View source for William Whitelaw

{{Short description|British politician (1918–1999)}}
{{about|the British politician, 1st Viscount Whitelaw}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = The Viscount Whitelaw
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KT|CH|MC|PC|DL}}
| image            = William Whitelaw in 1963.jpg
| office           = [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
| termlabel        = ''[[De facto]]''
| term_start       = 4 May 1979
| term_end         = 10 January 1988
| primeminister    = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| predecessor      = [[Rab Butler]] (''de facto'')
| successor        = [[Geoffrey Howe]]
| office1          = [[Lord President of the Council]]
| term_start1      = 11 June 1983
| term_end1        = 10 January 1988
| primeminister1   = Margaret Thatcher
| predecessor1     = [[John Biffen]]
| successor1       = [[John Wakeham]]
| term_start2      = 20 June 1970
| term_end2        = 7 April 1972
| primeminister2   = [[Edward Heath]]
| predecessor2     = [[Fred Peart]]
| successor2       = [[Robert Carr]]
| office3          = [[Leader of the House of Lords]]
| term_start3      = 11 June 1983
| term_end3        = 10 January 1988
| primeminister3   = Margaret Thatcher
| predecessor3     = [[Janet Young, Baroness Young|The Baroness Young]]
| successor3       = [[John Ganzoni, 2nd Baron Belstead|The Baron Belstead]]
| office4          = [[Home Secretary]]
| term_start4      = 4 May 1979
| term_end4        = 11 June 1983
| predecessor4     = [[Merlyn Rees]]
| successor4       = [[Leon Brittan]]
| office5          = [[Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party]]
| leader5          = Margaret Thatcher<br>[[John Major]]
| term_start5      = 12 February 1975
| term_end5        = 7 August 1991
| predecessor5     = [[Reginald Maudling]] (1972)
| successor5       = [[Peter Lilley]] (1998)
| office6          = [[Secretary of State for Employment]]
| primeminister6   = Edward Heath
| term_start6      = 2 December 1973
| term_end6        = 4 March 1974
| predecessor6     = [[Maurice Macmillan]]
| successor6       = [[Michael Foot]]
| office7          = [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]]
| primeminister7   = Edward Heath
| term_start7      = 24 March 1972
| term_end7        = 2 December 1973
| predecessor7     = ''Office created''
| successor7       = [[Francis Pym]]
| office8          = [[Leader of the House of Commons]]
| term_start8      = 20 June 1970
| term_end8        = 7 April 1972
| primeminister8   = Edward Heath
| predecessor8     = [[Fred Peart]]
| successor8       = [[Robert Carr]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Party political offices<br />{{nobold|1964–1975}}
|titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office1          = [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]]
| term_start1      = 11 June 1974
| term_end1        = 11 February 1975
| leader1          = Edward Heath
| predecessor1     = [[Peter Carington]]
| successor1       = [[Peter Thorneycroft]]
| office2          = [[Conservative Chief Whip|Opposition Chief Whip]] of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]
| term_start2      = 27 November 1964
| term_end2        = 20 June 1970
| leader2          = [[Alec Douglas-Home]]<br>[[Edward Heath]]
| predecessor2     = [[Martin Redmayne]]
| successor2       = [[Francis Pym]]
| office3          = [[Conservative Chief Whip|Opposition Deputy Chief Whip]] of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]
| term_start3      = 29 October 1964
| term_end3        = 27 November 1964
| leader3          = [[Alec Douglas-Home]]
| predecessor3     = [[John Hill (British politician)|John Hill]]
| successor3       = [[Brian Batsford]]

{{collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Junior ministerial offices
|cont=yes |titlestyle= border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office10         = [[Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour]]
| monarch10        = [[Elizabeth II]]
| primeminister10  = [[Harold Macmillan]]<br>[[Alec Douglas-Home]]
| term_start10     = 16 July 1962
| term_end10       = 16 October 1964
| predecessor10    = [[Alan Green (MP)|Alan Green]]
| successor10      = ''Office abolished''
| office11         = [[Lord Commissioner of the Treasury]]
| monarch11        = [[Elizabeth II]]
| primeminister11  = Harold Macmillan
| term_start11     = 6 March 1961
| term_end11       = 16 July 1962
| predecessor11    = [[Paul Bryan (politician)|Paul Bryan]]
| successor11      = [[Gordon Campbell, Baron Campbell of Croy|Gordon Campbell]]
{{collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|[[Shadow Cabinet]] posts
|cont=yes |titlestyle= border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office3          = [[Shadow Home Secretary]]
| leader3          = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start3      = 11 April 1976
| term_end3        = 4 May 1979
| predecessor3     = [[Ian Gilmour]]
| successor3       = [[Merlyn Rees]]
{{collapsed infobox section end}}}}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|last=yes|Parliamentary offices
|cont=yes |titlestyle= border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office12         = Member of the [[House of Lords]]
| status12         = Lord Temporal
| term_start12     = 16 June 1983
| term_end12       = 1 July 1999
| predecessor12    = ''Peerage created''
| successor12      = ''Peerage extinct''
| office13         = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br> for [[Penrith and The Border]]
| term_start13     = 26 May 1955
| term_end13       = 11 June 1983
| predecessor13    = [[Donald Scott (politician)|Donald Scott]]
| successor13      = [[David Maclean]]
{{collapsed infobox section end}}}}
| birthname        = William Stephen Ian Whitelaw
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1918|6|28|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1999|7|1|1918|6|28|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Blencow]], England
| party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| spouse           = {{Marriage|[[Cecilia Sprot]]|1943}}
| children         = 4
| alma_mater       = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| allegiance       = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears     = 1939–1946
| rank             = [[Major (rank)|Major]]
| branch           = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| unit             = [[Scots Guards]]
| battles          = [[World War II]]
| caption          = Whitelaw in 1963
| primeminister4   = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
}}

'''William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw''' (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as [[Home Secretary]] from 1979 to 1983 and as ''[[wikt:de facto|de facto]]'' [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] from 1979 to 1988.<ref>{{cite web |title=Letter to Lord Whitelaw (resignation) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107145 |date=10 January 1988 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |access-date=21 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="Hennessy">{{cite book |last=Hennessy |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Hennessy |title=The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders since 1945 |chapter=A Tigress Surrounded by Hamsters: Margaret Thatcher, 1979–90 |publisher=[[Penguin Group]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-14-028393-8 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wONEPVvX3YoC&pg=PA397}}</ref><ref name="Aitken">{{cite web |last=Aitken |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Aitken (journalist) |title=Viscount Whitelaw of Penrith |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jul/02/guardianobituaries.obituaries |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=2 July 1999 |access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref> He was [[Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party]] from 1975 to 1991.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web |agency=Press Association |title=Willie Whitelaw dies aged 81 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1999/jul/01/uk.politicalnews6 |date=1 July 1991 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref>

After the Conservative Party won an unexpected victory at the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970 general election]], Whitelaw was appointed as [[Leader of the House of Commons]] and [[Lord President of the Council]] by Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]]. After the suspension of the [[Stormont Parliament]] resulted in the imposition of [[Direct rule (Northern Ireland)|direct rule]], Whitelaw served as [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]] from 1972 to 1973. He also served under Heath as [[Secretary of State for Employment]] from 1973 to 1974 and as [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]] from 1974 to 1975. 

Whitelaw served Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] throughout her leadership of the Conservative Party as [[Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|deputy party leader]]. He served as [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom#Unofficial deputies|''de facto'' Deputy Prime Minister]] between 1979 and 1988 and as [[Home Secretary]] from 1979 to 1983. He stepped down as a Member of Parliament at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]], and was appointed as a Member of the [[House of Lords]]. He served as [[Leader of the House of Lords]] and [[Lord President of the Council]] from 1983 to 1988. He was a captain of [[The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews]].<ref>''Daily Telegraph'', Doug Sanders obituary, 20 April 2020.</ref>

==Early life==
Whitelaw was born in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, and raised at the family home, "Monklands", on Thurlow Road in [[Nairn]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-viscount-whitelaw-1103681.html |title=Obituary: Viscount Whitelaw |last=Cosgrave |first=Patrick |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=2 July 1999 |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> He never met his father, William Alexander Whitelaw, born 1892, a member of a Scottish family of the [[landed gentry]],<ref name="Ireland 1898">''A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland'', 1898, volume 2, ed. Bernard Burke, p. 1585, 'Whitelaw of Gartshore'.</ref><ref name="archiveshub.ac.uk">{{Cite web |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb1015-gd101 |title=Gartshore and Woodhall Estates – Archives Hub |website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk}}</ref> who died in 1919 after service in the [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders]] in the [[First World War]], when his son was still a baby. Whitelaw was brought up by his mother, Helen, a daughter of [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] [[Francis Russell (MP for Cheltenham)|Francis Russell]],<ref name="archiveshub.ac.uk"/> MP for Cheltenham and a military attaché, and his paternal grandfather [[William Whitelaw (Perth MP)|William Whitelaw]].<ref>''The Railway Gazette'', volume 37, 1922, p. 553.</ref><ref>Current Biography Yearbook 1975, H. W. Wilson & Co., 1976, p. 438.</ref> One of his great-aunts by marriage, born Dorothy Sarah Disraeli, was the niece of former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Benjamin Disraeli]].<ref name="archiveshub.ac.uk"/><ref name="Ireland 1898"/>

Whitelaw was educated first at [[Wixenford School]], Wokingham, before passing the entrance exam to [[Winchester College]]. From there he went up to [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], where he won a [[University Sporting Blue|blue]] for golf and joined the [[Officer Training Corps]]. By chance he was in a summer camp in 1939 on the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] and was granted a regular, not wartime, [[Officer (armed forces)|commission]] in the [[British Army]], in the [[Scots Guards]], later serving in the [[British 6th Guards Tank Brigade|6th Guards Tank Brigade]], a separate unit from the [[Guards Armoured Division]]. He commanded [[Churchill tank]]s in [[Normandy]] during the Second World War and during [[Operation Bluecoat]] in late July 1944. His was the first Allied unit to encounter German ''[[Jagdpanther]]'' tank destroyers, being attacked by three out of the twelve Jagdpanthers which were in Normandy.<ref>{{cite book |title=Operation Bluecoat |url=https://archive.org/details/overbattlefieldo00dagl |url-access=limited |first=I. |last=Daglish |publisher=Pen & Sword |year=2009 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/overbattlefieldo00dagl/page/n170 70]–73|isbn=978-0-85052-912-8}}</ref>

The battalion's second-in-command was killed when his tank was hit in front of Whitelaw's eyes; Whitelaw succeeded to this position, holding it, with the rank of major, throughout the advance through the [[Netherlands]] into Germany and until the end of the war. He was awarded the [[Military Cross]] for his actions at Caumont; a photograph of [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Bernard Montgomery]] pinning the medal to his chest appears in his memoirs. After the end of the war in Europe, Whitelaw's unit was to have taken part in the invasion of Japan, but the [[Pacific War]] ended before this. Instead he was posted to [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], before leaving the army in 1946 to take care of the family estates of Gartshore and Woodhall in [[Lanarkshire]], which he inherited on the death of his grandfather.

==Political career==
Following early defeats as a candidate for the constituency of [[East Dunbartonshire (UK Parliament constituency)|East Dunbartonshire]] in [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]] and [[1951 United Kingdom general election|1951]], Whitelaw was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Penrith and the Border]] at the [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955 general election]] and represented that constituency for 28 years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 September 2018 |title=THE HOUSE OF COMMONS CONSTITUENCIES BEGINNING WITH "P" |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Pcommons1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003150406/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Pcommons1.htm |archive-date=3 October 2018 |url-status=usurped |access-date=29 May 2021}}</ref> He held his first government posts under [[Harold Macmillan]] as a [[Lord of the Treasury]] (government whip) between 1961 and 1962 and then under Macmillan and [[Alec Douglas-Home]] was [[Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour]] between 1962 and 1964. After the Conservatives lost the 1964 election, Douglas-Home appointed Whitelaw as Opposition [[Chief Whip]].<ref> Eric Caines, ''Heath and Thatcher in Opposition'' (2017), p. 37.</ref> He was sworn of the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]] in January 1967.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44210|date=30 December 1966|page=1}}</ref>

===Heath government, 1970–1974===
When the Conservatives returned to power in 1970 under [[Edward Heath]], Whitelaw was made [[Lord President of the Council]] and [[Leader of the House of Commons]], with a seat in the cabinet.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=45134|date=23 June 1970|page=6953}}</ref> Upon the imposition of direct rule in March 1972, he became the first [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]], serving in that capacity until November 1973. During his time in Northern Ireland he introduced [[Special Category Status]] for paramilitary prisoners. He attempted to negotiate with the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]], meeting its Chief of Staff [[Seán Mac Stiofáin]] in July 1972. The talks ended in an agreement to change from a seven-day truce to an open-ended truce; however, this did not last long. As a briefing for prime minister Heath later noted, Whitelaw "found the experience of meeting and talking to Mr Mac Stíofáin very unpleasant". Mac Stiofáin in his memoir complimented Whitelaw, saying he was the only Englishman ever to pronounce his name in Irish correctly.<ref>MacStiofáin, Seán ''Revolutionary in Ireland'', pp. 281–89.</ref>

In 1973, Whitelaw left Northern Ireland—shortly before the [[Sunningdale Agreement]] was reached—to become [[Secretary of State for Employment]], and confronted the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers]] over its pay demands. This dispute was followed by the Conservative Party losing the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974 general election]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge74feb.shtml |title=BBC Politics 97 |access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref> Also in 1974, Whitelaw became a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]].<ref>{{cite web |date=16 June 2008 |title=COMPANIONS OF HONOUR |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/misc/compofhonor.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926113647/http://www.leighrayment.com/misc/compofhonor.htm |archive-date=26 September 2008 |url-status=usurped |access-date=29 May 2021}}</ref>

===In opposition, 1974–1979===
Soon after [[Harold Wilson]]'s Labour Party returned to government, Heath appointed Whitelaw as deputy leader of the opposition and chairman of the Conservative Party. Following a second defeat in the [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|October 1974 general election]], during which Whitelaw had accused Wilson of going "round and round the country stirring up apathy", Heath was forced to call a [[1975 Conservative Party leadership election|leadership election in 1975]]. Whitelaw loyally refused to run against Heath; however, and to widespread surprise, [[Margaret Thatcher]] narrowly defeated Heath in the first round. Whitelaw stood in his place and lost convincingly against Thatcher in the second round. The vote polarised along right–left lines, with in addition the region, experience and education of the MP having their effects.<ref>Philip Cowley and Matthew Bailey, "Peasants' Uprising or Religious War? Re-Examining the 1975 Conservative Leadership Contest", ''British Journal of Political Science'' (2000) 30#4 pp. 599–629 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/194287 in JSTOR]</ref>

Whitelaw managed to maintain his position as deputy leader until the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]], when he was appointed [[Home Secretary]]. In an unofficial capacity,<ref name="Hennessy" /> he also served as [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]] in Thatcher's new government.<ref name="Aitken" /><ref>Charles Moore, ''Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands'' (2013), p. 427.</ref>

===Home Secretary, 1979–1983===
Thatcher admired Whitelaw and appointed him Home Secretary in her first Cabinet, later writing of him "Willie is a big man in character as well as physically. He wanted the success of the Government which from the first he accepted would be guided by my general philosophy. Once he had pledged his loyalty, he never withdrew it".<ref>[[Margaret Thatcher]], ''The Downing Street Years'' (HarperCollins, 1993), p. 27.</ref> Thatcher was rumoured to have said that "every Prime Minister needs a Willie" and Whitelaw was seen as Thatcher's ''de facto'' [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]] between 1979 and 1988 (though he never formally held the office), to the extent that the then [[Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)|Cabinet Secretary]], [[Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster|Robert Armstrong]], said that had Thatcher been killed in the [[Brighton hotel bombing]], he thought he would have advised Queen [[Elizabeth II]] to send for Whitelaw.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Norton |first=Philip |date=2017 |title=A temporary occupant of No.10? Prime Ministerial succession in the event of the death of the incumbent |journal=[[Public Law (journal)|Public Law]] |pages=26, 28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Brazier |first=Rodney |title=Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2020 |isbn=9780198859291 |location= |pages=80–81}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Norton |first=Philip |title=Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=2020 |isbn=9-781526-145451 |pages=143}}</ref>

As home secretary, Whitelaw adopted a hard-line approach to law and order. He improved police pay and embarked upon a programme of extensive prison building. His four-year tenure in office, however, was generally perceived as a troubled one. His much vaunted "[[short, sharp shock]]" policy, whereby convicted young offenders were detained in secure units and subjected to quasi-military discipline, won approval from the public but proved expensive to implement.{{citation needed|date=January 2012}} He was home secretary during the six-day [[Iranian Embassy siege]] in April–May 1980.

In March 1981, he approved [[Wolverhampton]] Metropolitan Borough Council's 14-day ban on political marches in the borough in response to a planned [[National Front (United Kingdom)|National Front]] demonstration there.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xgdfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4Y0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6565,4462303&dq=wolverhampton+million+unemployment&hl=en |title=New Sunday Times – Google News Archive Search |website=news.google.com}}</ref>

[[Inner city]] decay, unemployment and what was perceived at the time as heavy-handed policing of [[ethnic minorities]] (notably the application of what some called the "notorious" [[sus law]]) sparked [[1981 England riots|major riots]] in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds, and a spate of disturbances elsewhere. The [[Provisional IRA]] escalated its bombing campaign in England.

He contemplated resigning after an intruder broke into the Queen's bedroom in 1982 but was dissuaded from doing so. "We couldn't do without Willie," Margaret Thatcher reflected in later years. "He was a wonderful person."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ñ9Wc8kG_1vcs |title=Queen & Country pt3 |website=[[YouTube]] |date=23 May 2020 }}</ref>

===Leader of the House of Lords, 1983–1988===
Two days after the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]], Whitelaw received a [[hereditary peer]]age (the first created for 18 years) as '''Viscount Whitelaw''', of Penrith in the County of Cumbria.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=49394 |date=21 June 1983 |page=8199 }}</ref> Thatcher appointed him [[Lord President of the Council]] and [[Leader of the House of Lords]]. Lord Whitelaw faced many challenges in attempting to manage the [[House of Lords]], facing a major defeat over abolition of the [[Greater London Council]] within a year of taking over. However, his patrician and moderate style appealed to Conservative peers and his tenure is considered a success.{{citation needed|date=January 2012}}

During his period as her deputy and as Leader of the Lords, Thatcher relied on Whitelaw heavily; she famously announced that "every prime minister needs a Willie".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/2003/jun/18/changes-to-government-departments#S5LV0649P0_20030618_HOL_105 |date=18 June 2003 |title=Changes to Government Departments (Hansard, 18 June 2003) |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]}}</ref> He chaired the "[[star chamber]]" committee that settled the annual disputes between the limited resources made available by Treasury and the spending demands of other government departments. It was Whitelaw, in November 1980, who managed to dissuade Thatcher from going to [[Leeds]] to take charge of the [[Yorkshire Ripper]] investigation personally.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/mar/15/featuresreviews.guardianreview8 ''The Guardian'': "The Killing Suit"] – review of book ''Wicked Beyond Belief''.</ref>

===Resignation===
Following a stroke in December 1987, he felt he had no choice but to resign. [[Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale|Nicholas Ridley]] argued that Whitelaw's retirement marked the beginning of the end of the Thatcher premiership, as he was no longer around as often to give sensible advice and to moderate her stance on issues, or to maintain a consensus of support in her own Cabinet and parliamentary party.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} He resigned from the Cabinet on 10 January 1988.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lion |first=Ed |date=10 January 1988 |title=Thatcher's No. 2 Cabinet minister resigns |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/01/10/Thatchers-No-2-Cabinet-minister-resigns/4375568789200 |access-date=23 August 2021 |website=[[United Press International]]}}</ref>

==Marriage and children==
Whitelaw was married in 1943 to [[Celia Whitelaw, Viscountess Whitelaw|Cecilia Doriel Sprot (later Celia, Viscountess Whitelaw)]] (1917-2011), a philanthropist, charity worker and horticulturist who had been an [[Auxiliary Territorial Service|ATS]] volunteer during the [[Second World War]].<ref name=Scotsman/> They had four daughters:<ref>Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999</ref>

* [[The Honourable|The Hon]] [[Susan Cunliffe-Lister (Lord Lieutenant)|Elizabeth Susan Whitelaw]] (born 2 November 1944), married [[Nicholas Cunliffe-Lister, 3rd Earl of Swinton]], mother of [[Earl of Swinton|Mark Cunliffe-Lister, 4th Earl of Swinton]].
* The Hon Carolyn Meliora Whitelaw (born 1946)
* The Hon Mary Cecilia Whitelaw (born 15 November 1947)
* The Hon Pamela Winifred Whitelaw (born 9 March 1951)

==Retirement and death==
[[File:Whitelaw grave.jpg|thumb|upright|The grave of William Whitelaw]]
During his retirement and until his death, Whitelaw was the chairman of the board of Governors at [[St Bees School]], Cumbria. He was appointed a [[Knight of the Thistle]] in 1990.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=52351|date=30 November 1990|page=18550}}</ref> He formally resigned as [[Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party]] in 1991;<ref name="Guardian" /> a farewell dinner was held in his honour on 7 August 1991.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sherrin |first=Ned |author-link=Ned Sherrin |title=Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5q4XBa5jsy8C&pg=PA268 |date=25 September 2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-923716-6 |page=268}}</ref>

After several years of declining health, Whitelaw died from natural causes at Ennim, his home in [[Blencow]], on 1 July 1999, shortly after his 81st birthday.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/lord-whitelaw-dies-at-81-after-long-illness-1.202072 |title=Lord Whitelaw dies at 81 after long illness |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=2 July 1999 |access-date=17 July 2022 |last=Donnelly |first=Rachel}}</ref><ref name=Scotsman>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-vicountess-whitelaw-penrith-former-ats-volunteer-who-wife-tory-mp-devoted-herself-charity-campaigns-2004385 |title=Obituary: Vicountess Whitelaw of Penrith, former ATS volunteer who, as wife of Tory MP, devoted herself to charity campaigns |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |date=15 December 2011 |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref> He had been married for 56 years. Although Whitelaw was given a hereditary peerage, the title became extinct on his death as his daughters were unable to inherit. His home for many years was the mansion of Ennim, just outside the village of [[Great Blencow]] near [[Penrith, Cumbria]]. He was buried at [[St Andrew's Church, Dacre|St. Andrew's Parish Church]], [[Dacre, Cumbria]]. Whitelaw was an active [[freemason]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Power of the Masons – Myth of Menace? |date=13 July 1986 |work=Sunday People}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/just-how-much-do-the-masons-really-matter-1592669.html |title=Just how much do the Masons really matter? |date=21 July 1995 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

{{Emblem table
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Viscount.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Whitelaw Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Sable a Chevron engrailed Or between three Boars' Heads couped Argent armed and langued Or
|crest = A Bee erect proper
|supporters = On either side a Charolais Bull in trian aspect proper each with a Garland about the shoulder of Roses Gules barbed and seeded slipped and leaved and Thistles stalked and leaved proper and interlaced in front with two Pairs of Golf Clubs fretted saltirewise Gold; the Compartment comprising three Mounts of Moorland proper growing from each of these to the fore two Roses and as many Thistles the Roses Gules barbed and seeded stalked and leaved proper and the Thistles stalked and leaved also proper
|motto = ''Solertia Ditat'' (Prudence enriches)}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Moore, Charles. ''Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands'' (2013) 
* Whitelaw, William. ''The Whitelaw Memoirs'' (1989), a primary source

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw}}
*{{NPG name}}
*[http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/Contents/book/UK/FHP/Peerage/fhp-WHITELAW.asp Burke's Peerage]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jul/02/guardianobituaries.obituaries Obituary] in ''[[The Guardian]]'', 2 July 1999
* William Whitelaw, "The Whitelaw Memoirs", Aurum Press, London, 1989.
* {{Hansard-contribs| mr-william-whitelaw-1| William Whitelaw}}
*[https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1901 The Papers of Viscount Whitelaw of Penrith] held at [[Churchill Archives Centre]]
*[https://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_W01a.html#Whitelaw_WSI British Army Officers 1939–1945]

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{{Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland}}
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{{Heath Ministry}}
{{Thatcher Ministry}}
{{1975 Conservative Party leadership election}}
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{{Deputy prime ministers of the United Kingdom}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitelaw, William}}
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