Dear Tony DurantTony
Tim RentonThe Chief Whip has shown me your letter in which you ask to return to the backbenches in order to devote more time to your constituency.
You have spent six and a half years in the Whips Office, first as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, and then as Vice-Chamberlain of Her Majesty's Household. This work is of enormous importance both in securing the passage of Government business through the House and in providing an effective line of communication between MPs and Ministers.
It is a tribute to your energy and dedication that at the same time as carrying out your duties as a Whip, you were also Chairman of the Executive of the UK Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and were very active in fostering greater understanding between members of the Commonwealth Parliaments.
I am most grateful to you for this splendid work, and for your loyalty to our cause over so many years.
Yours ever
Margaret