Sir Neil Stanley Shields,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, MC (7 September 1919 – 12 September 2002) was a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and businessman. Shields was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and served as a major in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, during which time he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. In 1949 he unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative Party parliamentary candidate for St Pancras North. Shields served on

Hampstead Borough Council Hampstead was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board ...

between 1947 and 1965, serving as deputy leader, and as Chairman of the finance and works committees. Shields later became an adviser in merger broking, especially in the role of director of Chesham Amalgamations and Investments (1964–1984). He was Chairman of the London area of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations (1961–1963), and was thrice a member of the Conservative Party National Executive. He was knighted in 1964 for political and public services in London and Hampstead. During his time as the chairman of the

Commission for New Towns English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor ...

(1982–1995) Shields oversaw the doubling in the number of new towns under the control of the commission, as all the independent New Town Development Corporations were wound up by 1992, as part of the Conservative Government's proposals under

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

to reduce the number of

Quango A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi-NGO", where N ...

s. The commission, under his chairmanship, was converted from a holding body to a disposal agency, selling off billions of pounds of assets. At the same time Shields also served on the board of London Transport (1986–1993), six months doing so as interim Chairman (1988–89) after the Fennell report into the

King's Cross fire The King's Cross fire was a 1987 fire in a London Underground station with 31 fatalities, after a fire under a wooden escalator suddenly spread into the underground ticket hall in a flashover. The fire began at approximately 19:30 on 18 Novemb ...

, and afterwards as deputy chairman.

References

1919 births 2002 deaths Businesspeople from London British Army personnel of World War II Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Greater London Politicians from London People associated with transport in London Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Artillery officers 20th-century English businesspeople {{UK-business-bio-1910s-stub