the 1973 Birthday Honours. Throughout the 1970s, Plumb had Richard C. Butler as his deputy at the NFU, and Butler succeeded him as president when he retired in 1979. European Parliament Having joined the Conservative Party, Plumb was elected Member of the European Parliament for the Cotswolds seat in 1979 and remained in the European Parliament until 1999, being President of the European Parliament from 1987 to 1989. He was the only British president of the European parliament. He was made a Life peer as Baron Plumb, of Coleshill in the County of Warwickshire on 6 April 1987. On 11 October 1988, Plumb received international attention. During the papal visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Pope John Paul II was delivering a speech. Northern Ireland MEP Ian Paisley heckled throughout the delivery, brandishing posters accusing the Pope of being the Antichrist. Using his position as president, Plumb ordered Paisley to leave the chamber. He retired from the House of Lords on 3 November 2017. He was also Chancellor of Coventry University between 1995 and 2007. 2012 allegations of conflict of interest In June 2012 the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Independent newspaper revealed how senior members of the House of Lords failed to disclose their business interests in a public inquiry. As of July 2012, Plumb's entry in the register of interests listed his only remunerated employment/profession as 'farming', despite his involvement with the Brussels-based lobbying firm Alber & Geiger since 2007. According to The Independent, Plumb insisted he did not need to register his involvement because he had “never been in employment, paid or unpaid” by the firm. Bibliography (Autobiography) References 1925 births 2022 deaths Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MEPs Deputy Lieutenants of Warwickshire 20th-century English farmers Knights Bachelor Presidents of the European Parliament People associated with Coventry University MEPs for England 1979–1984 MEPs for England 1984–1989 MEPs for England 1989–1994 MEPs for England 1994–1999