Editing Archie Hamilton

{{short description|British politician}}
{{other people|Archibald Hamilton}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2010}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = The Lord Hamilton of Epsom
| honorific-suffix = [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|PC]]
| image            = File:Official portrait of Lord Hamilton of Epsom 2020 crop 2.jpg
| caption          = Official portrait, 2020
| office           = [[Minister of State for the Armed Forces]]
| primeminister    = [[Margaret Thatcher]]<br />[[John Major]]
| term_start       = 25 July 1988
| term_end         = 27 May 1993
| predecessor      = [[Ian Stewart, Baron Stewartby|Ian Stewart]]
| successor        = [[Jeremy Hanley]]
| office1          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Epsom and Ewell (UK Parliament constituency)|Epsom and Ewell]]
| parliament1      = 
| majority1        = 
| term_start1      = 27 April 1978
| term_end1        = 14 May 2001
| predecessor1     = [[Peter Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson of Ewell|Peter Rawlinson]]
| successor1       = [[Chris Grayling]]
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1941|12|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = 
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| restingplace     = 
| birthname        = 
| nationality      = [[United Kingdom|British]]
| party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| otherparty       = 
| spouse           = 
| relations        = 
| children         = 
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       = 
| profession       = 
| cabinet          = 
| committees       = 
| portfolio        = Trustee of Supporting Wounded Veterans, President of the Lest We Forget Association
| religion         = 
| signature        = 
| website          = 
| office2          = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br/>[[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
| termstart2       = 17 June 2005<br>[[Life Peerage]]
}}

'''Archibald Gavin Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC}} (born 30 December 1941) is a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician. A member of the House of Lords, he served as [[Minister of State for the Armed Forces]] under John Major.

==Background and education==
Hamilton is the second son of the [[John Hamilton, 3rd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell|3rd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell]], a [[Lord-in-waiting]] to the Queen. The title was created for Hamilton's great-grandfather, [[John Hamilton, 1st Baron Hamilton of Dalzell]], who was a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician, and was inherited by his second son, [[Gavin Hamilton, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell]], also a Liberal politician, before passing to his nephew, Hamilton's father. His mother, Rosemary Coke, was a daughter of Major Sir John Spencer Coke, son of [[Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester]]; her maternal grandfather was [[Harry Lawson, 1st Viscount Burnham]].

He is the younger brother of the [[James Hamilton, 4th Baron Hamilton of Dalzell|4th Baron Hamilton of Dalzell]], and was born at [[Beckington Castle]], [[Beckington]], [[Somerset]], which was then his parents' [[English country houses|country house]].<ref>'Births' column in ''The Times'', Friday, 2 January 1942, p. 1</ref> He was educated at [[Eton College]].

==Political career==
Hamilton was a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] councillor in [[Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council|Kensington and Chelsea]] from 1968 to 1971.<ref>{{cite web |title=1922 Elections Choses New Chairman (sic) |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250309103801/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/news/05/0520/tory.shtml |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=9 March 2025 |archive-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/news/05/0520/tory.shtml |archive-date=9 March 2025}}</ref> He initially attempted to enter Parliament for [[Dagenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Dagenham]] at the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February]] and [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|October 1974 elections]], but was defeated by [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]'s veteran incumbent, [[John Parker (Labour politician)|John Parker]].

He won the seat of [[Epsom and Ewell (UK Parliament constituency)|Epsom and Ewell]] at a [[1978 Epsom and Ewell by-election|1978 by-election]]. He held it until his retirement from Parliament in [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]].

During his Parliamentary career he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Energy (1979–81) and Transport (1981–82). From 1982 to 1984, he was Assistant Conservative Whip. In 1984 he became Lord Commissioner to HM Treasury, a position he held until 1986. From 1986 to 1987, Hamilton was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]].

He also served as PPS to Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] (1987–88), Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Armed Forces Minister, 1988–93) and was created a [[Privy Councillor]] in 1991. He was Chairman of the [[1922 Committee]] from 1997 to 2001.

Whilst an MP, he sat on the [[Standards and Privileges Committee]] (regarding Ethics of the Lords and Commons) in 1996. From 1994 to 1997, he also served on the [[Intelligence and Security Committee]].

He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in 1994.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=53741 |date=22 July 1994 |page=10497}}</ref> On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a [[life peer]], and the peerage was gazetted on 17 June 2005 as '''Baron Hamilton of Epsom''', of West Anstey in the County of Devon.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=57681 |date=22 June 2005 |page=8113}}</ref>

Since 2015, he has sat on the Joint Committee for the National Security Strategy.

In March 2025 Hamilton told a House of Lords debate on the [[Holocaust Memorial Bill]]: "The Jewish community in Britain has an awful lot of money ... I do not understand why they should not pay for their own memorial." When challenged he told the chamber "the driving forces behind putting up this memorial are the Jewish people in this country. They are people who have property everywhere. I do not see why they should not fund it." After his words were condemned by the [[Antisemitism Policy Trust]] as "ill-judged, racist and false", Hamilton stated he wished to withdraw them and said: "My remarks were not intended to be antisemitic and I apologise unreservedly."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/05/conservative-peer-accused-of-using-antisemitic-tropes-in-lords-debate|title=Conservative peer accused of using antisemitic tropes in Lords debate|first=Peter|last=Walker|date=5 March 2025|work=The Guardian|accessdate=7 March 2025}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Hamilton is a [[bridge (game)|bridge]] player. He is a member of the Lords bridge team and the All Party Parliamentary Bridge Group.

In 1968, he married Anne Catherine Napier (born 1940), daughter of the late Commander Trevylyan Michael Napier DSC, RN. (1901–30 August 1940) and poet and author Priscilla Hayter (1908–98), who produced books about Napier ancestors, poetry and an autobiography, ''A Late Beginner''. Anne is a sculptor and painter. The couple have three daughters and several grandchildren.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

In 2006, their youngest daughter Alice Rose Alethea Hamilton married [[Dominic Johnson, Baron Johnson of Lainston|Dominic Johnson]], financier, hedge fund manager, and government minister.<ref name="Debrett">{{cite book |title=Debrett's peerage & baronetage : comprises information concerning the royal family, the peerage and baronetage. |date=2012 |publisher=Debrett's |location=Richmond, Surrey [England] |isbn=9781870520805 |page=638 |edition=147th }}</ref>

Hamilton sits in the House of Lords, and is a trustee of Supporting Wounded Veterans<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supportingwoundedveterans.com/executive-trustees|title=Supporting Wounded Veterans|website=SWV|language=en|access-date=2020-02-04}}</ref> as well as being the president of the Lest We Forget Association.

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Hamilton of Epsom Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Gules an annulet Or between three cinquefoils Ermine pierced of the field a bordure of the second.
|coronet = Coronet of a baron
|crest = An antelope Proper armed and unguled Or.
|supporters = Dexter a wildman Proper wreathed about the head and waist with laurel Proper and holding over the dexter shoulder a club Or sinister an antelope as matriculated in June 2008 in Scotland Proper armed unguled and gorged with a coronet attached thereto a chain reflexed over the back Or.
|motto = Modo Ludos<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2019 |page=2880}}</ref>}}

==References==
* [http://biographies.parliament.uk/parliament/default.asp?id=45346 Official parliament.uk biography]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | sir-archie-hamilton | Archie Hamilton }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
 | title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Epsom and Ewell (UK Parliament constituency)|Epsom and Ewell]]
 | years  = [[1978 Epsom and Ewell by-election|1978]]–[[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]]
 | before = [[Peter Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson of Ewell|Peter Rawlinson]]
 | after  = [[Chris Grayling]]
}}
|-
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Michael Alison]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister]]| years=1987–1988}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Mark Lennox-Boyd]]}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ian Stewart, Baron Stewartby|Ian Stewart]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister of State for the Armed Forces]]|years=1988–1993}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jeremy Hanley]]}}
|-
{{succession box
 | title  = Chairman of the [[1922 Committee]]
 | years  = 1997–2001
 | before = [[Marcus Fox]]
 | after  = [[Michael Spicer]]
}}
|-
{{s-prec|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Baron Foulkes of Cumnock|The Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom|Gentlemen]]'''<br />''Baron Hamilton of Epsom'' '''}}
{{s-fol|after=[[Baron Jones of Cheltenham|The Lord Jones of Cheltenham]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Chairmen of the 1922 Committee}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Archie}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) councillors]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers|Hamilton of Epsom]]
[[Category:Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]]
[[Category:Epsom and Ewell]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974–1979]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1979–1983]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1987–1992]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:Younger sons of barons]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Children of peers and peeresses created life peers|Hamilton]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]