Lord Stewartby, who has died aged 82, was a competent if unflashy minister under Margaret Thatcher, and also one of Britain’s most respected numismatists.
Representing Hitchin and then North Hertfordshire between 1974 and 1992, Ian Stewart was politically moderate and cautiously Eurosceptic. A former banker, he proved a valuable lieutenant to Sir Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson.
In 1983 Howe took the unusual step of defending Stewart – then his PPS – against criticism for having spoken little in the House. His performances as a minister were sure-footed, but led the Telegraph’s Godfrey Barker to describe him as “the just plain boring face of capitalism”.
His main achievements as a minister were...