Michael Andrew Foster Jude (Kerr) Ancram


(13th Marquess of Lothian; Earl of Ancram)

1945 -

Michael Ancram MP
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Michael Ancram MP

Politician. Ancram was educated at Ampleforth College, followed by the University of Oxford then the University of Edinburgh, where he studied law. He became an advocate in 1970 and was appointed a Queen's Counsel (1996). Ancram was briefly elected as Member of Parliament for Berwick and East Lothian in February 1974, losing the seat in the election of October of that year. He re-entered Parliament representing Edinburgh South (1979-87), suffering once again as Scotland swung against the Conservatives. He stood successfully for Devizes in 1992 and was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office (1993) and Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office (1994). Ancram served as Chairman of the Conservative Party in Scotland (1980-3) and of the national party (1998 - 2001). He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Conservative leadership (2001), but was appointed Deputy Leader and Shadow Foreign Secretary. He has been a columnist for both the Daily Telegraph and the Scotsman newspapers.

As the eldest son of the 12th Marquess of Lothian, he inherited the family title the Earl of Ancram. He refers to himself as Mr Michael Ancram, a habit acquired in the court-room, rather than using his title or the family surname of Kerr. Ancram succeeded as the 13th Marquess of Lothian on the death of his father in 2004. Parliamentary reforms ensured he could remain a member of the House of Commons without renouncing this title.

In 1975, Ancram married Teresa Fitzalan-Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk, thus uniting two of Britain's most notable Roman Catholic families. Ancram lives with his wife and children at the Lothian family home at Monteviot (Scottish Borders) and at Pewsey in his Wiltshire constituency.


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