Iain Sproat, who has died aged 72, was an impetuous Scottish Tory who became a junior trade minister under Margaret Thatcher and sports minister under John Major, but was best known at Westminster for his poor judgment in choosing which seat to fight.
Iain Sproat on a ministerial visit to Barclay School at Old Stevenage,Herts, 1996
His crowning achievement, however, was literary: commissioning and publishing the first translation into English of Alexander Pushkin’s complete works, the first five of 15 volumes winning the supreme prize at the 1999 Moscow Book Fair.
Sproat would never have had time for this monumental project but for his decision, when constituency boundaries were redrawn in 1983, to abandon his seat at Aberdeen South as unwinnable and contest Roxburgh & Berwickshire, on paper fractionally safer. The move backfired. The Liberals’ Archy Kirkwood defeated Sproat by 3,396 votes, while to his mortification Gerry Malone, his Tory replacement in Aberdeen South, cantered home.
Sproat then tried for seat after seat, but had to sit out the 1987 election as an adviser to Mrs Thatcher. He did not return to the Commons until 1992, for the apparently safe Harwich — which in 1997 he would be the first Conservative ever to lose.
Reading Pushkin on holiday, Sproat was astounded to discover that most of the poet’s works had never been translated into English. Already the author of books on parliamentary humour, a study of his hero PG Wodehouse and the Cricketers’ Who’s Who, he decided to fill the gap, forming in 1987 an editorial board of 15 international scholars which recruited 100 translators.
One work picked itself: a masterly translation of Eugene Onegin by Roger Clarke, a civil servant at the Department of Trade when Sproat was a minister there in the early 1980s. The full canon of 760 lyric poems, short stories and autobiographical pieces required more research than anticipated, and only five volumes were ready for the bicentenary in 1999 of Pushkin’s birth; the rest appeared the following year. The withdrawal of successive publishers led to Sproat himself sinking more than £100,000 into the project.
Rangy, boyish and outspoken, Sproat was never comfortable with the Establishment, political or literary. He called for an end to hereditary peerages, launched a guerrilla campaign in the Commons against Scottish devolution, disputed official statistics on social security “scrounging”, and denounced far-Left Labour MPs as crypto-communists.
Labour’s Arthur Latham reported Sproat to the Speaker for claiming that at least 30 Labour MPs were “little less than undercover agents for alien political creeds”; no disciplinary action was taken. Bob Hughes, Labour MP for the other half of Aberdeen, branded him “Deep Sproat — someone willing to swallow anything he is thrown” .
Sproat alienated authors and publishers by suggesting as a heritage minister that public libraries should no longer be free . He then fought a rearguard action against the introduction of the Public Lending Right (which compensates authors for the inevitable loss of sales that results from their books appearing in libraries). Having done so, however, Sproat submitted his first novel to Chatto & Windus, whose managing director, Christopher Maclehose, told him: “Even if your name was Proust, I would not read it.”
Iain Mac Donald Sproat was born on November 8 1938 at Dollar, Clackmannanshire . From St Mary’s School, Melrose, run by his father, William, he went on to Winchester, the University of Aix-en-Provence and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he read English .
In May 1964, just after joining Time & Tide as associate editor, Sproat fought a by-election at Rutherglen on Glasgow’s southern fringe. He inherited a 1,522 Conservative majority, but the national tide was running for Labour and he lost by 3,747 votes. He gave up his job to nurse the seat, but fared no better at that October’s general election which brought Labour to power.
Sproat began writing for The Sunday Telegraph, reporting on the 1966 election and reviewing books. When Winston Churchill died, he put together an instant anthology of his wit; slimmer volumes on Edward Heath and Harold Wilson followed. His next job was as head of special projects at BPS Publishing.
He entered the Commons at the 1970 election, capturing Aberdeen South by 1,089 votes from Donald Dewar, who had won the traditionally Tory seat in 1966. He spent his recesses reporting from war zones — starting with Frelimo’s guerrilla campaign in Mozambique — and joined the Territorials as a rifleman with the Royal Green Jackets.
Sproat was selected to second the Loyal Address after the 1972 State Opening, hailing the discovery of North Sea oil as “perhaps the greatest piece of pure luck for Britain in many generations”. Heath’s favour did not extend to granting Sproat’s request for a knighthood for PG Wodehouse; he cited unspecified wartime “treachery”. Sproat had to wait until Major had Wodehouse knighted in his dotage.
He promoted landmark legislation to protect historic wrecks, and in the final months of Heath’s government was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Scottish Secretary, Gordon Campbell.
Comfortably re-elected in February 1974, Sproat scraped home that October by only 365 votes as support for the SNP surged. By late 1975, he had emerged as a leader of the forces opposed to devolution. The following May he launched Keep Britain United with his colleague Teddy Taylor .
From 1975 he chaired the Conservative Soviet and Eastern European group; though instinctively a hawk, he warned the party leadership: “Don’t knock détente.”
In 1976 Sproat asserted that, on the government’s own figures, half those claiming unemployment benefit were working. David Ennals, Social Services Secretary, branded Sproat’s speech “squalid and disgraceful” and an investigation of 485 alleged cases of fraud found none proven. But he kept up his campaign, saying that weeding out “cheats, scroungers and spongers” could save £500 million a year.
Re-elected by just 772 votes in 1979 as Mrs Thatcher swept to power, Sproat became chairman of the Scottish Conservative MPs. In 1980 he produced his Cricketers’ Who’s Who, compiled simply by sending a questionnaire to each of the 300 first-class county players; later issues were increasingly lavishly produced.
Mrs Thatcher brought Sproat into her government in September 1981, as Parliamentary Under-secretary for Trade responsible for aviation, shipping and tourism.
Sproat campaigned for British Airways to be privatised “at the earliest possible moment”, and allowed British Midland to compete with BA between London and Edinburgh.
He ended the fixed quota of British films to be shown in cinemas; called for reform of the Sunday trading laws; pushed through laws against video piracy; and upset Customs & Excise by championing the concept of free ports, which benefit from relaxed duty legislation .
Going into the 1983 election, Sproat’s prospects looked rosy. But his decision to switch seats left him out of the Commons as Mrs Thatcher was returned by a landslide. He joined Rothschild’s as a consultant, and sat on the board of an advertising agency.
He was soon earning six times his ministerial salary, but was desperate to return to the Commons. His party was less keen to have him; in short order he was rejected at Penrith, Stafford, South-West Surrey, Wimbledon, Billericay and Kensington. After the 1987 election, he led a consortium trying to buy Luton Airport.
In 1979 he acquired Snore Hall, an Elizabethan brick house in the Norfolk fenland with two priest’s holes, where Charles I held his last council of war (finally deciding to capitulate to Oliver Cromwell). Sproat and his wife hoped to restore it, but it was not their main home and after 14 years they decided the task was beyond them.
In 1992 Sproat was elected MP for Harwich , and the following May John Major brought him back into the government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the National Heritage. Sproat showed his mettle by pledging to ease “barmy and burdensome” regulations on the tourist industry .
Major promoted him in July 1995 to Minister of State, and Minister for Sport. He cut bureaucracy at the Sports Council, shifting the emphasis from “sport for all” to encouraging excellence. He campaigned for a British Academy of Sport, and after the National Lottery was launched declared himself “berserk” over some of the causes the money went to.
Sproat played a decisive role in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Heavy rain in Durban put South Africa’s semi-final with France in doubt, the hosts facing elimination by virtue of having had more players sent off. Sproat asked the referee if the pitch was salvageable; told that it was, he grabbed a broom and organised local women to sweep the playing area dry. The game went ahead, South Africa won and in the final beat the All Blacks to take the Cup in front of a jubilant Nelson Mandela.
While Major’s government faced defeat at the hands of New Labour in 1997, Sproat appeared safe. Yet his huge majority evaporated, and Ivan Henderson, a local stevedore, captured the seat by 1,216 votes. Sproat returned to Pushkin and — that challenge met — took on Henderson again in 2001, losing by a wider margin.
Sproat lectured on guerrilla warfare, and chaired the European Cultural Federation UK and the editorial board of the Oxford University Press History of the British Empire. He was a member of the Churchill Archives Committee and a trustee of the African Medical and Research Foundation and the Scottish Self-Governing Schools Trust.
Iain Sproat married, in 1979, Judy Kernot (née King), a parliamentary reporter with The Scotsman. She survives him along with a stepson.
Iain Sproat, born November 8 1938, died September 29 2011
Labour’s Arthur Latham reported Sproat to the Speaker for claiming that at least 30 Labour MPs were “little less than undercover agents for alien political creeds”; no disciplinary action was taken. Bob Hughes, Labour MP for the other half of Aberdeen, branded him “Deep Sproat — someone willing to swallow anything he is thrown” .
Sproat alienated authors and publishers by suggesting as a heritage minister that public libraries should no longer be free . He then fought a rearguard action against the introduction of the Public Lending Right (which compensates authors for the inevitable loss of sales that results from their books appearing in libraries). Having done so, however, Sproat submitted his first novel to Chatto & Windus, whose managing director, Christopher Maclehose, told him: “Even if your name was Proust, I would not read it.”
Iain Mac Donald Sproat was born on November 8 1938 at Dollar, Clackmannanshire . From St Mary’s School, Melrose, run by his father, William, he went on to Winchester, the University of Aix-en-Provence and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he read English .
In May 1964, just after joining Time & Tide as associate editor, Sproat fought a by-election at Rutherglen on Glasgow’s southern fringe. He inherited a 1,522 Conservative majority, but the national tide was running for Labour and he lost by 3,747 votes. He gave up his job to nurse the seat, but fared no better at that October’s general election which brought Labour to power.
Sproat began writing for The Sunday Telegraph, reporting on the 1966 election and reviewing books. When Winston Churchill died, he put together an instant anthology of his wit; slimmer volumes on Edward Heath and Harold Wilson followed. His next job was as head of special projects at BPS Publishing.
He entered the Commons at the 1970 election, capturing Aberdeen South by 1,089 votes from Donald Dewar, who had won the traditionally Tory seat in 1966. He spent his recesses reporting from war zones — starting with Frelimo’s guerrilla campaign in Mozambique — and joined the Territorials as a rifleman with the Royal Green Jackets.
Sproat was selected to second the Loyal Address after the 1972 State Opening, hailing the discovery of North Sea oil as “perhaps the greatest piece of pure luck for Britain in many generations”. Heath’s favour did not extend to granting Sproat’s request for a knighthood for PG Wodehouse; he cited unspecified wartime “treachery”. Sproat had to wait until Major had Wodehouse knighted in his dotage.
He promoted landmark legislation to protect historic wrecks, and in the final months of Heath’s government was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Scottish Secretary, Gordon Campbell.
Comfortably re-elected in February 1974, Sproat scraped home that October by only 365 votes as support for the SNP surged. By late 1975, he had emerged as a leader of the forces opposed to devolution. The following May he launched Keep Britain United with his colleague Teddy Taylor .
From 1975 he chaired the Conservative Soviet and Eastern European group; though instinctively a hawk, he warned the party leadership: “Don’t knock détente.”
In 1976 Sproat asserted that, on the government’s own figures, half those claiming unemployment benefit were working. David Ennals, Social Services Secretary, branded Sproat’s speech “squalid and disgraceful” and an investigation of 485 alleged cases of fraud found none proven. But he kept up his campaign, saying that weeding out “cheats, scroungers and spongers” could save £500 million a year.
Re-elected by just 772 votes in 1979 as Mrs Thatcher swept to power, Sproat became chairman of the Scottish Conservative MPs. In 1980 he produced his Cricketers’ Who’s Who, compiled simply by sending a questionnaire to each of the 300 first-class county players; later issues were increasingly lavishly produced.
Mrs Thatcher brought Sproat into her government in September 1981, as Parliamentary Under-secretary for Trade responsible for aviation, shipping and tourism.
Sproat campaigned for British Airways to be privatised “at the earliest possible moment”, and allowed British Midland to compete with BA between London and Edinburgh.
He ended the fixed quota of British films to be shown in cinemas; called for reform of the Sunday trading laws; pushed through laws against video piracy; and upset Customs & Excise by championing the concept of free ports, which benefit from relaxed duty legislation .
Going into the 1983 election, Sproat’s prospects looked rosy. But his decision to switch seats left him out of the Commons as Mrs Thatcher was returned by a landslide. He joined Rothschild’s as a consultant, and sat on the board of an advertising agency.
He was soon earning six times his ministerial salary, but was desperate to return to the Commons. His party was less keen to have him; in short order he was rejected at Penrith, Stafford, South-West Surrey, Wimbledon, Billericay and Kensington. After the 1987 election, he led a consortium trying to buy Luton Airport.
In 1979 he acquired Snore Hall, an Elizabethan brick house in the Norfolk fenland with two priest’s holes, where Charles I held his last council of war (finally deciding to capitulate to Oliver Cromwell). Sproat and his wife hoped to restore it, but it was not their main home and after 14 years they decided the task was beyond them.
In 1992 Sproat was elected MP for Harwich , and the following May John Major brought him back into the government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the National Heritage. Sproat showed his mettle by pledging to ease “barmy and burdensome” regulations on the tourist industry .
Major promoted him in July 1995 to Minister of State, and Minister for Sport. He cut bureaucracy at the Sports Council, shifting the emphasis from “sport for all” to encouraging excellence. He campaigned for a British Academy of Sport, and after the National Lottery was launched declared himself “berserk” over some of the causes the money went to.
Sproat played a decisive role in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Heavy rain in Durban put South Africa’s semi-final with France in doubt, the hosts facing elimination by virtue of having had more players sent off. Sproat asked the referee if the pitch was salvageable; told that it was, he grabbed a broom and organised local women to sweep the playing area dry. The game went ahead, South Africa won and in the final beat the All Blacks to take the Cup in front of a jubilant Nelson Mandela.
While Major’s government faced defeat at the hands of New Labour in 1997, Sproat appeared safe. Yet his huge majority evaporated, and Ivan Henderson, a local stevedore, captured the seat by 1,216 votes. Sproat returned to Pushkin and — that challenge met — took on Henderson again in 2001, losing by a wider margin.
Sproat lectured on guerrilla warfare, and chaired the European Cultural Federation UK and the editorial board of the Oxford University Press History of the British Empire. He was a member of the Churchill Archives Committee and a trustee of the African Medical and Research Foundation and the Scottish Self-Governing Schools Trust.
Iain Sproat married, in 1979, Judy Kernot (née King), a parliamentary reporter with The Scotsman. She survives him along with a stepson.
Iain Sproat, born November 8 1938, died September 29 2011
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