Patrick Mayhew

Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden, PC (born 11 September 1929), is a British barrister and Conservative politician.

Early life

Through his father, Mayhew descends from the Victorian social commentator Henry Mayhew. Mayhew's mother was a Roche and a relative of Lord Fermoy.

Mayhew was educated at Tonbridge School and Balliol College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar from the Middle Temple in 1955.

Career

Mayhew contested Dulwich in 1970, but the incumbent Labour member, Sam Silkin, beat him by 895 votes.

He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the Tunbridge Wells constituency from its creation at the February 1974 general election, standing down at the 1997 election.

He was Under-Secretary for Employment from 1979 to 1981, then Minister of State at the Home Office from 1981 to 1983. After this he served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from 1983 to 1987, and then Attorney General for England and Wales and simultaneously Attorney General for Northern Ireland from 1987 to 1992. He was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1992 to 1997, the longest anyone has served in this office.