Peter John Hennessy, Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield, (born 28 March 1947) is an English historian and academic specialising in the history of government. Since 1992, he has been Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

Early life

Hennessy was born in Edmonton, north London, the youngest child of William G. Hennessy by his marriage to Edith (Wood-Johnson) Hennessy. He comes from a large

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family of Irish provenance. He was brought up in large houses, requisitioned by the council, first in Allandale Avenue and then in Lyndhurst Gardens, Finchley, north London. He attended the nearby Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, and on Sundays he went to St Mary Magdalene Church, where he was an altar boy. He was a subject of the first episode of the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

series '' The House I Grew Up In'', first broadcast on 6 August 2007, in which he talked about his childhood. Hennessy was educated at St Benedict's School, an independent school in Ealing, West London. When his father's job led the family to move to the Cotswolds, he attended

Marling School Marling School is a grammar school with academy status for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form located in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. It is on the Cainscross Road, the main route out of Stroud towards the M5, and is situated next to the ...

, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Stroud, Gloucestershire. He went on to study at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a BA in 1969 and a PhD in 1990. Hennessy was a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

from 1971 to 1972.

Career

Journalism

Hennessy was a journalist for the ''Times Higher Education Supplement'' from 1972 to 1974. From 1974 to 1982, he wrote leaders for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', for which he was also the Whitehall correspondent. He was ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' lobby correspondent at Westminster in 1976. In June 1977, Hennessy accused Donald Beves of being the "fourth man" in the Cambridge Spy Ring (then-known participants were Philby, Burgess, and Maclean), but

Geoffrey Grigson Geoffrey Edward Harvey Grigson (2 March 1905 – 25 November 1985) was a British poet, writer, editor, critic, exhibition curator, anthologist and naturalist. In the 1930s he was editor of the influential magazine ''New Verse'', and went on to p ...

and others quickly leapt to the defense of Beves, considering him uninterested in politics. Hennessy wrote for ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' in 1982. He was a regular presenter of ''

Analysis Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (3 ...

'' on

from 1987 to 1992. On 17 November 2005, he made a trenchant appearance alongside Lord Wilson of Dinton before the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

Public Administration Select Committee on the publication of political memoirs. In July and August 2013 he was the interviewer for

's ''Reflections'', a series of four biographical interview programmes featuring

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, (' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in the Labour cabinet from ...

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

, Norman Tebbit and

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

. Hennessy continues to present the programme. On 17 April 2022, he was interviewed by

's ''Broadcasting House''. On the subject of the Metropolitan Police fines issued to

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

for lockdown breaches during the

Partygate Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about parties and other gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gather ...

scandal, he said "I think we're in the most severe constitutional crisis involving a prime minister that I can remember".

Academic career

Hennessy co-founded the Institute of Contemporary British History in 1986. From 1992 to 2000, he was professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. From 1994 to 1997, he gave public lectures as Professor of Rhetoric at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...

, London. From 2001, he has been Attlee professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary, University of London. His analysis of post-war Britain, ''Never Again: Britain 1945–1951'', won the

Duff Cooper Prize The Duff Cooper Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of history, biography, political science or occasionally poetry, published in English or French. The prize was established in honour of Duff Cooper, a British diplomat, Ca ...

in 1992 and the NCR Book Award in 1993. His study of Britain in the 1950s and the rise of Harold Macmillan, ''Having It So Good: Britain in the 1950s'', won the 2007

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...

for political writing.

Elevation to the peerage

Official portrait of Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield

On 5 October 2010 the

House of Lords Appointments Commission The House of Lords Appointments Commission is an independent advisory non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It has two roles: *to recommend at least two people a year for appointment as non-party-political life peers who sit on the ...

said Hennessy was to be a non-political

crossbench A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

peer. He was created a life peer on 8 November 2010, taking the title Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield, of

Nympsfield Nympsfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is located around four miles south-west of the town of Stroud. As well as Nympsfield village, the parish contains the hamlet of Cockadilly. The population take ...

in the County of Gloucestershire. He was introduced to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

on 25 November. "I'm terribly pleased and honoured," Hennessy said at hearing the news. "I hope I can help the House of Lords a bit on constitutional matters. I'll certainly give it my best shot." In August 2014, Lord Hennessy was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

. Hennessy is married with two daughters.

Bibliography

Hennessy is the author of the following: *''Cabinet'' (1986) Blackwell *''Whitehall'' (1989) Pimlico *:Revised and extended in 2001. *''Never Again: Britain 1945–51'' (1992) Penguin *:Revised and updated in 2006. *''Pathways to the Pigeon Hole?: The Effectiveness of Official Inquiries'' (1993) University of Strathclyde *''The Hidden Wiring: Unearthing the British Constitution'' (1995) Gollancz *''Ready, Steady, Go!: New Labour and Whitehall'' (1997) Fabian Society *''The Blair Centre: A Question of Command and Control?'' (1999) Public Management Foundation *''The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders since 1945'' (2001) St. Martin's Press *''The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War'' (2002) Penguin *:Republished and extended in 2010, see below. *''Rulers and Servants of the State: The Blair Style of Government, 1997-2004'' (2004) Office for Public Management *''Having It So Good: Britain in the Fifties'' (2006) *''Cabinets and the Bomb'' (2007) Oxford University Press *''The New Protective State: Government, Intelligence and Terrorism'' (2007) Continuum *''The Secret State: Preparing For The Worst 1945–2010'' (2010) Penguin *''Distilling the Frenzy: Writing the History of One's Own Times'' (2012) *''Establishment and Meritocracy'' (2014) Haus Publishing *''Kingdom to Come: Thoughts on the Union Before and After the Scottish Referendum'' (2015) Haus Publishing *''Reflections: Conversations with Politicians'' (2016) Haus Publishing *:Expanded and reissued in 2020, see below. *''The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service Since 1945'' (2015) with James Jinks Penguin *''Winds of Change: Britain in the Sixties'' (2019) Allen Lane *''The Complete Reflections: Conversations with Politicians'' (2020) Haus Publishing *''A Duty of Care: Britain Before and After Corona'' (2022) Penguin *''The Bonfire of the Decencies: Repairing and Restoring the British Constitution'' (2022) Haus Publishing

References

Sources

'Corrected Oral Transcript of Oral Evidence presented to the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee on the publication of political memoirs on 17 November 2005 by Lord Wilson of Dinton and Professor Peter Hennessy'
7 December 2005. Retrieved 31 December 2005

External links

Archives of Peter Hennessy held by Queen Mary, University of London Archives

House of Lords official page

''Guardian'' March 2004
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hennessy, Peter 1947 births Living people English male journalists English historians English people of Irish descent English Roman Catholics Fellows of the British Academy Harvard University alumni Kennedy Scholarships People from Finchley Academics of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge The Times people People educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing Crossbench life peers Professors of Gresham College People educated at Marling School Historians of the United Kingdom English constitutionalists English male non-fiction writers Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics People's peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II