Former Conservative deputy chairman Michael Ancram dies, aged 79

But he returned to the Commons in 1979 as the MP for Edinburgh South, defeating future Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Although he was seen as a “One Nation” Conservative, it was Margaret Thatcher who gave him his first ministerial post as under secretary in the Scotland Office.

The role meant he was involved in introducing the poll tax in Scotland, where it was piloted a year earlier than in England and Wales.

Following defeat in the 1987 election, he returned as MP for the West Country seat of Devizes in 1992 until he retired from the House of Commons in May 2010.

A few months later he joined the House of Lords as a life peer.

Ancram became the 13th Marquis of Lothian following the death of his father in 2004, though he preferred not to use the title.

He was also the hereditary Chief of the Scottish Clan Kerr, a testament to his deep Scottish roots.

He is survived by his wife, Lady Jane Fitzalan-Howard.

The couple had three daughters, three grandchildren and five step-grandchildren.