James Patrick Montagu Burgoyne Winthrop Stopford, 9th Earl of Courtown[2] (also known as Patrick Courtown;[3] born 19 March 1954), styled Viscount Stopford between 1957 and 1975, is an Irish peer and politician. He is one of the 92 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999 and sits for the Conservatives.
The Earl of Courtown | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2018 | |
| Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Lords Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard | |
| Assumed office 13 July 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak[1] |
| Preceded by | The Lord Gardiner of Kimble |
| Lord-in-waiting Government Whip | |
| In office 8 May 2015 – 13 July 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | The Lord Popat of Harrow |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Young of Cookham |
| In office 8 July 1995 – 2 May 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | John Major |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Lindsay |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Hoyle |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| as a hereditary peer 24 July 1979 – 11 November 1999 | |
| Preceded by | The 8th Earl of Courtown |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| as an elected hereditary peer 11 November 1999 | |
| Election | 1999 |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Patrick Montagu Burgoyne Winthrop Stopford 19 March 1954 |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse |
Elisabeth Dunnett (m. 1985) |
| Children | James Stopford, Viscount Stopford |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Berkshire College of Agriculture |
The son of James Stopford, 8th Earl of Courtown and Patricia Winthrop, he has a brother named Jeremy, and three sisters: Elizabeth, Mary and Felicity.[4] He was educated at Eton and at the Berkshire College of Agriculture. He later attended the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. He succeeded to the earldom of Courtown in 1975. In 1985, he married Elisabeth Dunnett, daughter of Ian Rodger Dunnett.
The Earl took his seat in the House of Lords as 8th Baron Saltersford in 1979.[5] In 1995, he was appointed a lord-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II, and a government whip. He was a government spokesman for the Home Office, Department of Transport and the Scottish Office. In 2013 he was appointed a Conservative party whip. Following the 2015 election, he joined the government, again as a lord-in-waiting and as a government whip. He was promoted to deputy chief whip and captain of the yeomen of the guard in the May ministry in July 2016. In that role, he took part in the Royal Procession at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla.[6]
The Courtown ancestral home, Courtown House, was demolished in the 1960s, but the Earl visited its location in 2010, with members of his family, and unveiled a plaque in memory of his father at the local church.[4]
The Earl's heir apparent is his son, James.
References edit
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ^ "Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (Lords Deputy Chief Whip)". gov.uk.
- ^ Personal website
- ^ a b Fintan Lambe (24 March 2010). "Earl of Courtown pays visit to family's ancestral home". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ^ HL Deb, 26 July 1979 vol 401 c2035
- ^ "Coronation order of service in full". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
Sources edit
- "DodOnline". Archived from the original on 7 December 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2007.