Christopher Prout, Baron Kingsland

Christopher James Prout, Baron Kingsland (1 January 1942 – 12 July 2009) was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He is perhaps most well known for serving as the leader of the Conservative group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and his role in initiating their association with the European People's Party. He later became a noted expert on constitutional issues.

Life outside politics Prout was born in 1942, the son of Lucy and Frank Prout. He was educated at Sevenoaks School and Manchester University before gaining a postgraduate scholarship at The Queen's College, Oxford where he studied economics. He also spent one year at Columbia University, New York. In 1966 he joined the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development in Washington, D.C. for three years before taking up a research fellowship at Sussex University and then becoming a lecturer in Law. He was called to the Bar in 1972 and became a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 1996. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1988 and continued practising at the Bar throughout his career in politics. After the election, the Spanish Popular Alliance left the ED to join the European People's Party Group (EPP), a more pro-European and Christian democratic group than the ED. Prout applied for the Conservative Party to join the EPP but suffered rejection, leaving the Conservatives in the now largely isolated ED group.

By now, Prout was accused by some Conservatives in the UK of having "gone native". The Chairman of the Conservative Party Kenneth Baker attempted to improve relations in 1990 by arranging a series of meetings between the group and Thatcher. Despite this, by November 1990 when Thatcher's position was under serious threat, Prout informed the 1922 Committee that 20 of his group wanted her to leave, whilst just five wanted her to remain as Conservative leader. She was later replaced by John Major. He reputedly took this title to avoid being nicknamed "Lord Brussels Prout". He made his maiden speech on the subject of EU fraud and was a chairman of one of the Lords subcommittees on EU affairs. He also received several court appointments: became an assistant recorder for the Wales and Chester circuit, a recorder in 2000 and deputy High court judge in 2005.