Roy Thomason

Kenneth Roy Thomason OBE (born 14 December 1944) is a former British Conservative Party politician who was a local government leader and served one term as a member of parliament.

Local government experience

Thomason was educated at Cheney School in Oxford and trained as a Solicitor at the College of Law, being admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 1969. He practised in Bournemouth and was elected to Bournemouth Council in 1970. From 1974 to 1982 he was the Leader of the Council, and he was made a delegate to the Council of the Association of District Councils in 1979. Thomason was made Chairman of the Conservative Party's Local Government Advisory Committee in 1980 and became Leader of the Conservative Group on the Association of District Councils the next year, serving until 1984 and 1987 respectively.[1] In 1986 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to local government.[2]

Parliament

Thomason contested Newport East in 1983, coming second to Labour's Roy Hughes by 2,630 votes.

Between 1988 and 1991 Thomason served on the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations Executive, a Conservative body which administered the party. He was selected to follow Sir Hal Miller as candidate for the safe seat of Bromsgrove, and won the seat with a 13,702 majority in the 1992 election.[1] Thomason was one of 26 new Conservative MPs to sign an Early Day Motion put down by Eurosceptics calling for a "fresh start" in Britain's negotiations with the European Communities,[3] but was not a hardened eurosceptic and signed an open letter calling for support for the 'paving motion' on the Maastricht Treaty in November 1992.[4]

On social issues Thomason was mildly progressive, supporting a reduction in the age of consent for gay sex to 18 rather than equalising it with the heterosexual age at 16.[5] He resigned from the Carlton Club in December 1994 at a time of a dispute over the admission of women, although newspapers suspected this was because he could not justify the cost of membership.[6]

Decision to stand down

On 18 September 1996, Thomason decided he would not offer himself as a candidate for reselection and would stand down as an MP.[7]

Subsequent career

After the 1997 election, Thomason went back into business management and is currently executive chairman of the Charminster group of property companies. He has also served as chairman of London Strategic Housing, a Housing Association.

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References
  1. "Dod's Guide to the General Election, 1992", Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd, 1992, p. 213.
  2. "No. 50551". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 1986. p. 11.
  3. Nicholas Wood and Philip Webster, "Whips on prowl for rebellious new boys", The Times, 5 June 1992.
  4. "Last minute advice to doubters over tonight's vote on the Maastricht treaty" (letter), The Times, 4 November 1992.
  5. Andy McSmith, "Hard times at the top Tories' club", The Guardian, 15 January 1995, p. 1.
  6. "News in brief", The Times, 19 September 1996, p. 1.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Hal Miller		 Member of Parliament for Bromsgrove
1992–1997		 Succeeded by
Julie Kirkbride
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