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Kenneth Baker




Kenneth Wilfrid Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking, CH, PC, (born November 3 , 1934 ), is a British politician, and former Conservative MP. Son of a civil servant, he was educated at Hampton Grammar school between 1946 and 1948 and thereafter at St Paul's School , London and Magdalen College, Oxford . He worked for Royal Dutch Shell before being elected as a Member Of Parliament at a By-election in March 1968. He served as Secretary Of State For The Home Department , Secretary Of State For Education , and Secretary Of State For The Environment . He was Chairman Of The Conservative Party at the time Margaret Thatcher resigned (November 1990). He chose not to run for re-election in 1997.

Baker's most noted action in his time at the Department of Education was the introduction of the controversial " National Curriculum " through the 1988 Education Act. He also introduced in-service training days for teachers, which became popularly known as "Baker days".

In 2005 he published a book on King George IV , ''George IV: A Life in Caricature'' (Thames & Hudson).

In 2006 , Lord Baker announced that he was introducing a Bill into the House Of Lords to prevent MPs not representing English constituencies voting on matters that had been Devolved to assembies in Wales and Scotland, thus solving the West Lothian Question .


NOTES

  • He was elected at the Acton by-election on 28 March 1968, serving until the 1970 General Election. He was elected at a by-election in St Marylebone on 22 October 1970, serving until 1983, when he moved to the seat of Mole Valley , which he represented until 1997.