Gummer was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture in Edward Heath 's government , before being appointed Conservative Party Vice-Chairman – a position he held until the government 's fall in 1974 . Following his return to the House in the 1979 election , he held various government posts and was Conservative Party Chairman from 1983 to 1985 – an office he held at the time of the Brighton hotel bombing during the 1984 Conservative Party conference . He joined the Cabinet in 1989 as Minister of Agriculture , Fisheries and Food , moving to become Secretary of State for the Environment under John Major in 1993 . As Environment Secretary he introduced the Environment Act 1995 and the Landfill Tax , which was the first such environmental tax in the UK . The '' BBC Wildlife '' magazine described him as the " Environment Secretary against which all others are judged " , placing him as one of its top ten environmental heroes . In 1997 , he was also awarded the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Medal . and Friends of the Earth described his as " the best Environment Secretary we 've ever had "
Brighton hotel bombing
Brighton hotel bombing
John Gummer