relationship with Sara Keays, he made much of what he described as the volume of letters in support that he received. Many in the Conservative Party attacked Keays. Edwina Currie said in October 1985, whilst herself having an affair with John Major, "I feel very very sorry for Cecil and his family. Most of my thoughts on Sara Keays are unprintable. Perhaps the most polite thing to say is she's a right cow". By 2001, however, the media focused more upon Flora and her difficulties than on protecting Parkinson's reputation, so more voices were raised in criticism of Parkinson. Following four years on the back benches, he was appointed Secretary of State for Energy in 1987 (having been tipped as a potential Chancellor of the Exchequer), and for Transport in the July 1989 reshuffle. One of the highlights during his tenure of the latter job was announcing new main-line rail tunnels across London, called Crossrail. He resigned along with Margaret Thatcher when she was replaced by John Major, and stood down from the House of Commons at the 1992 general election. Following the 1992 election, he was created Baron Parkinson, of Carnforth, in the County of Lancashire, on 29 June 1992. That year, Parkinson also published his memoirs, in which he claimed that, with a determined campaign, Thatcher would have won the second ballot of the Conservative leadership election, when her Cabinet had warned her she would lose and thus persuaded her to stand down. Shadow Cabinet Parkinson returned to front-line politics when he was made Conservative Party Chairman again, by William Hague, in June 1997. He retired from this role in 1998; afterward he kept a low profile, although he was a vice-chairman of the Conservative Way Forward group. He was also the Honorary President of Conservative Friends of Poland. Personal life Parkinson married Ann Mary Jarvis on 2 February 1957. They had three daughters: Mary, Emma and Joanna. He was a supporter of Preston North End, and in November 1988 paid a tribute to Tom Finney on This Is Your Life. Parkinson was an active freemason. Death Parkinson died from colorectal cancer at The London Clinic in Marylebone, London, on 22 January 2016. He left nothing in his will for his daughter Flora: in April 2017, it was reported that Sara Keays was preparing to sue Parkinson's estate to continue to gain support for her daughter's 24-hour care,