Jeremy Hanley

Sir Jeremy James Hanley, KCMG (17 November 1945 – 22 May 2026) was a British politician and chartered accountant. He served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1994 to 1995, and as a member of parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Richmond and Barnes from 1983 to 1997.

Hanley was educated at Rugby School, and began his career with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Company (now KPMG) as an articled clerk in 1963. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1969, and as a Chartered Certified Accountant and chartered secretary in 1980. He joined the Financial Training Company, responsible for training chartered accountants, as a lecturer in Law and Accountancy (now Kaplan Financial Ltd), and rose to become the organisation's deputy chairman.

He stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative Party candidate in the 1978 Lambeth Central by-election, and for the same seat in the general election the following year, before becoming the MP for Richmond and Barnes at the 1983 general election, narrowly defeating the SDP–Liberal Alliance candidate Alan Watson.^[1] On his first day in the House of Commons he ended up sitting next to Ulster Unionist Ian Paisley and introduced himself saying: "How do you do? I did not realise that you were on our side", to which Paisley replied: "Never confuse sitting on your side with being on your side."^[2]

Hanley was the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Richard Luce from 1987 to 1990, and briefly the PPS to Chris Patten. He became an Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office in 1990, and a Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence in 1993.

In 1994, Hanley was brought into the Cabinet by Prime Minister John Major, who made him the Chairman of the Conservative Party and a minister without portfolio. He served in this position until the 1995 Cabinet reshuffle, when he was moved to the non-Cabinet role of Minister of State at the Foreign Office, where he remained until the 1997 general election.

Su circunscripción de Richmond y Barnes fue abolida como parte de una redistribución de distritos electorales previa a las elecciones de 1997. Se presentó como candidato conservador por la nueva circunscripción de Richmond Park , pero fue derrotado por la candidata liberal demócrata Jenny Tonge .

Tras abandonar la política, Hanley formó parte de varios consejos de administración de empresas y fue director de la Cámara de Comercio Árabe-Británica .

Hanley era hijo de los actores Jimmy Hanley y Dinah Sheridan . Su hermana, Jenny Hanley , se convirtió en actriz y presentadora de televisión en la década de 1970. En 1983 apareció junto a Jenny en un especial de celebridades de Family Fortunes . ^{[ 3 ]} En 1973 se casó con Verna, vizcondesa Villiers (de soltera Stott, exesposa de George Henry Child Villiers , vizconde Villiers, fallecido en 1998) y tuvo un hijo. También tuvo un hijo de un matrimonio anterior y una hijastra. ^{[ 4 ]}

Era miembro de Mensa . ^{[ 5 ]}

Hanley murió el 22 de mayo de 2026, a los 80 años. ^{[ 6 ]}

Hanley fue nombrado miembro del Consejo Privado en 1994. En 1997, recibió el título de caballero en la lista de honores de renuncia de John Major. También fue Ciudadano Honorario de la Ciudad de Londres y Maestro de la Venerable Compañía de Contadores Públicos .

• Times Guide to the House of Commons (1997)

• Jeremy Hanley at IMDb