Brian Mawhinney
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The Right Honourable Sir Brian Mawhinney (born July 26, 1940) is a British politician. He was a member of the Cabinet and member of Parliament until 2005.
Mawhinney was first elected to Parliament in 1979. He was a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Office from 1986 to 1992, then became Minister of State at the Department of Health until 1994. He then entered the cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport until 1995, when he became Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio. He served in this position until the Tories lost the 1997 elections. He had led the Tories' campaign and had himself moved to a safer seat, North West Cambridgeshire, to avoid defeat. He served as Shadow Home Secretary for a year under William Hague.
Highly religious, Mawhinney is a leading member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship and was a member of the General Synod for five years. In 2003, he was appointed Chairman of the Football League. He stepped down from the House of Commons in May 2005.
On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer.
| Preceded by: John MacGregor | Secretary of State for Transport 1994-1995 | Succeeded by: George Young |
| Preceded by: Jeremy Hanley | Chairman of the Conservative Party 1995-1997 | Succeeded by: Lord Parkinson |