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60-406: Other members included Alan Clark MP, Enoch Powell MP, Maurice Cowling , Edward Norman , Sir Alfred Sherman , Paul Johnson , T. E. Utley , Lord Black , Lord Bauer , Lord Blake , Lord Sieff , Lord Weinstock , Lord Thomas and Lord Quinton . The following addressed the group: F. A. Hayek , Milton Friedman , Michael Oakeshott , Elie Kedourie , and Harold Macmillan . Thatcher attended

120-465: A third-class honours degree . As an undergraduate he was a member of the Bullingdon Club , a private all-male dining club known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour, including vandalism of restaurants and students' rooms. The club selects its members not only on the grounds of wealth and willingness to participate but also by means of education. After Oxford he wrote articles for

180-484: A wine-tasting dinner with his friend of many years standing, Christopher Selmes. Irritated by what he regarded as a bureaucratically written civil-service speech, he galloped through the script, skipping over pages of text. The then-opposition MP Clare Short stood up on a point of order and, after acknowledging that MPs cannot formally accuse each other of being drunk in the House of Commons, accused him of being "incapable",

240-480: A British version of National Socialism . Before his death in 1999, Clark had started work on the prequel to the 1983–1992 Diaries to cover his entry in politics, from seeking a Conservative Association to adopt him as their Parliamentary Candidate in 1972 until the 1983 general election . Published a year after his death, this volume was titled Diaries: Into Politics and covered 1972 to 1983. The final volume, covering Clark's decision not to seek re-election at

300-571: A brain tumour. His body was buried in the grounds of the castle. Upon his death, his family said Clark wanted it to be stated that he had "gone to join Tom and the other dogs." In 1993 Clark gave a half-hour Opinions lecture, televised by Channel 4 , of which he said in his diary: "It was good. Clear, assured, moving. I looked compos and in my 'prime'. Many people saw it. All were enthusiastic. Today acres of coverage in The Times ." In 1997 Clark presented

360-578: A brief combination with Rosehill School in Gloucestershire the remaining boys went with the then-headmaster, W. J. V. Tomlinson (Bill), to join the old rival Summer Fields School , in Oxford . The school playing fields were sold to Eastbourne College . In April 1997, Eastbourne Civic Society (now The Eastbourne Society), in conjunction with the County Borough of Eastbourne, erected a blue plaque at

420-497: A candid account of political life under Thatcher and a description of the weeks preceding his death, which he continued to write until he could no longer focus on the page. Alan Clark was born at 55 Lancaster Gate , London, the elder son of art historian Kenneth Clark (later Lord Clark), who was of Scottish parentage, and his wife Elizabeth Winifred Clark ( née Martin), who was Irish. His sister and brother, fraternal twins Colette (known as Celly) and Colin , were born in 1932. At

480-569: A divorce case in South Africa, in which it was revealed he had had affairs with Valerie Harkess, the wife of a South African barrister, and her daughters, Josephine and Alison. After sensationalist tabloid headlines, Clark's wife Jane remarked upon what Clark had called "the coven" with the line: "Well, what do you expect when you sleep with below-stairs types?" She referred to her husband as an "S, H, one, T". Clark died at Saltwood Castle on 5 September 1999, aged 71, after suffering from

540-493: A euphemism for drunk. Although the government benches were furious at the accusation, Clark later admitted in his diaries that the wine-tasting had affected him. To date, he is the only Member of Parliament to have been accused in the House of Commons of being drunk at the despatch box . In 1986, Clark was promoted to Minister for Trade at the Department of Trade and Industry . It was during this time that he became involved with

600-569: A four-part series for the BBC entitled Alan Clark's History of the Tory Party . In 2004, John Hurt portrayed Clark (and Jenny Agutter his wife Jane) in the BBC's The Alan Clark Diaries , reigniting some of the controversies surrounding their original publication and once again brought his name into the British press and media. An authorised biography of Alan Clark by Ion Trewin, the editor of his diaries,

660-549: A housemaid died in a fall from an upper window. Emergency accommodation was arranged at Ascham St. Vincent's School , the buildings of a preparatory school in Eastbourne which had recently closed. On 20 July 1939, St Cyprian's moved to Whispers, near Midhurst in West Sussex. It stayed there for 18 months until the building was requisitioned by the army during World War II . As a result of this double blow, numbers dwindled and after

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720-450: A major influence was the second master R. L. Sillar, who joined the school staff soon after it opened and stayed for 30 years. With his interest in natural history, his skill at shooting, his art teaching and his magic lantern shows he broadened the curriculum considerably and is revered in Old Boy's accounts. In its fortieth year, the school building was gutted by fire on 14 May 1939, and

780-530: A world of good." His friend, George Orwell , disagreed and wrote disparagingly and bitterly of the school in the quasi-autobiographical essay Such, Such Were the Joys , first published in the Partisan Review (Sept.- Oct. 1952). By Orwell's own admission this was too libelous to print and under British libel laws could not be published while the people described in it were still living. It appeared in print in

840-420: Is a fine piece of writing, and often brilliantly penetrating." Even before publication, Clark's work came under attack from supporters of Haig, including the field marshal's son and historians John Terraine , Robert Blake and Hugh Trevor-Roper , former tutor to Clark, who was married to Haig's daughter. On publication, The Donkeys received very supportive comments from Lord Beaverbrook , who recommended

900-405: Is evident from one of the closing passages of Orwell's essay. "How would St Cyprian's appear to me now, if I could go back, at my present age, and see it as it was in 1915? What should I think of Sambo and Flip, those terrible, all-powerful monsters? I should see them as a couple of silly, shallow, ineffectual people, eagerly clambering up a social ladder which any thinking person could see to be on

960-515: Is still in print 50 years after its first print run, being regarded as an important work on the British experience of the World War. The book's title was drawn from the expression " Lions led by donkeys " which has been widely used to compare British soldiers with their commanders. In 1921 Princess Evelyn Blücher published her memoirs, which attributed the phrase to OHL (the German GHQ) in 1918. Clark

1020-458: The 1992 general election , his regret at leaving the House of Commons and then his return to Parliament, was published in 2002 and included Clark's final days dying from a brain tumour. Throughout his diaries Clark refers admiringly to Henry "Chips" Channon and his diaries. He also quotes Adolf Hitler , to whom he refers as "Wolf". The diaries include much reference to Clark's love of his chalet at Zermatt , his Scottish estate at Eriboll and

1080-612: The Duke of Wellington's Regiment and a descendant on her mother's side of the Scottish ornithologist William Robert Ogilvie-Grant , grandson of the 6th Earl of Seafield . They were married for 41 years and had two sons: His elder son James (who lived in Eriboll, a Scottish estate) died of a brain tumour on 15 August 2019, aged 59. While involved in the Matrix Churchill trial he was cited in

1140-641: The February 1974 general election with a majority of 8,104, when Harold Wilson took over from Edward Heath as prime minister of a minority Labour government. At the General Election in October 1974, when Labour gained a small overall majority, Clark's vote fell by 1,192 votes, but he still had a comfortable majority with 5,188. His first five years in parliament were spent on the Conservative opposition benches. He

1200-459: The House of Commons in support of Animal Liberation Front hunger-striker Barry Horne . Clark kept a regular diary from 1955 until August 1999 (during his second spell as a Member of Parliament ) when he was incapacitated due to the onset of the brain tumour which was to be the cause of his death a month later. The last month of his life would be chronicled by his wife, Jane. The diaries covering

1260-540: The Matrix Churchill trial that he had been "economical with the actualité " in answer to parliamentary questions about what he knew with regard to arms export licences to Iraq, caused the collapse of the trial and the establishment of the Scott Inquiry , which helped undermine John Major 's government. Clark became bored with life outside politics and returned to Parliament as member for Kensington and Chelsea in

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1320-640: The United Kingdom is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher 's governments at the Departments of Employment , Trade and Defence . He became a member of the Privy Council of

1380-562: The election of 1997 , becoming critical of NATO's campaign in the Balkans . Clark held strong views on British unionism , racial difference, social class, and was in support of animal rights, nationalist protectionism and Euroscepticism . He referred to Enoch Powell as "The Prophet". Clark once declared: "It is natural to be proud of your race and your country", and in a departmental meeting, allegedly referred to Africa as " Bongo Bongo Land ". When called to account, however, Clark denied

1440-552: The 1960s, including Barbarossa in 1965 examining the Operation Barbarossa offensive of the Second World War ; he also tried his hand at novel writing, but none of the subsequent books were as commercially successful or drew the same attention as The Donkeys had achieved, and he abandoned the path of military history in the mid-1970s to pursue a professional career in national politics. Clark's first foray into politics

1500-675: The Clarks moved their son to a safer location at Cheltenham College Junior School. From there he went to Eton in January 1942. In February 1946 while at Eton he joined the Territorial training regiment of the Household Cavalry based at Windsor , but was discharged in August when he had left Eton. He then went to Christ Church, Oxford , where he read Modern History under Hugh Trevor-Roper , obtaining

1560-457: The Shadow Cabinet), Clark was never promoted to the cabinet, remaining in mid-ranking ministerial positions during the 1980s. Clark received his first ministerial posting as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Employment in 1983, where he was responsible for moving the approval of regulations relating to equal pay in the House of Commons. His speech in 1983 followed

1620-528: The United Kingdom in 1991. He was the author of several books of military history, including his controversial work The Donkeys (1961), which inspired the musical satire Oh, What a Lovely War! Clark became known for his flamboyance, wit, irreverence and keen support of animal rights . Norman Lamont called him "the most politically incorrect , outspoken, iconoclastic and reckless politician of our times". His three-volume Alan Clark Diaries contains

1680-526: The United States in 1952 with the name of the school changed to "Crossgates", but not in the United Kingdom until after the death of Mrs. Wilkes. The thrust of Orwell's criticism was directed at the system of boarding school education that sent children away from their homes when they were no more than 7 or 8 years old, and at the unreflective elitism and classism of Britain before the First World War. This

1740-471: The Wilkes and the ethos of "Character building", writing "We called the headmistress Flip and the headmaster Sambo. Flip, around whom the whole system revolved, was able, ambitious, temperamental and energetic." Connolly questioned the practice of British parents sending young children to boarding preparatory schools but concluded "Yet St [Cyprian's] where I now went was a well run and vigorous example which did me

1800-563: The Wilkeses. Cecil Beaton, who was at the school with Orwell, had a different reaction, describing the work as "Hilariously funny – but exaggerated" . Orwell's essay has been dissected in detail and its reliability questioned by Pearce. Nearly all accounts of former pupils declare that the school gave them a good start in life but views of Mrs. Wilkes vary. David Ogilvy is critical, but Alaric Jacob praises her teaching, and Foote, Rivett-Carnac, and Wright refer to her with great affection. It

1860-564: The age of six he began as a day boy at Egerton House, a preparatory school in Marylebone , and from there at the age of nine went on as a boarder to St Cyprian's School , Eastbourne . Clark was one of the seventy boys rescued when the school building was destroyed by fire in May 1939. He was relocated with the school to Midhurst . In September 1940, with the Luftwaffe threatening south-east England,

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1920-536: The architecture of and country around Saltwood Castle , his home in Kent. Clark's fascination with classic cars is also evident, as is his enthusiasm for backgammon . The Diaries were serialised into six episodes of The Alan Clark Diaries by the BBC and shown in 2004 with John Hurt and Jenny Agutter . In 1958, Clark, aged 30, married 16-year-old (Caroline) Jane, daughter of Colonel Leslie Brindley Bream Beuttler OBE of

1980-402: The authors would do little to rehabilitate the reputations of, for instance, the senior commanders on The Somme . The historian Peter Simkins complained that it was frustratingly difficult to counter Clark's prevailing view. Professor Richard Holmes made a similar complaint, writing that "Alan Clark's The Donkeys , for all its verve and amusing narrative, added a streak of pure deception to

2040-695: The comment had any racist overtones, claiming it had simply been a reference to the president of Gabon , Omar Bongo . Clark argued that the media and the government failed to pick out the racism towards white people and ignored any racist attacks on white people. He also, however, described the National Front chairman, John Tyndall , as "a bit of a blockhead" and disavowed his ideas. On his death in 1999, figures from all sides of politics paid tribute to Clark, though his critics remained. Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke of Clark as "extraordinary, amusing, irreverent, but with real conviction and belief, and behind

2100-527: The free vote on the Common Market and Clark, praising Enoch Powell 's speech, voted against. The next day he told the socialist MP Dennis Skinner that "I'd rather live in a socialist Britain than one ruled by a lot of foreigners." Although he was personally liked by Margaret Thatcher , for whom he had great admiration, and the columnist George Hutchinson (who, writing in The Times , tipped him for inclusion in

2160-467: The group on a number of occasions, and Aitken claims she said to him whilst attending a meeting, "We must have an ideology; the other side have got an ideology they can test their policies against. We must have one as well." The CPG disbanded during the John Major years. The Group was restarted in 2013 by Professor Roger Scruton with the assistance of Rodney Leach and other academics in partnership with

2220-535: The headlines, kind and thoughtful." And the Liberal Democrat, Simon Hughes , described him as "courageous, idiosyncratic, talented and principled. However, journalist Dominic Lawson criticised Clark as "sleazy, vindictive, greedy, callous and cruel", while Ion Trewin (subsequently his biographer) referred to Clark as "wonderful". Clark was a passionate supporter of animal rights , joining activists in demonstrations at Dover against live export , and outside

2280-412: The hope that they would attain these scholarships. Two further features distinguished St Cyprian's. The first was the proximity to South Downs , which was fully exploited to give opportunities to the boys for running wild, studying natural history, walking, picnics, riding and even golf on the adjacent links. The second was the overwhelming impact of Mrs Wilkes (known as "Mum"). She was in total control of

2340-535: The house in Summerdown Road which was connected with the school and which was Mrs Wilkes's residence in later years. The school was attended, among others, by: The school's three most prominent writers included accounts of the school in their works. Connolly recalled his time at St Cyprian's in Enemies of Promise , published in 1938 with the name of the school disguised as "St. Wulfric's". With wry humour, he mocked

2400-523: The issue of export licences to Iraq , the Matrix-Churchill affair. In 1989, he became Minister for Defence Procurement at the Ministry of Defence . When Clark was Minister for Trade, responsible for overseeing arms sales to foreign governments, he was interviewed by journalist John Pilger who asked him: Clark left Parliament in 1992 following Margaret Thatcher's fall from power. His admission during

2460-665: The most arrogant and least respectable writer on the War, but the impartiality of this view may have been overshadowed by the fact that Anglesey's own history of the British Cavalry had been reviewed by Clark with the comments "cavalry are nearly always a disaster, a waste of space and resources." Graham Stewart, Clark's researcher for a later political history that he would write entitled The Tories , noted: "Alan wasn't beyond quoting people selectively to make them look bad". Clark went on to publish several more works of military history through

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2520-586: The motoring press before he went on to read for the bar . He was called to the bar in 1955 but did not practise law. Instead, he began privately studying military history with a view to professional writing on the topic. Clark's first book, The Donkeys (1961), was a revisionist history of the British Expeditionary Force 's (BEF) campaigns at the beginning of the First World War . The book covers Western Front operations during 1915, including

2580-704: The offensives at Neuve Chapelle , Aubers Ridge and Loos , and ending with the enforced resignation of Sir John French as commander-in-chief of the BEF, and his replacement by Douglas Haig . Clark describes the battle scenes, and criticises the actions of several of the generals involved in the heavy loss of life that occurred. Much of the book is based on the political manoeuvres behind the scenes as commanders jostled for influence, and John French's difficulties dealing with his French allies and with Lord Kitchener . Haig's own diaries are used to demonstrate how Haig positioned himself to take over command. The publication sold well, and

2640-611: The organisers of the Conservative Renewal Conferences in Windsor, George Bathurst and Richard Hyslop. It meets in the home of Lord Flight and other locations in Westminster. [REDACTED] Conservatism portal This article related to the politics of the United Kingdom , or its predecessor or constituent states, is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an organisation in

2700-572: The period 1983 to 1992 were published after he left the House of Commons , deciding not to seek re-election to his Plymouth Sutton seat. Published in 1993 and known simply as Diaries (although later subtitled In Power ), they have been recognised as a definitive account of the downfall of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . They caused a minor embarrassment at the time with their descriptions of senior Conservative politicians such as Michael Heseltine , Douglas Hurd , and Kenneth Clarke . He quoted Michael Jopling – referring to Heseltine, deputy PM at

2760-539: The point of collapse." Orwell attacked the presence of "nouveaux riches" and aristocrats at the school, who he thought received preferential treatment. In contrast, Gavin Maxwell's parents had chosen the school because it was less elitist and aristocratic than older prep schools. Maxwell found the school tough, but left primarily because he felt he was the target of resentment because of his aristocratic parents with their Scottish estates. Longhurst, who had great admiration for

2820-533: The school and for Mrs. Wilkes, described these authors' accounts of the school as unrecognizable, and would frequently defend "a very fine school" in response to reviewers of Orwell's work. His views were shared by W J L Christie, Indian Civil Service, who wrote a riposte to Orwell in defence of the school in Blackwood's Magazine (owned and edited by Douglas Blackwood). Both were particularly incensed by what in their opinion were totally inaccurate accusations against

2880-606: The school and in the days before female emancipation this made a great impression on her charges. The resulting ambivalence was exacerbated by a fiery temper and by the way her mood flipped between firm discipline and generous indulgence. Mrs Wilkes was a great believer in history teaching and saw the Harrow History Prize as an opportunity to bring it into the classics-dominated curriculum. Mrs Wilkes also taught English, and stimulated generations of writers with her emphasis on clear, high quality writing. In addition to Mrs Wilkes,

2940-412: The time of Thomas Arnold of Rugby , and placed much emphasis on developing self-reliance and integrity ("Character"). In these and many other respects St Cyprian's was little different from the other leading prep schools of the time. The school submitted itself annually to an independent academic assessment, conducted by Sir Charles Grant Robertson fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. The school uniform

3000-464: The time – as saying "The trouble with Michael is that he had to buy all his furniture" and judged it "Snobby, but cutting". Two subsequent volumes of his diaries cover the earlier and later parts of Clark's parliamentary career. The diaries reveal recurring worries about Japanese militarism but his real views are often not clear because he enjoyed making "tongue in cheek" remarks to the discomfiture of those he believed to be fools, as in his sympathy for

3060-430: The work to Winston Churchill , and The Times printed a positive review. However, John Terraine and A. J. P. Taylor wrote damning reviews and historian Michael Howard wrote "As history, it is worthless", criticising its "slovenly scholarship". Howard nonetheless commended its readability and noted that descriptions of battles and battlefields are "sometimes masterly". Field Marshal Montgomery later told Clark it

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3120-448: The work. Clark's choice of subject was strongly influenced by Lord Lee of Fareham , a family friend who had never forgotten what he saw as the shambles of the BEF. In developing his work, Clark became close friends with historian Basil Liddell Hart , who acted as his mentor. Liddell Hart read the drafts and was concerned by Clark's "intermittent carelessness". He produced several lists of corrections, which were incorporated, and wrote "It

3180-468: The writings of the First World War . Its title is based on 'Lions led by Donkeys'. Sadly for historical accuracy, there is no evidence whatever for this; none. Not a jot or scintilla. The real problem is that such histories have sold well and continue to do so. They reinforce historical myth by delivering to the reader exactly what they expect to read". Clark's work was described as "contemptible" by Henry Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey who regarded Clark as

3240-493: Was "A Dreadful Tale: You have done a good job in exposing the total failure of the generalship". In more recent years, the work has been criticised by some historians for being one-sided in its treatment of World War One generals. Brian Bond , in editing a 1991 collection of essays on First World War history, expressed the collective desire of the authors to move beyond "popular stereotypes of The Donkeys " while also acknowledging that serious leadership mistakes were made and that

3300-477: Was a green shirt with a pale blue collar, corduroy breeches and a cap with a Maltese Cross for a badge. The high success rate in achieving scholarships to leading public schools including Eton and Harrow attracted ambitious parents. However, the Wilkeses appreciated that public school scholarships were really intended for talented children from less well-off families, and so they provided places at St Cyprian's at significantly reduced fees for deserving cases, in

3360-469: Was founded in 1899 by Lewis Vaughan Wilkes and his wife Cicely Comyn, a newly married couple in their twenties. It originally operated in a large house in Carlisle Road, but by 1906 had grown sufficiently to move into new purpose-built facilities with extensive playing fields behind Summerdown Road. The school ran with the prevailing ethos of Muscular Christianity which had typified private education since

3420-641: Was on the issue of the Common Market , which he opposed. With those beliefs, he joined the Conservative Monday Club in 1968, and was soon chairman of its Wiltshire branch. In 1971 he was blacklisted by Conservative Party Central Office for being too right-wing, but after representations by him, and others, he was removed from the blacklist. He unsuccessfully sought the Conservative selection for Weston super-Mare in 1970, missing out to Jerry Wiggin . He subsequently became MP for Plymouth Sutton at

3480-568: Was published in September 2009. St Cyprian%27s School St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne , East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations (usually taken around the age of 13) to gain admission to leading public schools , and to provide an introduction to boarding school life. St Cyprian's

3540-459: Was still a member of the Monday Club in May 1975. It is unclear when he let his membership of the club lapse, but possibly it was upon becoming a government minister. He continued to address Club events until 1992. During the subsequent Party leadership contest he was urged by Airey Neave to vote for Margaret Thatcher, but he is thought to have favoured Willie Whitelaw . The following year came

3600-532: Was unable to find the origin of the expression. He prefaced the book with a supposed dialogue between two generals and attributed the dialogue to the memoirs of German general Erich von Falkenhayn . Clark was equivocal about the source for the dialogue for many years, but in 2007, his friend Euan Graham recalled a conversation in the mid-1960s when Clark, on being challenged as to the dialogue's provenance, looked sheepish and said, "Well I invented it." This supposed invention emboldened critics of The Donkeys to condemn

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