Simon Mackay, Baron Tanlaw facts for kids

Simon Brooke Mackay, Baron Tanlaw (born 30 March 1934), is a former member of the House of Lords. He is known as the senior life peer, which means he was the longest-serving member of the House of Lords who was given a peerage for life.

About Lord Tanlaw

Simon Mackay was born on March 30, 1934. He is the fourth son of Kenneth Mackay, who was the 2nd Earl of Inchcape. His mother, Leonora Margaret Brooke, was the daughter of Sir Charles Vyner Brooke. Sir Charles was the last White Rajah of Sarawak, a historical state in Southeast Asia.

Simon Mackay served in the military as a second lieutenant. He was with the 12th Royal Lancers in Malaya from 1952 to 1954.

He has six children from two marriages. He married Joanna Susan Hirsch in 1959. They had two sons, James Brooke and Joshua Alexander, and two daughters, Iona Heloise and Rebecca Alexandra. Later, he married Rina Siew Yong in 1974. They have a son, Brooke Brooke, and a daughter, Asia Brooke. Lord Tanlaw has eight grandchildren.

Lord Tanlaw has a special interest in the Far East, especially Malaysia. He was a director of his family's company, Inchcape plc, which had many business interests in that region. He also owns Fandstan Electric Group Ltd, a company that works with railways and engineering. He was a very successful businessman.

Lord Tanlaw was also the Chancellor of the University of Buckingham. This is a very important role, like being the head of the university. He held this position from 2010 to 2013. He has also been involved with the Sarawak Association, which connects people interested in Sarawak.

Lord Tanlaw's Political Career

Simon Mackay first tried to become a Member of Parliament in 1959 for the Liberal party. Later, he became a joint Treasurer for the Scottish Liberal Party.

On May 21, 1971, he was given a special title called a life peer. This means he became a member of the House of Lords for the rest of his life. His title was Baron Tanlaw, named after Tanlawhill in Scotland.

In the House of Lords, Lord Tanlaw first sat as a crossbencher. This means he did not belong to any specific political party. Later, he joined the Conservative party. He regularly attended meetings and voted on important issues. He was very interested in topics like energy conservation, global warming, and protecting the environment. He retired from the House of Lords on November 3, 2017.

The Lighter Evenings Bill

Lord Tanlaw is very interested in horology, which is the study of time and timekeeping. He is an expert in this field.

In 2005, he introduced a bill called the Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill. A bill is a proposed law. This bill suggested moving the United Kingdom's time zone forward by one hour. This would mean it would be lighter in the evenings during winter and even lighter in summer. He wanted to try this for three years.

Lord Tanlaw believed that lighter evenings would help reduce accidents in winter. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents supported his idea. However, some people were worried. They thought it would make mornings much darker, especially for people living in Scotland and northern England.

A similar experiment, called British Standard Time, was tried between 1968 and 1971, but it was stopped. Even though the government did not agree with his proposal, Lord Tanlaw kept trying to get his bill passed. He often spoke about lighter evenings in the House of Lords, even if the topic was only slightly related to the main debate. He became well-known for this.