Robert James Adley (2 March 1935 – 13 May 1993) was a Conservative Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and a railway enthusiast.

Early life and family

Robert James Adley born on 2 March 1935, the son of Harry Adley, a company director. He was educated at Falconbury School and

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils 13–18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. ...

, before becoming the Director of Sales at the May Fair Hotel (1960–64). In 1961, he married Jane Elizabeth Pople, daughter of Wilfred Pople of Somerset. Later, he was the Marketing Director at Holiday Inns of Canada.Stenton and Lees ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'' vol. iv p. 2 Adley was born

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

but converted to

Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

, and was married with two children.

Political career

He was a councillor on Slough Borough Council from 1965 and first stood for Parliament in 1966 for

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, failing to win the strongly Labour seat. He became Member of Parliament for Bristol North East after winning the seat by 462 votes in the 1970 election. However, significant boundary changes before the next election in 1974 saw Adley move on to become member of parliament for the new seat of Christchurch and Lymington. In the 1970s Adley was part-time Marketing Director for

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn by IHG is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division ...

(UK). He would brief his agency (Alexander James & Dexter) in the morning, before going to the

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. He would safely hold this seat from 1974 to 1983, and then after further boundary changes the

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

seat from 1983 until his death with one of the largest Conservative majorities in the country. Adley was well known as a railway enthusiast, after gaining a love of trains when he was given ''The Wonder Book of Trains'' at the age of three. Adley became leader of the Conservative

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

committee on transport and then the Chairman of the Commons

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. He became a leading opponent of the plans being made by

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 for the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely compl ...

, describing it a "

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

on wheels". Adley had previously opposed the poll tax and

bus deregulation Bus deregulation in Great Britain involved the abolition of Road Service Licensing for bus services outside of Greater London. It began in 1980 with long-distance bus services and was extended to local bus services in 1986 under the Transport ...

, while supporting

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

and an integrated transport system. Adley also called for talks with the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

and for the UK government to support the aspirations of the black majority in

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

-era South Africa.

Death

Adley died in the

Royal Brompton Hospital Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung medical centre in the United Kingdom. It is managed by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. History Consumption in the 19th century In the 19th century, consumption was a co ...

following a heart attack in 1993 at the age of 58. After his death the seat was won in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Diana Maddock Diana Margaret Pearson Maddock, Baroness Maddock, Lady Beith (' Derbyshire; 19 May 1945 – 26 June 2020) was a British Liberal Democrat politician. She was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch in a 1993 by-election but lost ...

, but was regained by the Conservatives in 1997.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

named locomotive 91022 ''Robert Adley'' in November 1993.InterCity honours Robert Adley ''

Rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

'' issue 282 3 July 1996 page 52

Author

Adley was the author of numerous books mainly on the subject of railways and in particular steam engines. * * * * * * * * * *

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Stenton, M., Lees, S. (1981). ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'', volume iv (covering 1945–1979). Sussex: The Harvester Press; New Jersey: Humanities Press.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adley, Robert 1935 births 1993 deaths Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British rail transport writers People educated at Uppingham School British Anglicans UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Councillors in Berkshire Jewish British politicians People from Christchurch, Dorset Politicians from Dorset