Nicholas Baker (politician)

This article is about the British politician. For other people with the same or similar names, see Nicholas Baker (disambiguation).

Sir Nicholas Brian Baker (23 November 1938 – 25 April 1997) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and government minister.

Sir Nicholas Baker
Baker at PMQs, 1996
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office 3 December 1990 – 20 July 1994
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Tom Sackville
Succeeded by	Derek Conway
Member of Parliament for North Dorset
In office 3 May 1979 – 8 April 1997
Preceded by	David James
Succeeded by	Robert Walter
Personal details
Born	Nicholas Brian Baker (1938-11-23)23 November 1938
Died	25 April 1997(1997-04-25) (aged 58)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Carol d'Abo (1970-1997; his death)
Children	2
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford
Occupation	Politician, government minister

He was educated at Clifton College and Oxford University. After unsuccessfully contesting the safe Labour seat of Peckham in February and October 1974, he represented the parliamentary constituency of North Dorset from 1979 until 1997. He was married to Carol d'Abo, sister of musician & broadcaster Mike d'Abo, and they adopted a son Matthew and a daughter Annabel.

He was also a Home Office junior minister under Michael Howard. In this role, he was involved in blocking Mohamed Al-Fayed's long-running attempts to attain British citizenship and in the widely publicized reprieve of a dog called Dempsey which had been threatened with death under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Health problems caused Baker to resign his ministerial post, and he announced that he would not re-stand for his parliamentary seat at the 1997 general election. He died shortly before the election, having been knighted during the final weeks of his life.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Nicholas Baker