Introduction
"Lord Maude" redirects here. See also his son Francis Maude, Baron Maude of Horsham
Angus Edmund Upton Maude, Baron Maude of Stratford-upon-Avon TD PC (8 September 1912 – 9 November 1993) was a British Conservative politician and cabinet minister from 1979 until 1981. He is the father of former Conservative MP Francis Maude.
Early life
He was born at 44 Temple Fortune Lane, Hendon, Middlesex, the only child of Alan Hamer Maude (1885–1979), journalist and army officer, and Dorothy Maude Upton, daughter of Frederic Upton, a civil servant. Maude was educated, mainly in Classics, at Rugby School and at Oriel College, Oxford where he obtained a Second Class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics in 1933. He became a journalist and author, working on The Times (1933–4) and The Daily Mail (1934–9).
Parliamentary career
Maude was elected Member of Parliament for Ealing South in 1950. He continued to work in journalism and was Director of the Conservative Political Centre, 1951–55. In 1958, he resigned his seat to become editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, a post which he held until 1961. He attempted to return to Parliament, but was beaten in a 1962 by-election at South Dorset by 704 votes by Labour's Guy Barnett. He was then elected to represent the constituency of Stratford-on-Avon from a by-election in 1963 until 1983.
Maude was shadow aviation spokesman, but was sacked in 1967 by Edward Heath after criticising party policy. When Margaret Thatcher became leader, she brought him back into the fold after he played a key role in her bid for the leadership in 1975. When she came to power in May 1979, he was appointed to the position of Paymaster-General with a seat in the cabinet, with Thatcher saying "I was anxious to have Angus Maude in the Cabinet to benefit from his years of political experience, his sound views, and his acid wit."However, Maude resigned relatively soon after, in January 1981, following which he received a knighthood.
House of Lords
Maude gave up his seat at the 1983 UK general election, and was elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer on 19 September 1983, taking the title Baron Maude of Stratford-upon-Avon, of Stratford-upon-Avon in the County of Warwickshire. He died in 1993.
He was nicknamed "The Mekon" because of his prominent forehead and overbearing manner.
Styles of address
- 1912–1950: Mr Angus Maude
- 1950–1958: Mr Angus Maude MP
- 1958–1963: Mr Angus Maude
- 1963–1979: Mr Angus Maude MP
- 1979–1981: The Rt Hon. Angus Maude MP
- 1981–1983: The Rt Hon. Sir Angus Maude MP
- 1983: The Rt Hon. Sir Angus Maude
- 1983–1993: The Rt Hon. The Lord Maude of Stratford-upon-Avon PC