Sir George Malcolm Thornton FRSA (born 3 April 1939) is a British Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Garston from 1979 to 1983, and for Crosby from 1983 to 1997.

Sir Malcolm Thornton
4th Pro-Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University
Assumed office
2007
Preceded byCdre. Rod Walker DL
Member of Parliament
for Crosby
In office
9 June 1983 – 8 April 1997
Preceded byShirley Williams
Succeeded byClaire Curtis-Thomas
Member of Parliament
for Liverpool Garston
In office
3 May 1979 – 13 May 1983
Preceded byEddie Loyden
Succeeded byEddie Loyden
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Councillor
for North Liscard-Upper Brighton Street
In office
12 April 1973 – 3 May 1979
Preceded byCouncil Created
Succeeded byB. Nottage
Leader of Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
In office
1974–1977
Preceded byBill Whitehurst
Succeeded byHarry Deverill
Personal details
Born (1939-04-03) 3 April 1939 (age 85)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Rosemary, Lady Thornton

Education

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He was educated at Wallasey Grammar School and later attended Liverpool Nautical College.[1]

Political career

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Thornton was first elected to Parliament in the 1979 general election, winning the marginal seat of Liverpool Garston from Labour's Eddie Loyden. In the early 1980s, however, all seats were re-organised with the new boundaries set to come in at the next election. Liverpool Garston would lean strongly towards Labour, so Thornton sought a safer seat in Crosby, just outside Liverpool. However, following the death of Sir Graham Page in 1981, Shirley Williams, a former Labour Cabinet minister who had founded the centrist SDP a few months earlier, won the seat. That by-election had been held in the depths of Margaret Thatcher's unpopularity; however, after that the economy returned to growth and Britain won the Falklands War, so Thatcher called an election in 1983 which was a Tory landslide. Thornton regained the seat, while Eddie Loyden won a redrawn Garston for Labour. However, by 1997, the Conservatives were again deeply unpopular and Thornton lost, by a surprisingly wide margin to Labour's Claire Curtis-Tansley.

In 2007, Sir Malcolm Thornton became the 4th and current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Governors for Liverpool John Moores University.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "BIOGRAPHY: SIR MALCOLM THORNTON FRSA" (PDF). Value Based Solutions. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  2. ^ "New Pro-Chancellor for LJMU". Liverpool John Moores University. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Liverpool Garston
19791983
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Crosby
19831997
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by
Cdre. Rod Walker
Pro-Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University
2007
Succeeded by
Incumbent