| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Lord Peart | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | PC |
| Office: | Leader of the Opposition in the Lords Shadow Leader of the House of Lords |
| Leader: | Jim Callaghan Michael Foot |
| Term Start: | 4 May 1979 |
| Term End: | 4 November 1982 |
| Predecessor: | The Lord Carrington |
| Successor: | The Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos |
| Office1: | Leader of the House of Lords |
| Primeminister1: | Jim Callaghan |
| Term Start1: | 10 September 1976 |
| Term End1: | 4 May 1979 |
| Predecessor1: | The Lord Shepherd |
| Successor1: | The Lord Soames |
| Office2: | Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal |
| Primeminister2: | Jim Callaghan |
| Term Start2: | 10 September 1976 |
| Term End2: | 4 May 1979 |
| Predecessor2: | The Lord Shepherd |
| Successor2: | Ian Gilmour |
| Primeminister3: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start3: | 6 April 1968 |
| Term End3: | 1 November 1968 |
| Predecessor3: | The Lord Shackleton |
| Successor3: | The Lord Shackleton |
| Office4: | Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
| Primeminister4: | Harold Wilson James Callaghan |
| Term Start4: | 5 March 1974 |
| Term End4: | 10 September 1976 |
| Predecessor4: | Joseph Godber |
| Successor4: | John Silkin |
| Primeminister5: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start5: | 18 October 1964 |
| Term End5: | 6 April 1968 |
| Predecessor5: | Christopher Soames |
| Successor5: | Cledwyn Hughes |
| Office6: | Shadow Secretary of State for Defence |
| Leader6: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start6: | 10 April 1972 |
| Term End6: | 5 March 1974 |
| Predecessor6: | George Thomson |
| Successor6: | Ian Gilmour |
| Office7: | Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food |
| Leader7: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start7: | 16 December 1971 |
| Term End7: | 10 April 1972 |
| Predecessor7: | Cledwyn Hughes |
| Successor7: | ??? |
| Office8: | Shadow Leader of the House of Commons |
| Leader8: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start8: | 20 June 1970 |
| Term End8: | 16 December 1971 |
| Successor8: | Michael Foot |
| Office9: | Leader of the House of Commons Lord President of the Council |
| Primeminister9: | Harold Wilson |
| Term Start9: | 1 November 1968 |
| Term End9: | 20 June 1970 |
| Predecessor9: | Dick Crossman |
| Successor9: | Willie Whitelaw |
| Office10: | Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal |
| Term Start10: | 23 September 1976 |
| Term End10: | 26 August 1988 Life Peerage |
| Office11: | Member of Parliament for Workington |
| Term Start11: | 5 July 1945 |
| Term End11: | 23 September 1976 |
| Predecessor11: | Thomas Cape |
| Successor11: | Richard Page |
| Birth Date: | 30 April 1914 |
| Birth Place: | Durham, England |
| Death Place: | London, England |
| Party: | Labour |
| Alma Mater: | Durham University |
| Children: | 1 |
Thomas Frederick Peart, Baron Peart, PC (30 April 1914 – 26 August 1988) was a British Labour politician who served in the Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s and was a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Party.
Thomas Frederick Peart was born in Durham, England, in 1914, the son of Emerson Featherstone Peart, a headmaster and leading Labour member of Durham County Council, and Florence Blissenden.[1] The younger Peart qualified as a teacher at the University of Durham in 1936.[1] During his time at university he was President of the Durham Union for Epiphany term of 1936.[2] He studied at the Inner Temple but did not enter the legal profession, instead teaching economics in Durham.[1] He served in the Royal Artillery in World War II, gaining the rank of captain.[1]
Peart was elected Member of Parliament for Workington in 1945, serving until 1976.[1] He initially served as PPS to the Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries (Tom Williams).[1]
Peart, along with the rest of the Labour Party, went into opposition after Sir Winston Churchill's 1951 election victory. In 1964, he returned to government after Harold Wilson defeated Sir Alec Douglas-Home at that year's election. He was appointed to the Cabinet holding the Cabinet post of Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.[1] His tenure saw advances in pay for agricultural labourers, and in technology.
In 1968, Peart became Lord Privy Seal, with no particular responsibilities.[1] Seven months later, Peart became Leader of the House of Commons, taking the subsidiary title Lord President of the Council.[1] After Labour lost the 1970 election, Peart returned to opposition as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. He held that position until December 1971, when he became Shadow Agriculture Minister.[3] When Labour returned to power, Peart once more took the Agriculture portfolio.
On 23 September 1976, Peart was created a life peer as Baron Peart, of Workington in the County of Cumbria, to serve as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal at a time when the Labour faction in the Lords was tiny compared to the vast Tory majority, mainly composed of hereditary peers.[1]
After Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election, Peart continued as Leader of the Labour Peers and thus became Shadow Leader of the House of Lords. He served in those roles until 1982, when he was defeated for re-election by Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos in a vote among Labour peers.[4]
In 1945, Peart married Bette Lewis, and they had one son.[1]
On 6 June 1975, Peart was on board the train which derailed in the Nuneaton rail crash; he survived with minor injuries.[5]
In 1984, Peart was attacked by two robbers who broke into his London home. This preceded a terminal decline in his health, and he died at a hospital in London on 26 August 1988, at the age of 74.[1]
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