John Sweetman
Well-liked House of Commons clerk who won the trust of MPs
JOHN SWEETMAN, who has died aged 86, was for more than 40 years a clerk in the House of Commons, retiring in 1995 as Clerk of Committees.
Popular and approachable, he was often a source of advice and counsel on procedure for MPs and could regularly be found in Annie’s Bar sharing a drink and gossip with parliamentarians and journalists.
After his retirement from Westminster he spent 10 years travelling the world to advise countries emerging from many years of colonialism or despotism on parliamentary process, fostering the spread of good governance around the globe. He was for some years an officer in the Territorial Army, retiring with the rank of captain and was a recipient of the Territorial Decoration for long service.
John Sweetman was born on October 31 1930 in Kensal Rise to May and Thomas Sweetman, who had moved from the family home in the Wirral. When he was four they moved to Ealing where he was to live, on and off, for the rest of his life.
Educated at Cardinal Vaughan School, he was head boy, with a penchant for Classics that helped him win an exhibition to St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Before going up he spent two years in Gibraltar on National Service with the Royal Artillery, honing his skills in charge of a large group of men that would prove useful in the House of Commons. His military association continued with service in the TA until 1965. He later took over running of the Woolwich Dinners for old territorial comrades.
At Cambridge, Sweetman quickly switched from Classics to Law, rowed for the college and as a committed Roman Catholic was an active member of the Newman Society, organising the Cardinals Ball. After graduating he joined the House of Commons staff as a clerk on learning from a friend that there was a job available which offered three months paid leave in the summer.
His early years in the Commons saw him working in the procedural offices, advising Members on what could and could not be done under the rules and later contributing to the revision of the rule books, notably Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice, Halsbury’s Laws of England, and the Council of Europe’s Procedure and Practice for the Parliamentary Assembly.
His combination of amiability, diplomacy and willingness to speak directly won the trust and respect of MPs. Sweetman focused his attention on committee work and was closely involved in establishing the Select Committee system introduced by Norman St John-Stevas as Leader of the House.
He was convivial company, enjoying the buzz of Westminster’s bars and the conversation at his beloved Garrick Club, of which he was a member for 22 years and where he could be found most Tuesday lunchtimes. He also founded the Westminster Breakfast Club along with Labour’s feared deputy chief whip Walter Harrison.
In his later career, he joined the Overseas Office, building relations with Parliaments and staff in Commonwealth and other countries. He was elected a member of the Association of Canadian Clerks at the Table, an unusual honour which he valued. He also organised and conducted a training programme for officers and staff of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong before the colony’s handover to China.
Sweetman rose in the House of Commons hierarchy to the ranks of Clerk Assistant and then Clerk of Committees and in 1991 was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath before retiring, after 40 years of service, in 1996. Over the next 10 years he travelled widely advising nascent democracies like Yemen and Kyrgyzstan on parliamentary life and procedures.
He is survived by his second wife Celia and their two sons and by two children from his first marriage. John Sweetman, born October 31 1930, died March 25 2017