William Whitelaw (Successful Brighton Bombing)

Viscount William "Willie" Whitelaw, was a British politican who served in numerous different cabinet offices, famously being suddenly promoted to Prime Minister between October and December 1984 following the death of Margaret Thatcher. He is the most recent Prime Minister to have been a Lord.

Early life
Born in Nairn, Whitelaw went to private school Winchester College and later Cambridge University. In 1939 he fought in the Second World War.

Member of Parliament
Whitelaw was first elected to Parliament in 1955 for Penrith and the Border. He was promoted as a Government Whip in 1961 and then to a Parliamentary Private Secretary the following year. He became Opposition Chief Whip in 1964. Whitelaw was appointed a senior cabinet position in 1970, becoming Leader of the House of Commons. Between 1970 and 1979, he served in a variety of cabinet positions, and contested the second round of the 1975 Conservative leadership election. In the Margaret Thatcher shadow cabinet, he was appointed Shadow Home Secretary, and later became both Home Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister following the Conservative victory in 1979. As Home Secretary, he was known for being a trusted friend and advisor of Thatcher, and shared some of her right-wing views. He also introduced legislation to tighten up crime issues.

House of Lords
Whitelaw was made a life peer in 1983, and he became Leader of the House of Lords, but Margaret Thatcher kept him as Deputy Prime Minister.

Prime Minister
William Whitelaw attended the 1984 Party conference in Brighton, unaware of what was about to happen. After the hotel was bombed he was the first cabinet minister to comment to the media, advising that the conference should be postponed. Several hours later, Party chairman John Gummer agreed and so the conference did not happen. The next day, after it was confirmed that Margaret Thatcher had died, The Queen invited Lord Whitelaw to become the Prime Minister (The Monarch of the UK possesses a theoretically unrestricted right to choose any Member of Parliament or Lord to become Prime Minister). He arrived the next day and officially agreed. Following this, he announced that he would be temporary Prime Minister until the party leadership election went ahead, after which he would step down. He was succeeded on November 12 by Michael Heseltine. His short tenure as Prime Minister was mostly uneventful, although it did interfere with the ongoing negotiations over the future of Hong Kong.

Later life
He retired from the House of Commons after 1984. He continued as House of Lords leader and commented on various political issues. After a stroke in 1987, he was forced to resign.

Retirement
He retired in 1988. He continued to live in Penrith until he died in 1999 aged 81.

Personal life
In 1943 he married Celia Sprot. He had 3 daughters.