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Tributes: Earl Jellicoe

My Lords, I rise to pay tribute to Earl Jellicoe. He was a remarkable man. Although we do not recognise the term ““Father of the House””, which is used in another place, an exception might have been made for Earl Jellicoe, who was a Member of your Lordships’ House for 68 years, serving this House in a number of roles. In life, he was characterised by many as an extraordinary individual: full of energy and verve and a truly larger than life figure. It is difficult to pay tribute to a life and career that was so full and accomplished across so many spheres. Service and, in particular, public service is an appropriate starting point for this Tribute. Earl Jellicoe had an outstanding war record. He initially joined the Coldstream Guards but was later recruited into the SAS where he became first commander of the Special Boat Squadron, conducting highly dangerous missions into German-controlled Greek islands and, later, Italy and Yugoslavia. For his bravery and success, he was awarded the DSO at the age of 24 and the MC at 26. Foreign Governments also decorated him. He won the Legion d’Honneur, the Croix de Guerre and the Greek War Cross. After the war, he joined the Foreign Office, serving in Washington, Brussels and Baghdad. He resigned in 1958 for personal reasons and, from that point onwards, took a more active role in politics. Earl Jellicoe lost his father, the hero of the First World War and Admiral of the Fleet—Sir John Jellicoe and later first Earl of Jellicoe—while he was still at school in Winchester and only 17 years old. Although he inherited his father’s title, he could not take his seat until 1939. By 1958, when he had retired from the Foreign Service, the Earl had moved from the Cross Benches to the Conservative Benches. His talents and diligence were soon recognised and room was made for him on the Front Bench—first as a Government Whip and later as Joint Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and, soon after, as Minister of State for the Home Office. In 1963 he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and a year later Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy. In opposition, he served his party as deputy leader and, when his party returned to power in 1970, he was made Lord Privy Seal, Leader of the House and Minister for the Civil Service Department. He approached his new role with characteristic vigour and charm. As Leader of the House, he played a significant role in raising the profile and status of this House. Earl Jellicoe reintroduced into the House the tradition of Select Committee work, which had been allowed to lapse since the Second World War. Under his guidance, the Select Committee on Sport and Leisure was set up in 1970. This was soon followed by the Select Committee on the European Community and set in train the tradition of committees of which we are so proud today. It seems hard now to remember a time when this House was not renowned for its work on committees and for the quality of that work, but at that time it was an experiment and one that can only be described as an unmitigated success. Lord Jellicoe played another crucial role much later in shaping the committee work of the House. In 1992, he chaired an ad hoc committee on the committee work of this House, whose purpose was to look at the existing committees, consider their reform and extension and compare them with those of the House of Commons. The committee recommended that a permanent committee should scrutinise all Bills to ensure that the delegated powers sought by Ministers were appropriate and subject to the right degree of parliamentary approval. The result was the creation of the Delegated Powers Committee, which remains one of the most respected committees of your Lordships’ House. The committee’s report also led to a new era in the overall system of Select Committees with the creation of the Liaison Committee. Earl Jellicoe often described himself as a reformer in the context of this House. He believed in a partly elected House of Lords based on the regions. Sadly, we will not have the benefit of his experience in our debates on the White Paper on Lords reform in a fortnight’s time. In 1973, he retired from government and pursued a career in the private sector, but his days of public service were not over. In 1982, he became chairman of the General Medical Council, and for eight years he battled for funding at a time when research budgets were under great pressure. He campaigned for funding to research AIDS when the disease was little known in this country and subject to a great deal of prejudice. Earl Jellicoe continued until very recently to play an active role in this House, making contributions to debates on education and Civil Service pension reform, as well as resources for Select Committees. He is survived by four sons and four daughters, and I am sure that the whole House will wish to join me in sending our heartfelt condolences to them all.