Roy Thomason

Kenneth Roy Thomason, OBE (born 14 December 1944), known as Roy Thomason, is a British Conservative Party politician who was a local government leader and served one term as a member of parliament.

Local government experience

Thomason was educated at Cheney School in Oxford and trained as a Solicitor at the College of Law, being admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 1969. He practised in Bournemouth and was elected to Bournemouth Council in 1970. From 1974 to 1982 he was the Leader of the Council, and he was made a delegate to the Council of the Association of District Councils in 1979. Thomason was made Chairman of the Conservative Party's Local Government Advisory Committee in 1980 and became Leader of the Conservative Group on the Association of District Councils the next year, serving until 1984 and 1987 respectively.^[1] In 1986 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to local government.^[2]

Parliament

Thomason contested Newport East in 1983, coming second to Labour's Roy Hughes by 2,630 votes.

Between 1988 and 1991 Thomason served on the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations Executive, a Conservative body which administered the party. He was selected to follow Sir Hal Miller as candidate for the safe seat of Bromsgrove, and won the seat with a 13,702 majority in the 1992 election.^[1] Thomason was one of 26 new Conservative MPs to sign an Early Day Motion put down by Eurosceptics calling for a "fresh start" in Britain's negotiations with the European Communities,^[3] but was not a hardened eurosceptic and signed an open letter calling for support for the 'paving motion' on the Maastricht Treaty in November 1992.^[4]

On social issues Thomason was mildly progressive, supporting a reduction in the age of consent for gay sex to 18 rather than equalising it with the heterosexual age at 16.^[5] He resigned from the Carlton Club in December 1994 at a time of a dispute over the admission of women, although newspapers suspected this was because he could not justify the cost of membership.^[6]

Financial trouble

On 28 May 1995, The Guardian reported that nursing home companies under Thomason's control were "in dire financial trouble", owing large sums in taxes and other debts after the collapse of the property market. The newspaper speculated that Thomason may have given financial guarantees which, if called in, would result in his bankruptcy and therefore his disqualification from Parliament.^[7] While the Conservative whips tried to persuade the banks not to pursue Thomason,^[8] the Bromsgrove Conservative Association summoned him and his wife (to whom he had transferred his directorships in 1992) to an emergency meeting.^[9] On 9 June the Association gave its full backing to its member.^[10]

In February 1996, the Sunday Times reported that Lord Younger, a former cabinet minister then Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland, had personally intervened in November 1995 to prevent a French bank from calling in a debt from Thomason which would have resulted in his bankruptcy.^[11] His debts were then estimated at £6.2 million, and part of the deal was said to be that the interest would be paid by party sources.^[12] That May it was reported that other creditors were pressing for payment,^[13] and the local association told him to sort out his financial affairs by 1 September or face a contested reselection.^[14]

Decision to stand down

Thomason's political difficulties intensified in July when the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges ruled that the loans he had received to help him stave off bankruptcy were a declarable interest which he should have revealed. The Commissioner, Sir Gordon Downey, found that the banks had taken political considerations into account when making arrangements.^[15] Having not resolved his financial situation, on 3 September the Bromsgrove Conservative Association voted to open the selection to other applicants – in effect signalling their loss of confidence in Thomason.^[16] On 18 September, Thomason decided he would not offer himself as a candidate for reselection and would stand down as an MP.^[17]

Subsequent career

After the 1997 election, Thomason went back into business management and is currently executive chairman of the Charminster group of property companies. He has also served as chairman of London Strategic Housing, a Housing Association.

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Roy Thomason
• Court judgment of 2005 relating to Thomason's financial difficulties
• Tufnol Composites