Background
The son of William Marsh, a foundry worker from Belvedere in southeast London. His father subsequently worked for the Great Western Railway, and the family moved to Swindon.
The son of William Marsh, a foundry worker from Belvedere in southeast London. His father subsequently worked for the Great Western Railway, and the family moved to Swindon.
He was educated at Jennings Street Secondary School, Swindon, Woolwich Polytechnic and Ruskin College, Oxford.
He initially worked as an official for the National Union of Public Employees from 1951 to 1959, during which time he sat on the Clerical and Administrative Whitley Council for the National Health Service. After unsuccessfully standing at Hertford in 1951, Marsh was elected as Labour Party Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Greenwich at the 1959 general election. Minister of Power
He served in the second Wilson Government as the Minister of Power (1966-1968).
Minister of Transport
Subsequently he served in the Cabinet as Minister of Transport (1968-1969).
He left the House of Commons in 1971 to become Chairman of the British Railways Board, a position he held until 1976. On leaving British Rail he was knighted, and became chairman of the Newspaper Publishers’ Association (Non Performing Asset).
The first chairman of the Non Performing Asset to come from outside of the industry, he served until 1990. He also held the chairmanships of the British Iron and Steel Consumers’ Council from 1977-1982 and of Allied Investments Limited from 1977-1981.
In 1978 he announced that he had become a supporter of Margaret Thatcher, and intended to vote Conservative at the upcoming general election, held in 1979.
Peerage
He then sat in the House of Lords as a Crossbench peer. In 1975 Marsh"s second wife Caroline died in a road accident in Spain in which the wife of broadcaster David Jacobs also lost her life. Marsh and Jacobs both survived the crash.
He died in 2011 in London, England.
42nd United Kingdom Parliament. 43rd United Kingdom Parliament. 44th United Kingdom Parliament.
45th United Kingdom Parliament]
He was also a member of a number of quangoes and held directorships in several private companies and was chairman of television-am in 1983-1984.