Butcher was born in Doncaster but grew up in Huntingdonshire where he was educated at Huntingdon Grammar School and the University of Birmingham.
[1] He was married with three children, including Jessica Butcher,[2] and despite living in Solihull was a common sight at the Carlton Club in London.
Butcher also served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Education and Science between 1988 and 1989, after being moved from what was then called the Department of Trade and Industry.
[3] After he left ministerial office he introduced the Property Misdescriptions Act, which aimed to curb "the more extravagant claims of estate agents".
[3] When he left politics due to heart problems, which would eventually take his life, he became chairman of Texas Instruments (1990-98) and the Institute of Directors (1997-2001).