Arthur Colum Michael Connolly-Gore, 9th Earl of Arran (born 14 July 1938), styled Viscount Sudley before 1983, is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 peer

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 and an elected hereditary member of the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 for the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

.

Lord Arran is the son of Arthur Connolly-Gore, Arthur Gore, 8th Earl of Arran

Arthur Gore, 8th Earl of Arran

Arthur Gore was a Conservative whip in the House of Lords. His father was Arthur Gore, 6th Earl of Arran. He was the father of Arthur Gore, 9th Earl of Arran....

 and the former Fiona Colquhoun, first daughter of Sir Iain Colquhoun of Luss, 7th Baronet

Iain Colquhoun

Sir Iain Colquhoun, 7th Baronet, KT, DSO, was a Scottish baronet, and the grandfather of an Irish earl and great-grandfather of a Scottish duke....

. He was educated at Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

. He served in the Grenadier Guards

Grenadier Guards

The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...

, gaining the rank of Second Lieutenant. He was the assistant manager of the Daily Mail

Daily Mail

The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

, then assistant general manager of the Daily Express

Daily Express

The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...

and the Sunday Express in the 1970s. He has also been a director of Waterstone's

Waterstone's

Waterstone's is a British book specialist established in 1982 by Tim Waterstone that employs around 4,500 staff throughout the United Kingdom and Europe....

.

He succeeded as 9th Earl of Arran on 23 February 1983, upon the death of his father. In the Lords, Lord Arran has played an active role for the Conservatives, serving in several junior ministerial roles.

Arran married Eleanor van Cutsem on 28 September 1974. His wife was awarded an MBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2008

Birthday Honours 2008

The Birthday Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced in June 2008, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2008.The recipients of honours are displayed or referred to here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged firstly by the country whose ministers advised the Queen...

. They have two daughters, Laura and Lucy. In 2004 Laura married Major James Duckworth-Chad, MVO, former Equerry

Equerry

An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...

 to The Queen, and now has issue.

Since Lord Arran has no sons by his wife, and all other lines of descent from the 4th Earl of Arran have died out, his Heir presumptive

Heir Presumptive

An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...

 is currently a very distant and elderly cousin, descended from the youngest brother of the 4th Earl.

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