| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Lord Strathclyde | |
| Office: | Leader of the House of Lords Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster |
| Primeminister: | David Cameron |
| Term Start: | 12 May 2010 |
| Term End: | 7 January 2013 |
| Predecessor: | The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon |
| Successor: | The Lord Hill of Oareford |
| Office1: | Leader of the Opposition in the Lords Shadow Leader of the House of Lords |
| Leader1: | William Hague Iain Duncan Smith Michael Howard David Cameron |
| Term Start1: | 3 December 1998 |
| Term End1: | 11 May 2010 |
| Predecessor1: | Viscount Cranborne |
| Successor1: | The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon |
| Office2: | Opposition Chief Whip of the House of Lords |
| Leader2: | John Major William Hague |
| Term Start2: | 2 May 1997 |
| Term End2: | 3 December 1998 |
| Predecessor2: | The Lord Graham of Edmonton |
| Successor2: | The Lord Henley |
| Office3: | Chief Whip of the House of Lords Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms |
| Primeminister3: | John Major |
| Term Start3: | 20 July 1994 |
| Term End3: | 2 May 1997 |
| Predecessor3: | The Viscount Ullswater |
| Successor3: | The Lord Carter |
| Office4: | Minister of State for Trade and Industry |
| Primeminister4: | John Major |
| Term Start4: | 16 September 1993 |
| Term End4: | 20 July 1994 |
| Predecessor4: | The Baroness Denton of Wakefield |
| Office5: | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment |
| Primeminister5: | John Major |
| Term Start5: | 15 April 1992 |
| Term End5: | 16 September 1993 |
| Predecessor5: | Tim Yeo |
| Successor5: | The Baroness Denton of Wakefield |
| Primeminister6: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Term Start6: | 26 July 1990 |
| Term End6: | 7 September 1990 |
| Predecessor6: | Marion Roe |
| Successor6: | The Baroness Blatch |
| Office7: | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland |
| Primeminister7: | Margaret Thatcher John Major |
| Term Start7: | 7 September 1990 |
| Term End7: | 14 April 1992 |
| Predecessor7: | Michael Forsyth |
| Successor7: | Allan Stewart |
| Office8: | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment |
| Primeminister8: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Term Start8: | 26 July 1989 |
| Term End8: | 24 July 1990 |
| Predecessor8: | John Lee |
| Successor8: | The Viscount Ullswater |
| Office9: | Lord-in-waiting Government Whip |
| Primeminister9: | Margaret Thatcher |
| Term Start9: | 12 August 1988 |
| Term End9: | 24 July 1989 |
| Predecessor9: | The Lord Beaverbrook |
| Successor9: | The Viscount Ullswater |
| Office10: | Member of the House of Lords |
| Status10: | Lord Temporal |
| Term Label10: | as a hereditary peer |
| Term Start10: | 18 March 1986 |
| Term End10: | 11 November 1999 |
| Predecessor10: | The 1st Baron Strathclyde |
| Successor10: | Seat abolished |
| Term Label11: | as an elected hereditary peer |
| Term Start11: | 11 November 1999 |
| 1Blankname11: | Election |
| 1Namedata11: | 1999 |
| Predecessor11: | Seat established |
| Birth Date: | 22 February 1960 |
| Birth Place: | Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Spouse: | Jane Skinner |
| Children: | 3 |
| Alma Mater: | University of East Anglia |
Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde, (born 22 February 1960), known informally as Tom Strathclyde, is a British Conservative politician. Lord Strathclyde served in the political role of Leader of the House of Lords from the 2010 general election until January 2013 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, having been Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords (1998–2010). As of 2025, he is the most recent hereditary peer to serve as Leader of the Lords.
Thomas Galbraith was born in Glasgow, the son of Conservative politician Tam Galbraith and his Belgian wife Simone du Roy de Blicquy. His father was MP for Glasgow Hillhead from 1948 until his death in 1982. Galbraith succeeded to the barony in 1985 at the age of 25, following the death of his grandfather Thomas Galbraith, 1st Baron Strathclyde.[1] [2] He contested the Merseyside East constituency in the 1984 European election.[3]
Galbraith was educated at Sussex House School, in London, and Wellington College near Sandhurst, Berkshire. He attended the University of East Anglia,[1] where he graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in modern languages and European studies. He also studied at Aix-Marseille University.
Strathclyde entered the House of Lords in 1986, becoming a Junior Whip in 1988, then Minister for Tourism in 1989. Between 1990 and 1992, he was Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in the Scottish Office. He then served in the Department of the Environment and the Department of Trade and Industry, before being appointed the Conservative Party Chief Whip in the House of Lords in 1994, succeeding Lord Ullswater. The next year, he was sworn of the Privy Council.
In 1998 Strathclyde, along with the Conservative front bench in the Lords, threatened to tender his resignation if the party refused to accept a proposed compromise plan for reform of the Lords that had been negotiated with the Labour Party by Lord Cranborne, the Conservatives' leader in the Lords, unbeknown to the Leader of the Opposition (in the Commons) William Hague, and to his annoyance. Hague, however, accepted the proposals, dismissing Cranborne for the conduct in negotiations, and Strathclyde was appointed to succeed him. Under his leadership, the House of Lords Act 1999 passed: under this, Strathclyde was elected by other peers as one of the 92 hereditary peers to remain in the House of Lords.
He won Channel 4 Peer of the Year 2000, and Spectator Peer of the Year 2004.
When the Conservatives formed a coalition government under David Cameron in May 2010, Strathclyde became Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a seat in the Cabinet.
On 7 January 2013, Strathclyde announced that he would be stepping down as Leader of the House of Lords, and resigning from the Cabinet with immediate effect, to pursue a second business career.[4] He was succeeded by Lord Hill of Oareford. He was subsequently appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for his services to the Lords.[5]
Strathclyde married Jane Skinner, elder daughter of John Skinner, in 1992. They have three daughters:[1]
The family lives in Westminster and at the Galbraith family estate in Mauchline, Ayrshire.
As Strathclyde has no sons, the heir presumptive to the peerage is his younger brother, the Hon. Charles William du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith (born 1962).[1]
Lord Strathclyde is a governor of Wellington College, Berkshire. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from the University of East Anglia in July 2018.[6]
He is a director of Auchendrane Estates Ltd, a landowning company in Scotland. His wealth is estimated at £10m.[7]
He was a non-executive director on the board of Trafigura's hedge-fund arm, Galena Asset Management, from 2004 until 2009.[8] Trafigura defended court actions during the 2006 Ivory Coast toxic waste dump scandal and The Guardian suggested his appointment may be an attempt to de-toxify the Dutch company globally.[9]
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