 and Clerk Assistant from 1988 to 1990. In January 1991 he was appointed Clerk of the Parliaments. He was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 1994. He retired at the beginning of 1997. From 1998 to June 2009, he was a Special Lecturer in Politics at

. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the college in 2003. In 1999 he served as a member of the Royal Commission on Reform of the House of Lords,London Gazette No. 55419, 4 March 1999, page 2543
/ref> chaired by Lord Wakeham, whose

Report A report is a document or a statement that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are usually given in the form of written documen ...

was published in January 2000. From 2002 to 2004 he was a member of the Commission on Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales chaired by Lord Richard (the

Richard Commission The Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales, known unofficially as The Richard Commission, was established in July 2002 by the First Minister of the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Sene ...

). In 1982 he married Emily Smith (author of ''The Good Manners Prize'' (1996) and other children's books). They had two daughters and a son.

Notes and references

External links

Parliamentary Archives, Papers of Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler-Booth, Michael 1934 births 2018 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford People educated at Leighton Park School Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Clerks of the Parliaments