He was born at East Saltoun in East Lothian, Scotland, and educated at Eton College and at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he was chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association.
He became a solicitor, and in 1939 he joined the army, where he served in the Intelligence Corps throughout the Second World War.
At the 1945 general election, he stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the safe Labour seat of Linlithgowshire in Scotland, winning 36% of the votes.
Three private members bills sponsored by Speir were passed into law: the Litter Act 1958, the Noise Abatement Act 1960 and the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act 1963.
This article about a Conservative Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom representing an English constituency and born in the 1910s is a stub.