David Ramsbotham , Baron Ramsbotham General David John Ramsbotham , Baron Ramsbotham GCB CBE ( b . 6 November 1934 ) is a retired British Army officer , who later served as Her Majesty ' s Chief Inspector of Prisons . He was awarded a life peerage in 2005 , and now sits on the cross benches of the House of Lords . Early life and military career . Ramsbotham was born in 1934 , the son of a Church of England clergyman , later Bishop of Wakefield , John Alexander Ramsbotham , son of Rev Alexander Ramsbotham . Ramsbotham initially entered the army as a result of his National Service obligations , and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 14 March 1953 . He completed his National Service as an acting lieutenant , and retained a Territorial Army commission . He then took a history degree at Corpus Christi College , Cambridge . On 21 February 1958 he was appointed to a regular army commission as a lieutenant , with seniority from 31 January 1957 . He was promoted to Captain on 31 January 1961 . He served in Borneo during the Indonesia – Malaysia confrontation as an acting major in the period 24 December 1965 to 23 June 1966 , and was Mentioned in Despatches . He was promoted to substantive major on 31 December 1967 , and to lieutenant - colonel on 30 June 1971 . From 11 June 1970 to 20 June 1973 he served as Military Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff , Sir Michael Carver . This was a particularly busy time for the British Army ; the Troubles in Northern Ireland were beginning , and the army ' s contribution , Operation Banner , was taking an increasingly large proportion of resources . For his performance in this role , Ramsbotham was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE ) in the 1974 New Year Honours . He later commanded a battalion of the Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland from 1974 to 1975 . He was elevated to Colonel on 30 June 1976 , and brigadier on 31 December 1978 ( with seniority from 30 June 1978 ) . He then served in Northern Ireland , commanding a brigade based in Belfast , and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( CBE ) for his service there in the operational honours of 21 October 1980 . His career was almost derailed when as the army ' s director of public relations ( a position he held from 1982 – 84 ) he leaked documents to a journalist which showed that prior to the Falklands War the army had developed a comprehensive plan for dealing with the media , but it had been overlooked ; and the army was subsequently criticised for not having done such planning . He was then promoted to major - general and commanded 3rd Armoured Division for a period prior to 13 March 1987 . On 1 January 1987 he was appointed to the honorary position of Colonel Commandant , 2nd Battalion , Royal Green Jackets , in succession to Sir Frank Kitson , which he held until 25 July 1992 . On 15 April 1987 he was promoted lieutenant - general and appointed Commander UK Field Army and Inspector General of the Territorial Army . He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath ( KCB ) in the 1987 Queen ' s Birthday Honours , and a further honorary appointment as Honorary Colonel of the Officer Training Corps at the University of Cambridge on 1 July , which he held until 1 May 1993 . He stepped down as Commander of the Field Army on 13 August 1990 , and received a further honorary appointment as Aide de Camp General to HM the Queen ( ADC Gen ) on 3 December 1990 , which he held until his retirement form the army . On 27 December 1990 he was appointed Adjutant - General ( AG ) , with the local rank of general , and he received substantive promotion to that rank on 24 January 1990 ( with seniority from 1 September 1990 ) . This period included the United Kingdom ' s involvement in the Gulf War He was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath ( GCB ) in the 1993 New Year Honours He stepped down as AG on 17 May 1993 , and retired from the army on 13 July 1993 . Chief Inspector of Prisons . Ramsbotham was Her Majesty ' s Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales from 1 December 1995 to 2001 when he was succeeded by Anne Owers CBE . As Chief Inspector of Prisons , he had an at times strained relationship with Home Secretaries Michael Howard and Jack Straw , and this contributed to his contract not being continued for the full eight years that had originally been possible ( an initial period of five years , with extension for a further three years possible ) . Recent activities . On 22 March 2005 , it was announced that Ramsbotham was to be elevated to a life peerage . The title was gazetted as Baron Ramsbotham , of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 17 May . He sits in the House of Lords as a crossbench peer . He is Chairman of the Koestler Awards scheme , and Vice - Chair of both the All Party Penal Affairs Group and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Learning & Skills in the Criminal Justice System . He is President of UNLOCK , The National Association of Ex - Offenders and an Ambassador for the charity , the Prison Advice and Care Trust ( pact ) . He is a trustee and vice - Chairman of the Institute for Food , Brain and Behaviour He was elected an honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College , Cambridge in 2001 , and serves on the advisory board of the International Centre for Prison Studies at King ' s College London . He is also a Patron of Prisoners Abroad , a charity that supports the welfare of Britons imprisoned overseas and their families , and Prisoners Education Trust , a charity that supports serving prisoners through a range of academic , creative and vocational distance learning courses whilst inside . He is also a Patron of the African Prisons Project , an international non - governmental organisation with a mission to bring dignity and hope to men women and children in African prisons through health , education , justice and reintegration . He is also President of the charity PTSD Resolution , Charity number 1133188 , providing treatment to Veterans with post traumatic stress through its UK - wide network of 200 therapists . He has written extensively on matters relating to prisons and the military , in particular his 2003 book " Prisongate : The Shocking State of Britain ' s Prisons and the Need for Visionary Change " sets out his vision for reform of the prison system . External links .