David Young, Baron Young of Graffham
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| The Right Honourable, David Ivor Young Baron Young of Graffham DL, PC |
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| In office 11 September 1984 – 2 September 1985 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | The Lord Drumalbyn |
| Succeeded by | Jeremy Hanley |
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| In office 2 September 1985 – 13 June 1987 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Tom King |
| Succeeded by | Norman Fowler |
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| In office 13 June 1987 – 24 July 1989 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | Paul Channon |
| Succeeded by | Nicholas Ridley |
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| Born | 27 February 1932 Finchley, London, United Kingdom |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | University College, London |
| Religion | Jewish |
David Ivor Young, Baron Young of Graffham, PC DL (born February 27, 1932) is a retired British Conservative politician and businessman.
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[edit] Early life
Young is the elder son of a businessman who imported flour and later set up as a manufacturer of coats for children. He went to Christ's College in Finchley and then University College London where he trained as a solicitor, being admitted to the roll of solicitors in 1955. However, he only practised for a year, after which he joined the Great Universal Stores Ltd, as an executive, working for part of that time as an assistant to the Chairman, Sir Isaac Wolfson Bt. In 1961 he left GUS and set up his first business, Eldonwall Ltd with funding from the Gestetner Family Settlements. During the sixties he built up a group of companies in industrial property, construction and plant hire, selling out in June 1970 to Town & City Properties PLC and joined the board. After the property crash of 1973/4 he assisted Jeffery Sterling (later Lord Sterling) to reverse his company into T&CP to form a group that later became P&O. In 1975 he left the board and entered into a joint venture with Manufacturers Hanover, and became Chairman of Manufacturers Hanover Property Services, lending on real estate in the United Kingdom and overseas. He also had a number of other commercial interests. He sold out all his commercial interests in 1980 upon entering the Department of Industry. His younger brother Stuart Young served as Chairman of the BBC.
[edit] Involvement in politics
He also became involved in voluntary organisations, being Chairman of the British Organization for Rehabilitation by Training in 1975 and President from 1980 to 1982; he was Chairman of the International Council of Jewish Social and Welfare Services from 1981. In 1977 Young, an active Conservative, became a member of the Management Board of the Centre for Policy Studies, a 'think-tank' founded by Margaret Thatcher; he was made a Director of the CPS in 1979 shortly after the general election that brought Mrs Thatcher to power. On the first day of the new government, Sir Keith Joseph, the Secretary of State for Industry appointed him his advisor responsible for what later became known as privatisation.
Because of his involvement with vocational training through ORT, he was picked by Norman Tebbit when he was Secretary of State for Employment to be the Chairman of the Manpower Services Commission in 1981, the Government Agency dealing with unemployment and training matters. As such he became involved in government decisions and the Cabinet ministers who dealt with him regarded him very positively; he made his position as a 'dry' on economic policy. He received a life peerage as Baron Young of Graffham, of Graffham in the County of West Sussex on 10 August 1984. One month later, on 11 September it was announced that he was to enter the cabinet as Minister without Portfolio (the first for twenty years) to advise the government on unemployment issues; the following year September 2, 1985 he became Secretary of State for Employment.
[edit] 1987 election
Mrs Thatcher regarded Young as personally loyal to her and decided in March 1987 to put him into a central role in planning the 1987 election campaign, in effect to keep an eye on Norman Tebbit whom she suspected to be more interested in advancing his claims on the leadership. He was in charge of organising Mrs Thatcher's tours and appearances on television. One week before polling day on June 4, 1987, Young and Tebbit had a major disagreement about the campaign strategy, a day nicknamed 'Wobbly Thursday'.
[edit] Trade and Industry
After the election, Tebbit announced his retirement from public life and Young promoted to be Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. He was a somewhat stiff figure in public whom Private Eye nicknamed 'Lord Suit'. He served two years in the role and privatised the last of the state industries in the department, In May 1989 he told the Prime Minister he would like to return to private life . He resigned from the Cabinet in 1989 but received an appointment as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party to help Kenneth Baker reorganise Central Office and stood down on the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. Young then went back to business as a Director of Salomon Inc. and Executive Chairman of Cable and Wireless. From 1993 he was President of the Institute of Directors and from 1995 was Chairman of Council of University College, London. He was the first President of Jewish Care (1990-1997)
He retired from Cable & Wireless in 1995 and in 1996 he set up his own company, Young Associates Ltd, with two partners Simon Alberga and Yoav Kurtzbard, that actively invests in technology companies. He remains Chairman of a number of companies, and has a number of pro bono or charitable interests including the Chichester Festival Theatre. His autobiography, The Enterprise Years, was published in 1990.
| Preceded by Tom King |
Secretary of State for Employment 1985–1987 |
Succeeded by Norman Fowler |
| Preceded by Paul Channon |
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 1987–1989 |
Succeeded by Nicholas Ridley |
