Leading Tory ‘wet’ Sir Nicholas Scott dies
Sir Nicholas Scott, the former Northern Ireland and then Disability Minister, has died at the age of 71.
Sir Nicholas served as an MP for over 30 years, firstly for Paddington South (1966-1974) and then for Kensington and Chelsea (1974-1997).
Firmly on the liberal, pro-European wing of the Conservative Party, he was classed as one of the leading ‘wets’ during Margaret Thatcher’s tenure.
Despite this, he rose to the position of Northern Ireland Minister (1981-1987), where he took on responsibility for prisons.
His stint saw the mass IRA escape from the Maze prison in 1983. Sir Nicholas always denied responsibility for the break-out and was supported by the then Northern Ireland Secretary, James Prior.
After leaving the Northern Ireland office, he assumed the brief of Disability Minister during the government of John Major.
He again hit the headlines when his daughter, who worked in disability rights, lambasted him publicly over his attempts to derail a bill that would have given greater rights to disabled people.
Though Sir Nicholas lost his ministerial post later that year, he was knighted in 1995 by Mr Major.
His political career came to an end in 1996 when he was discovered face down in the street during the Conservative Party conference. He always maintained that this was caused by a reaction of a small amount of alcohol to pain killers rather than excessive consumption.
But he lost a vote of confidence in his Kensington and Chelsea constituency and resigned to make way for Alan Clark.
