Derek Spencer

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = Sir

|name = Derek Spencer

|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KC}}

|office = Solicitor General for England and Wales

|term_start = 15 April 1992

|term_end = 2 May 1997

|primeminister = John Major

|predecessor = Nicholas Lyell

|successor = Lord Falconer of Thoroton

|parliament1 = United Kingdom

|constituency_MP1 = Brighton Pavilion

|majority1 =

|term_start1 = 9 April 1992

|term_end1 = 8 April 1997

|predecessor1 = Julian Amery

|successor1 = David Lepper

|constituency_MP2 = Leicester South

|majority2 =

|term_start2 = 9 June 1983

|term_end2 = 18 May 1987

|predecessor2 = Jim Marshall

|successor2 = Jim Marshall

|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1936|3|31}}

|birth_place = Clitheroe, England

|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2023|5|19|1936|3|31}}

|death_place =

|party = Conservative

|spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Joan Nutter|1960||end = divorced}}|{{marriage|Caroline Pärn|1988|2003|end = died}}}}

|children = 4

|alma_mater = Keble College, Oxford

}}

Sir Derek Harold Spencer {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KC}} (31 March 1936 – 19 May 2023) was a British barrister and Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament for Leicester South from 1983 to 1987 and for Brighton Pavilion from 1992 to 1997. During his latter term in Parliament, he was also Solicitor General for England and Wales.

Education and career

Born in Clitheroe, Lancashire, on 31 March 1936,{{Rayment-hc|l|2|date=March 2012}}{{Rayment-hc|p|1|date=March 2012}} he was educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford. He served as a lieutenant in the King's Own Royal Regiment from 1954 to 1956.Who's Who 1987 page 1648 He became a barrister in 1961 and took silk as a QC in 1980.{{cite web|url=http://www.18redlioncourt.co.uk/index.php/barristers/spencer/80|title=18 Red Lion Court - Biography|access-date=8 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708135527/http://www.18redlioncourt.co.uk/index.php/barristers/spencer/80|archive-date=8 July 2009|url-status=dead}}

Spencer was a Master of the Bench, Gray's Inn. He became a bencher in 1991.{{cite news|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/05/30/sir-derek-spencer-tory-mp-qc-spies-terrorists-died-obituary/|title = Sir Derek Spencer, Conservative Solicitor-General and QC who prosecuted spies and terrorists – obituary|newspaper = The Daily Telegraph|date = 30 May 2023|accessdate = 30 May 2023|url-access = subscription}} After joining the chambers of Michael Havers, he was a barrister in the South Eastern Circuit.

Political career

Spencer was elected councillor for the Highgate ward on Camden London Borough Council in 1978 and was re-elected in 1982, this time for Swiss Cottage.{{Cite web |title=Spencer, Sir Derek (Harold), (born 31 March 1936), QC (NI) 1992; a Recorder, 1979–92 and 1998–2001 |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-35795 |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO |year=2007 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U35795|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 }} Spencer resigned from Camden council after he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Leicester South constituency in the Conservative landslide of 1983, by just 7 votes — the smallest margin in the country. He lost the seat back to Labour in 1987.

Spencer was elected for the marginal Brighton Pavilion seat in 1992, when he was appointed Solicitor-General, and knighted in the 1992 Special Honours.[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/52911/data.pdf The LONDON GAZETTE TUESDAY,5TH MAY 1992] The Daily Telegraph described his politics as "robustly right-wing".

As Solicitor General, he represented the government in several significant cases including Wingrove v UK (1997) about the application of blasphemy law under the Human Rights Act 1998.

In 1997, however, he was defeated by Labour's David Lepper by 13,181 votes on a 13.5% swing. He returned to his previous career.

Memberships

Ex officio Bar Council, 1992–1997
Criminal Bar Association
Northern Ireland Bar
South Eastern Circuit

Personal life and death

Spencer married Joan Nutter in 1960; they had three children and later divorced. He was then married to Caroline Pärn from 1988 until her death in 2003. They had one son.

Spencer died on 19 May 2023, at the age of 87.{{cite news |title=Sir Derek Harold Spencer KC |url=https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/264368/spencer |access-date=30 May 2023 |work=The Telegraph |date=30 May 2023}}