What position did Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler take from 1981 to 1990?
Norman Fowler , Baron Fowler Peter Norman Fowler , Baron Fowler ( born 2 February 1938 ) is a British politician who served as a member of both Margaret Thatcher and John Majors ministries during the 1980s and 1990s . He held the office of Lord Speaker from 1 September 2016 to 30 April 2021 . After serving as Shadow Minister of Transport , Fowler was appointed Minister of Transport in 1979 , being responsible for making seat belts compulsory . Later , as Secretary of State for Health and Social Services , he drew public attention to the dangers of AIDS . He resigned from the cabinet as Employment Secretary , and was knighted in 1990 . Fowler was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1992 to 1994 , Shadow Secretary of State for Environment , Transport and the Regions from 1997 to 1998 , and Shadow Home Secretary from 1998 to 1999 . In 2001 , he was created a Conservative life peer . He renounced party political allegiance upon taking office as Lord Speaker . On 25 February 2021 , he announced that in April he will be stepping down as Lord Speaker to focus on campaigning work , particularly in relation to AIDS . Early life . The son of Norman Frederick Fowler and Katherine ( née Baker ) , he was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford , Essex ; after which he did National Service as a second lieutenant in the Essex Regiment . Whilst studying at Trinity Hall , Cambridge ( BA Economics & Law 1961 ) , he was Chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association in Michaelmas 1960 , in which term he entertained both the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Home Secretary Rab Butler . He then became a journalist , and worked on The Times . Member of Parliament . Fowler was elected for Nottingham South in 1970 ; after the seat was abolished , he switched to Sutton Coldfield at the February 1974 election . In opposition . During the mid-1970s , Fowler was Shadow Minister of Transport . In April 1976 , he was photographed outside the Palace of Westminster having just taken delivery of his third four-cylinder MG MGB GT – he had reportedly rejected the idea of buying a V8 version on account of the cost . In government . Upon Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister in 1979 , she did not immediately appoint Fowler to her Cabinet , explaining : we were short of one place . As a result , Norman Fowler , as Minister of State at Transport , was not able to be an official member of the Cabinet , although he attended all our meetings . As Secretary of State for Transport , Fowler drove through Lord Nugents 1981 bill to make seat belts compulsory , a law that came into force in 1983 . As Secretary of State for Health and Social Security in 1986 , Fowler implemented the first official drive to educate the British public to the dangers of AIDS . Edwina Currie ( Health ) and John Major ( Social Security ) both served under him as junior ministers . Backbenches , retirement and Shadow Cabinet . Fowler later resigned from the Cabinet as Employment Secretary in January 1990 ; he later claimed that he was the first politician to cite to spend more time with my [ his ] family as his reason for leaving office , a phrase that has been reused by many others as a reason for a resignation and is often treated as a euphemism . Following his resignation from the frontbench , Fowler was knighted in 1990 . Fowler then returned twice to front-line politics , first as Chairman of the Conservative Party ( as a backbencher in Parliament ) from 1992 to 1994 , during which time he oversaw the parliamentary boundary changes of the early 1990s ; then on the Conservative front bench as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment , Transport and the Regions ( 1997–98 ) and finally as Shadow Home Secretary ( 1998–99 ) . In 2001 , he stepped down as a Member of Parliament . House of Lords . After standing down from the House of Commons , he entered the House of Lords , sitting on the Conservative benches as Baron Fowler , of Sutton Coldfield , in the County of West Midlands . In 2003 , Lord Fowler proposed that the European Union should appoint a high-level coordinator with ambassadorial rank to deal with the AIDS epidemic . In 2006 , he chaired a House of Lords select committee which criticised the use of the television licence fee , which is used to fund the BBC . His book A Political Suicide ( Politicos Publishing ) was published in 2008 , and was shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year Award . In May 2013 , Fowler gave his support to legislation aiming to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples , stating : Parliament should value people equally in the law , and that enabling same-sex couples to marry removes the current inequity . He was elected as Lord Speaker in 2016 . He is the third person and first man to hold the office since it was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 . Fowler has stated that he favours reducing the House of Lords to 600 members . On 19 March 2020 , during the COVID-19 pandemic he announced that he would be withdrawing from Westminster and working from home , with deputy speakers taking over his role in the House of Lords , but he returned in July to continue his role . On 25 February 2021 , Fowler announced that he would be stepping down ahead of the introduction of a series of structural and organisational changes and announced that it would be best if those changes were seen through by the team who will be implementing them . He also stated his desire to stand down in order to speak his mind as an independent member of the House of Lords on issues he has campaigned for , in particular LGBT rights in the United Kingdom and HIV and AIDS . In March 2021 , Fowler backed calls for the UKs first ever national AIDS memorial , with the aim of fighting stigma and discrimination against those with HIV and AIDS . Work in industry . Lord Fowler has been deeply involved in industry , having served on the board of directors of several companies . He is non-executive chairman of Aggregate Industries plc . He is a member of the National Union of Journalists . External links . - Official website of the Lord Speaker - Europe should appoint Aids envoy , peer says - a Guardian article by Michael White , dated 21 February 2003