Members and Staff at Parliament have been deeply saddened to learn of the death of Lord Cormack. 

Patrick Cormack served as a parliamentarian for 54 years. He was elected to the House of Commons as the MP for Cannock in June 1970. He served continuously as an MP for 40 years, including holding the posts of shadow minister for constitutional affairs and shadow deputy leader of the House from 1997-2000.  

In 2010, on stepping down from the House of Commons, he was appointed as a life peer and served in the House of Lords until his death in February 2024. 

In tribute 

During his career at Parliament, Lord Cormack was a vocal supporter for the Parliamentary Art Collection, as well as heritage and the arts more broadly, including in his role as the president of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts and Heritage.  

He served as chair of the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art from 1987 to 2001. After being raised to the peerage, he was a member of the Lord Speaker’s Advisory Panel on Works of Art from 2012-2015, and from 2019-2024. 

Throughout his decades-long involvement with the Parliamentary Art Collection, Lord Cormack was a dedicated and passionate advocate. While chair of the Committee in the House of Commons he oversaw the development and care of the collection, including multiple commissions and notable acquisitions.  Examples include acquiring depictions of Ramsay MacDonald, Anthony Eden and Aneurin Bevan, while artwork commissions included Baroness Thatcher and Dennis Healey. 

Lord Cormack expanded the collection to include artworks which record the development of the Parliamentary Estate over time. He led on a change to update the ‘10 year rule’, which meant politicians could not be given a portrait until 10 years after leaving Parliament. Lord Cormack brought in a change to allow sitting politicians to be depicted and displayed in new parliamentary buildings. He said; ‘This meant we could embark upon a policy of acquiring portraits of parliamentarians whilst they were still in their prime, leaving it, of course, to the judgement of our successors, and historians, to determine who would ultimately be placed on the walls, or in the corridors, of the Palace itself.’ This led to the current two-term rule, meaning portraits of politicians can be displayed in the Palace of Westminster once there have been two Parliaments since the sitter left.   

In the Collection

This portrait photograph of Lord Cormack is part of the Parliamentary Art Collection. In 2008, the photographer Amit Lennon completed a series of 7 photographs of notable parliamentarians. Sir Patrick Cormack MP, as he was at the time of this photograph, is captured in the House of Commons chamber.