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Admin History:

Sir Patrick Cormack, Baron Cormack was born in Grimsby on 18 May 1939 and attended school in Grimsby before graduating with a BA degree in English and History at the University of Hull in 1961. He was a teacher at his former school, St James's Choir School, and undertook numerous teaching-related posts before becoming the Head of History at the Brewood Grammar School in 1969.

He stood, unsuccessfully, as a Conservative candidate in the Labour seat of Bolsover in 1964 and Grimbsy in 1966. In 1970 he stood for Cannock and won narrowly against the incumbent MP and then spent the next forty years as an MP. He was a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department of Health (1970-1973) and in 1974 won the new seat of South West Staffordshire which became Staffordshire South in 1983. He was knighted in 1995 for services to Parliament and in 1997 was appointed to become Deputy Leader of the Opposition under William Hague. He resigned from this in 2000 to run for the post of Speaker, but lost to Michael Martin. During the 2005-2010 Parliament, Cormack was the chairman of the Northern Ireland Select Committee.

On 1 December 2009 he announced his intention to stand down at the 2010 General Election. He was created a life peer on 18 December 2010 as Baron Cormack, of Enville in the County of Staffordshire, and sat on the Conservative benches of the House of Lords. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire in 2011. A Freeman of the City of London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he authored books on English cathedrals, the History of Parliament, and the life of William Wilberforce.

Lord Cormack was married and had two sons. He died on 25 February 2024.

Description:

His papers comprise over 3000 files, reflecting his interests as well as his work in the constituency.