Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler

Peter Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler, PC (born 2 February 1938) is a British politician who served as a member of both Margaret Thatcher and John Major's 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 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 left the House of Commons and later that same year was created a Conservative life peer. As is customary for presiding officers, he renounced his party political allegiance upon taking office as Lord Speaker. On 25 February 2021, he announced that in April he would step down as Lord Speaker to focus on campaigning work, particularly in relation to AIDS. He continues to sit in the House of Lords.

Fowler was born on 2 February 1938 to Norman Frederick Fowler and Katherine (née Baker). He is an only child. He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, Essex. After school, he did National Service as a second lieutenant in the Essex Regiment. He then studied 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. Following university, he became a journalist, and worked at The Times.

Fowler, who had aspired to become an MP since childhood, was elected for Nottingham South in 1970; after the seat was abolished, he switched to Sutton Coldfield at the February 1974 election.

During the mid-1970s, Mr. 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 its cost.

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 Nugent's 1981 bill to make seat belts compulsory, a law that came into force in 1983.