Priscilla Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie

Priscilla Jean Fortescue Buchan, Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie, Baroness Tweedsmuir PC (née Thomson, 25 January 1915 – 11 March 1978),^[1] was a Sottish politician.

The Right Honourable The Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie PC
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office 7 April 1972 – 4 March 1974
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	Richard Wood
Succeeded by	Julian Amery
Minister of State for Scotland
In office 23 June 1970 – 7 April 1972
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	The Lord Hughes
Succeeded by	The Lord Polwarth
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 3 December 1962 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded by	Tam Galbraith
Succeeded by	The Lord Hughes
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 1 July 1970 – 11 March 1978 Life peerage
Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South
In office 26 November 1946 – 10 March 1966
Preceded by	Sir Douglas Thomson, Bt
Succeeded by	Donald Dewar
Personal details
Born	Priscilla Thomson (1915-01-25)25 January 1915
Died	11 March 1978(1978-03-11) (aged 63) Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Political party	Scottish Conservative Party
Other political affiliations	Unionist Party (until 1965)
Spouses	Maj. Sir Arthur Lindsay Grant ​ ​ (m. 1934; died 1944)​ The Lord Tweedsmuir ​ (m. 1948)​

Early life

The daughter of Brigadier Alan F. Thomson DSO, she married Major Sir Arthur Lindsay Grant, 11th Baronet, Grenadier Guards, in 1934. He was killed in action in 1944. She subsequently married author and politician the 2nd Baron Tweedsmuir in 1948. She commanded a Red Cross detachment during World War II.^[2]

House of Commons

Lady Tweedsmuir was an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate for Aberdeen North in July 1945, and was elected for Aberdeen South in 1946, holding the seat until 1966. She consistently polled at least 50% of the vote with the exception of her defeat in 1966, a feat never achieved by any succeeding candidates in the constituency.^{[citation needed]}

She was a delegate to the Council of Europe from 1950 to 1953, a UK Delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations, 1960–1961; Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1962 to 1964.

She served as a Governor of the British Film Institute and a member of the general advisory council of the BBC.^[2]

House of Lords

On 1 July 1970 she was created a life peer as Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie, of Potterton in the County of Aberdeen.^[3]

Tweedsmuir was Minister of State at the Scottish Office from 1970 to 1972 and at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1972 to 1974 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1974.^[4] In the House of Lords she served as Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees, 1974–1977, and as Chairman of the Select Committee on European Communities, 1974–1977. She was also a Deputy Speaker.

She died of cancer in 1978, aged 63.

Legacy

She was mentioned several times in the 2014 Loyal Address to Parliament on 4 June in the House of Commons by Penny Mordaunt.^{[citation needed]}

In 1983, the veteran Labour politician Emanuel Shinwell stated Tweedsmuir was 'the best' female MP Britain had had.^[5]

Titles

• 1915-1934: Miss Priscilla Thomson
• 1934-1935: Mrs. Arthur Grant
• 1935-1948: The Lady Grant
• 1948-1970: The Right Honorable The Baroness Tweedsmuir
• 1970-1978: The Right Honorable The Baroness Tweedsmuir of Belhelvie