Sir Peter Michael Kirk, (18 May 1928 – 17 April 1977) was a British writer, broadcaster,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician, minister in the governments of Alec Douglas-Home and

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

, and leading European Parliamentarian.

Early life

The elder son and fourth child of Kenneth Escott Kirk (

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his elect ...

1937 - 1954), he was educated at Marlborough and at

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

, where he obtained an MA in modern history having first studied languages (including a period at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

studying

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

). He attended the congress in

the Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

in 1948 from which the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History The origins of th ...

sprang, and was President of the

Oxford Union Society The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

in 1949.

Career

In the early 1950s he was diplomatic correspondent on the Kemsley Newspapers (part of Ian Fleming's Mercury News Service), and after his election to Parliament he continued to write freelance with regular contributions to (amongst others) the

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

, Truth, the National and English Review, Blackwood's, the Spectator, the Berkshire Chronicle, the

Trenton Times ''The Times'' is a daily newspaper owned by Advance Publications that serves Trenton and the Mercer County, New Jersey area, with a strong focus on the government of New Jersey. The paper had a daily circulation of 77,405, with Sunday circulati ...

(USA), and from 1961 German press and television. He made documentary films for J. Arthur Rank and frequently broadcast on British radio and television. At the 1955 general election, he was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Gravesend, defeating outgoing MP Sir

Richard Acland Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet (26 November 1906 – 24 November 1990) was one of the founding members of the British Common Wealth Party in 1942, having previously been a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP). He joined the Labour P ...

, who had left the Labour Party to stand as an independent candidate. Kirk was re-elected in Gravesend at the 1959 election, but lost his seat at the 1964 general election to Labour's Albert Murray. In February 1965, the former Conservative Chancellor and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

was elevated to the peerage and thereby gave up his parliamentary seat in

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

. Kirk was the successful candidate at the March 1965 by-election, and retained the seat until his death. Under Alec Douglas-Home's premiership, Kirk was

Under-Secretary of State for War The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State fo ...

from 1963 to 1964. When the Conservatives regained power in 1970,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

appointed him as Under-Secretary for

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

from 1970 to 1973, during which time he visited every British naval establishment both at home and abroad. He led the first Tory delegation to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in 1973, a mixed team of peers and MPs who retained their Parliamentary seats and workload on a dual mandate. Kirk's main interests were in foreign affairs and defence, being a British Parliamentary representative on the Council of Europe from 1956 - 1963 and again from 1966 - 1970. He also served on the British-American Parliamentary delegation and various committees of the

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

. Having been too young to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(although greatly affected by it), he heard

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's call for a United States of Europe in September 1946, and devoted much of his career to bringing this about. He was opposed to the British intervention in Suez in 1956, but a strong supporter of Britain's entry into the then

Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

in 1973,and a leading campaigner to keep the country there in the 1975 referendum. A fluent German and French speaker, he particularly admired the way that the Germans had reconstructed their country and developed a peaceful, stable and well-run political system in the aftermath of 1945. At home he campaigned vigorously for the abolition of the death penalty. He detested dictatorships of any kind and greatly lamented the loss of eastern Europe to communism; he was a firm believer that Europe's destiny included the communist states of eastern Europe, although he did not live to see them included in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

or the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Kirk was knighted in 1976. He had a heart attack that same year, and died from a second heart attack on 17 April 1977, at his home in

Steeple Bumpstead Steeple Bumpstead is a village and civil parish south of Haverhill in Braintree district, Essex, England. The parish church does not have a steeple, however the Congregational Church has a small Victorian one. It is believed that the steeple ...

. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for his

seat was won by the Conservative candidate

Alan Haselhurst Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst, Baron Haselhurst, (born 23 June 1937) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017, having previously represented Middleton and Prest ...

. Th
Peter Kirk Memorial Fund
was set up in his honour, to give scholarships to young people to study modern Europe and its institutions.

Personal life

A devout Anglican, he was a delegate to the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

in 1961. His publications included One Army Strong (Faith Press, 1958) and a monograph on T.S. Eliot in Thirteen for Christ (ed. Melville Harcourt, Sheed & Ward, 1963). He was married in August 1950 to Elizabeth Mary, daughter of Richard Brockbank Graham and Gertrude née Anson. They had three sons, including

Matthew Kirk Matthew John Lushington Kirk (born 10 October 1960) is a British businessman and former diplomat. He was the British Ambassador to Finland from 22 August 2002, until he resigned from the Diplomatic Service in 2006 to take up a position as Dir ...

, who was later the British Ambassador to Finland. His interests included

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

and fell walking with his family.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Peter Michael 1928 births 1977 deaths 20th-century British journalists Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MEPs Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English Anglicans Knights Bachelor MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 People educated at Marlborough College People from Steeple Bumpstead Presidents of the Oxford Union UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979