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Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury

The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Salisbury
KCVO PC DL
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil 2013.JPG
Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire
Assumed office
7 October 2005
Preceded by The Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords
In office
2 May 1997 – 3 December 1998
Leader John Major
William Hague
Preceded by The Lord Richard
Succeeded by The Lord Strathclyde
Leader of the House of Lords
Lord Privy Seal
In office
20 July 1994 – 2 May 1997
Prime Minister John Major
Preceded by John Wakeham
Succeeded by The Lord Richard
Under-Secretary of State for Defence
In office
22 April 1992 – 20 July 1994
Prime Minister John Major
Preceded by Kenneth Carlisle
& The Earl of Arran
Succeeded by The Lord Henley
Member of the House of Lords
Assumed office
17 November 1999
Life Peerage
In office
1 January 1992 – 11 November 1999
as Baron Cecil of Essendon
Preceded by Robert, 6th Marquess of Salisbury (Writ of acceleration)
Succeeded by House of Lords Act 1999
Member of Parliament
for South Dorset
In office
3 May 1979 – 11 June 1987
Preceded by Evelyn King
Succeeded by Ian Bruce
Personal details
Born (1946-09-30) 30 September 1946 (age 70)
Political party Conservative
Alma mater Christ Church, Oxford

Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, KCVO, PC, DL (born 30 September 1946) is a British Conservative politician. During the 1990s, he was Leader of the House of Lords under his courtesy title of Viscount Cranborne. Lord Salisbury lives in one of England's largest historic houses, Hatfield House, which was built by an ancestor in the early 17th century, and he currently serves as Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire.

Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil was born on 30 September 1946 as the eldest child and first-born son of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury. His younger brother was the journalist Lord Richard Cecil, who was killed covering the conflict in Rhodesia in 1978.

Lord Cranborne attended Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, and became a merchant banker before going to work on the family estates.

Lord Cranborne was selected, unexpectedly, as Conservative candidate for South Dorset in 1976, where his family owned lands, despite the presence of several former MPs on the shortlist. He spoke at the 1978 Conservative Party conference to oppose sanctions against Rhodesia. He won the seat in the 1979 general election, the seventh consecutive generation of his family to sit in the Commons, and in his first speech urged Ian Smith to stand aside in favour of Abel Muzorewa.


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