Tom Fraser

Tom Fraser
Minister of Transport
In office
16 October 1964 – 23 December 1965
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Preceded by Ernest Marples
Succeeded by Barbara Castle
Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
4 August 1945 – 26 October 1951
Served with George Buchanan, John Robertson and Margaret Herbison.
Monarch George VI
Prime Minister Clement Attlee
Sec. of State Joseph Westwood
Chairman of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board
In office
May 1967 – January 1979
Preceded by The Lord Strathclyde
Succeeded by The Lord Greenhill of Harrow
Member of Parliament
for Hamilton
In office
29 January 1943 – 14 October 1967
Preceded by Duncan Macgregor Graham
Succeeded by Winnie Ewing
Personal details
Born 18 February 1911
Died 21 November 1988 (1988-11-22) (aged 77)
Political party Labour

Thomas Fraser PC (18 February 1911 – 21 November 1988) was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for the Hamilton constituency between 1943 and 1967.[1]

He was Minister of Transport from 16 October 1964 until 23 December 1965. In December 1965 he introduced the 70 mph (113 km/h) speed limit on motorways as an emergency measure[2] following a series of multiple crashes on motorways mainly in fog.[3] Throughout his tenure as Minister, he authorised the closure 1,071 mi of railway lines, following the recommendations from the Beeching Report. However, he went further and authorised the closure of lines, notably the Oxford to Cambridge Line, that even Beeching had not considered closing.[4]

In May 1967 he resigned from Parliament to become chairman of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board.[5][6]

He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1964.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Candidates and Constituency Assessments: Hamilton South". Archived from the original on 16 August 2005.
  2. ↑ Walter Harris (2005-12-13). "Politicians and the pleasures of fast cars". The Independent.
  3. ↑ David Benson (1966). "Four of the reasons why there's a good time coming". The Daily Express. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009.
  4. ↑ David Henshaw: The Great Railway Conspiracy. p. 165 (3rd Edition, 2013) ISBN 978-0-957651 1-0-4
  5. ↑ Christopher Harvie. "Scotland and Nationalism: Scottish Society and Politics, 1707 to the Present". Google Books. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  6. ↑ David Butler. "British Political Facts Since 1979". Google Books. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Duncan Macgregor Graham		 Member of Parliament for Hamilton
1943–1967		 Succeeded by
Winnie Ewing
Political offices
Preceded by
Ernest Marples		 Minister of Transport
1964–1965		 Succeeded by
Barbara Castle


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