Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield

Francis Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield (b 28 September, 1916) was a conservative politician who was Secretary of State for Trade from 1982 until 1983 and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1983 until 1984.

He was educated at the London School of Economics and was a member of the bar. He began his early career at the Inland Revenue and was created Baron Cockfield in April 1978. On the election of Margaret Thatcher to office in May 1979, he became Minister of State at the Treasury, a post he held until April 1982. He then became the last Secretary of State for Trade before it was merged with the Department for Industry in 1983. After the 1983 UK general election he became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster where he remained until September 1984. He resigned to go to the Commission of European Communities as commissioner for Internal Market Tax Law and Customs as well as being Vice-President of the European Commission. He now sits as a backbencher within the House of Lords . Since leaving the commission he has published work on the Single Market and has been given a mumber of honorary fellowships from British and also American university.