Gordon Campbell, Baron Campbell of Croy

{{Short description|British Conservative politician and diplomat}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

|name = The Lord Campbell of Croy

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

|image = Gordon-Thomas-Calthrop-Campbell-Baron-Campbell-of-Croy.jpg

|office = Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland

|leader = Edward Heath

|term_start = 4 March 1974

|term_end = 13 June 1974

|predecessor = Willie Ross

|successor = Alick Buchanan-Smith

|leader1 = Edward Heath

|term_start1 = 23 January 1969

|term_end1 = 19 June 1970

|predecessor1 = Willie Ross

|successor1 =

|office2 = Secretary of State for Scotland

|primeminister2 = Edward Heath

|term_start2 = 19 June 1970

|term_end2 = 4 March 1974

|predecessor2 = Willie Ross

|successor2 = Willie Ross

|office3 = Member of Parliament
for Moray and Nairn

|term_start3 = 8 October 1959

|term_end3 = 8 February 1974

|predecessor3 = James Stuart

|successor3 = Winnie Ewing

|birth_name = Gordon Thomas Calthrop Campbell

|birth_date = {{birth date|1921|6|8|df=y}}

|birth_place = Quetta, British India

|death_date = {{death date and age|2005|4|26|1921|6|8|df=y}}

|death_place = London, England

|nationality = British

|party = Conservative

|spouse = Nicola Madan

|children = 3

|alma_mater = Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

|profession = Diplomacy

|nickname =

|allegiance = {{flagu|United Kingdom}}

|branch = {{army|UK}}

|serviceyears = 1939–1947

|rank = Major

|unit = Royal Artillery

|commands =

|battles = Second World War

|mawards = Military Cross

}}

Gordon Thomas Calthrop Campbell, Baron Campbell of Croy, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|MC|PC|DL}} (8 June 1921 – 26 April 2005) was a British Conservative politician and diplomat.

Biography

= Early life and career =

Campbell was born in Quetta, British India (now in Pakistan), the son of Major General James Alexander Campbell and was educated at Rockport School in Holywood, County Down, then at Wellington College before joining the Royal Artillery in 1939. He fought in the Second World War with the Royal Artillery from 1940,{{London Gazette|issue=34787|page=770|date=6 February 1940|supp=y}} winning the Military Cross and Bar.{{London Gazette|issue=36753|page=4786|date=17 October 1944|supp=y}} Invalided out in 1947 with the honorary rank of major, he served the Foreign Office in New York and Vienna until 1957.

= House of Commons =

Elected to Parliament in 1959, he served as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Moray and Nairn until February 1974 when he was defeated by Winnie Ewing of the Scottish National Party. He served as a Government Whip, 1961–62; Lord Commissioner of the Treasury and Scottish Whip, 1962–63; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, 1963–64. He was Opposition Spokesman on Defence, 1967–68 and a member of the Shadow Cabinet, 1969–70.

= Secretary of State for Scotland =

He was Secretary of State for Scotland during the whole of Edward Heath's government. During his term in office the issues of fishing and oil led to him losing his Moray coastal seat to the SNP. Government papers released under the 30 year rule reveal an attitude that may explain that loss. Papers from 1970 revealed how the Scottish Office was prepared to have a "weaker and less efficient national fleet"{{cite news| url=http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=701&id=302003| title=Heath knew policy would kill fish fleet| date=1 January 2003| author=Gethin Chamberlain and Frank Urquhart| publisher=The Scotsman| access-date=22 March 2009}} to enable the UK to sign up to the controversial Common Fisheries Policy. On oil in 1972 Campbell was against any move to pump oil revenues directly into the Scottish economy despite Heath asking government departments to explore such an arrangements to help revive Scotland's economy with "its own resources".{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2617525.stm| title=Heath sparked Scots oil debate| work=BBC News| date=1 January 2003| access-date=22 March 2009}} Further papers from 1974 revealed how he proposed "exceptional measures" to force Shetland Islands Council to accept an oil terminal without financial benefit to the islands.{{cite news|url=http://www.energy-pedia.com/article.aspx?articleid=102604 |title=How Shetland's Gaddafi took on oil giants to win bountiful deal |author=Ian Johnston |date=1 January 2005 |publisher=The Scotsman |access-date=22 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710192618/http://www.energy-pedia.com/article.aspx?articleid=102604 |archive-date=10 July 2011 }}

= House of Lords =

After being defeated by Winnie Ewing of the Scottish National Party at the February 1974 general election, Campbell was made a life peer as Baron Campbell of Croy, of Croy in the County of Nairn on 9 January 1975.{{London Gazette |issue=46465 |date=14 January 1975 |page=537}} He became Chairman of the Scottish Board in 1976, and was Vice President of the Advisory Committee on Pollution at Sea from 1976 to 1984.

=Personal life=

He married Nicola Madan, daughter of Geoffrey Spencer Madan and his wife Marjorie Noble, and had three children.

Hon. Colin Ian Calthrop Campbell b. 1950
Colonel Hon. Alastair James Calthrop Campbell (6 Jan 1952 – 24 Aug 2021){{cite web |title=CAMPBELL Colonel the Hon Alastair James Calthrop |url=http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/251821/campbell |website= Telegraph Announcements}}
Hon. Christina Marjorie Campbell b. 1953.

The Campbell family lived at Holme Rose at Croy in the Nairn Valley. In 2019, the property was put on the market for £2.3 million.{{cite web |title=Inside the Highland home with a £2million price tag |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/home/1809917/inside-the-highland-home-with-a-2million-price-tag/ |website=Press and Journal}}