St John Stevas, Norman Anthony Francis (1929– )

British Conservative politician, leader of the House of Commons and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1979–81. As leader of the House, he was instrumental in creating the system of select committees to hold ministers to account. He was dismissed from the cabinet by prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1981 because she considered him too moderate and out of step with her brand of right-wing conservatism. He became a life peer after retiring from the Commons in 1987 and was chairman of the Royal Fine Arts Commission 1985–99 and Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1991–96.

He derived his surname as a compound from his father's (Stevas) and mother's (St John-O'Connor) surnames. A fine legal mind, he studied law at Cambridge and Oxford universities, at London University (where he gained a PhD), and at Yale University. As a student he was president of the Cambridge Union and secretary of the Oxford Union. After studying briefly in Rome for the Roman Catholic priesthood, he became a barrister, and, from 1964 until 1987, a Conservative MP for Chelmsford, Essex. He was twice the minister for the arts.