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Something Of The Night About Him
The phrase "something of the night about him" was a comment by UK Conservative Party politician Ann Widdecombe on her colleague Michael Howard in 1997. The two had previously worked together at the Home Office in John Major's second administration, where he was Home Secretary and she was Prisons Minister. However, their relationship broke down in 1995 when Widdecombe accused Howard of mistreating the Director General of HM Prison Service, Derek Lewis. Two years later, following the Conservative Party's losses at the 1997 General Election, when Howard stood for leader of the party, Widdecombe made a speech in parliament. Using the phrase to illustrate, in her view, Howard's worst personality traits, it caught the popular imagination and has been credited as contributing to Howard's failure to win. Since then, the phrase has been reused and adapted—not least by Howard himself—for other circumstances, and has been considered by academics from a philosophical, historical and ling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. The party sits on the Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing of the Left–right political spectrum, left-right political spectrum. Following its defeat by Labour at the 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 general election it is currently the second-largest party by the number of votes cast and number of seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons; as such it has the formal parliamentary role of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition. It encompasses various ideological factions including One-nation conservatism, one-nation conservatives, Thatcherism, Thatcherites and Traditionalist conservatism, traditionalist conservatives. There have been 20 Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks) in North Yorkshire from 1989 to 2015. He was in the Cameron government as First Secretary of State from 2010 to 2015, Foreign Secretary from 2010 to 2014, and Leader of the House of Commons from 2014 to 2015. He has been Chancellor of the University of Oxford since February 2025. Hague was educated at Wath-upon-Dearne Comprehensive School, the University of Oxford and INSEAD, subsequently being elected to the House of Commons at a by-election in 1989. Hague quickly rose through the ranks of the government of John Major and was appointed to Cabinet in 1995 as Secretary of State for Wales. Following the Conservatives' defeat at the 1997 general election by the Labour Party, he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lobby
The terms the Lobby and Lobby journalists collectively characterise the political journalists in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament. The term derives from the special access they receive to the Members' Lobby. Lobby journalism refers to the news coverage, largely unattributed, generated by reporters from the political proceedings in Parliament. History In the 1870s a list was drawn up of parliamentary reporters who were permitted to mingle with MPs in the Members' Lobby. According to the parliamentary press gallery this had become necessary after the speaker Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington had stopped members of the public wandering into the Members’ Lobby. Only people, including reporters, on the list kept by the Serjeant at Arms would be given access. During the 20th century the nature of the Lobby evolved, from a secretive system whose existence was barely acknowledged, to a more or less formal briefing system, though still unattributable. During the govern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radio Four
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. Since 2019, the station controller has been Mohit Bakaya. He replaced Gwyneth Williams, who had been the station controller since 2010. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM broadcast band, FM, Longwave, LW and Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview (UK), Freeview, Freesat, Sky (UK & Ireland), Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it List of most-listened-to radio programs#Top stations in the United Kingdom, the UK's second most-popular radio station after BBC Radio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permanent Secretary
A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil service chief executives of government departments or ministries, who generally hold their position for a number of years (thus "permanent") at a ministry as distinct from the changing political secretaries of state to whom they report and provide advice. The role originated in the Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil service of the United Kingdom and has been adopted in several Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries as well as other countries influenced by the Westminster system. Country Australia In Australia, the position is called the "department secretary", “secretary of the department”, or “director-general of the department” in some states and territories. Canada In Canada, the senio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Crick
Michael Lawrence Crick (born 21 May 1958) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He was a founding member of the ''Channel 4 News'' team in 1982 and remained there until joining the BBC in 1990.Ian Burrell"Michael Crick: 'Cuts are hurting Newsnight. The BBC lacks can-do spirit'" ''The Independent'', 19 September 2011. Retrieved on 24 September 2011. He started work on the BBC's ''Newsnight'' programme in 1992, serving as political editor from 2007 until his departure from the BBC in 2011. Crick then returned to ''Channel 4 News'' as political correspondent. In 2014 he was chosen as Specialist Journalist of the Year at the Royal Television Society television journalism awards. Early life Crick was born in Northampton, the eldest child of teachers John Crick and Patricia Wright, and brother to triplets Catherine, Anne and Beatrice. He was educated at the Manchester Grammar School (then a direct grant grammar school) and in 1975 was a member of the winning school team in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Misleading The House
The misleading of parliament is the knowing presentation of false information to parliament, a very serious charge in Westminster system parliamentary assemblies. By convention, government ministers who are found to have misled parliament will generally lose their ministerial portfolio. For example, the Scottish Ministerial Code requires ministers to resign if they mislead the Scottish Parliament. For witnesses giving testimony to an Australian parliamentary committee, giving misleading evidence can be considered a contempt of parliament. Notable instances Australia * Motorola affair: John Olsen, Premier of South Australia, was forced to resign after misleading parliament. United Kingdom In 1994 the UK parliament's Treasury & Civil Service Committee noted that "the knowledge that ministers and civil servants may evade questions and put the best gloss on the facts but will not lie or knowingly mislead the House of Commons is one of the most powerful tools MPs have in holding the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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. The leader of the majority party in the House of Commons by convention becomes the prime minister. Other parliaments have also had a lower house called the "House of Commons". History and naming The House of Commons of England, House of Commons of the Kingdom of England evolved from an undivided parliament to serve as the voice of the tax-paying subjects of the Ceremonial counties of England, counties and the borough constituency, boroughs. Knight of the shire, Knights of the shire, elected from each county, were usually landowners, while the borough members were often from the merchant classes. These members represented subjects of the Crown who were not Lords Temporal or Spiritual, who themselves sat in the House of Lords. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Davis (British Politician)
Sir David Michael Davis (born 23 December 1948) is an English Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Goole and Pocklington. He was previously the MP for Haltemprice and Howden and, before that, for Boothferry (UK Parliament constituency), Boothferry, where he was first elected in 1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987. He served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2003 to 2008 and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2016 to 2018. Davis was sworn of the Privy Council (United Kingdom), Privy Council in the 1997 New Year Honours, while serving as Minister of State for Europe, a role he held from 1994 to 1997. Brought up on the Aboyne Estate, a council estate in Tooting, List of sub regions used in the London Plan, south-west London, he attended Bec Grammar School. Later he earned an MBA from London Business School and worked for Tate & Lyle. Having entered Parliamen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Maude
Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude, Baron Maude of Horsham, (born 4 July 1953) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2010 to 2015. He also served in several posts while the Conservatives were in opposition, notably as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Chairman of the Conservative Party. Maude was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for North Warwickshire (UK Parliament constituency), North Warwickshire from 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 to 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 and then for Horsham (UK Parliament constituency), Horsham from 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 to 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015. Having served over 25 years on the frontbench in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, he stepped down at the 2015 general election and became a life peer. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backbencher
In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson in the Parliamentary opposition, Opposition, being instead simply a member of the "wikt:rank and file, rank and file". The term dates from 1855. The term derives from the fact that they sit physically behind the frontbench in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. A backbencher may be a new parliamentary member yet to receive a high office, a senior figure dropped from government, someone who for whatever reason is not chosen to sit in the government or an opposition spokesperson (such as a shadow cabinet if one exists), or someone who prefers to be a background influence, not in the spotlight. In most parliamentary systems, individual backbenchers have little power to affect government policy. However, they play a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Redwood
Sir John Alan Redwood (born 15 June 1951) is a British politician and academic who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wokingham in Berkshire from 1987 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Secretary of State for Wales in the Major government and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party in the 1990s. Redwood subsequently served in the Shadow Cabinets of William Hague and Michael Howard; he remained a backbencher from then on. On 24 May 2024, Redwood announced that he would stand down as MP for Wokingham and not seek re-election in the 2024 general election. Prior to becoming an MP, Redwood completed a doctorate at All Souls College, Oxford and served as Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit under Margaret Thatcher. He is a veteran Eurosceptic who was described in 1993 as a "pragmatic Thatcherite". He was the co-chairman of the Conservative Party's Policy Review Group on Economic Competitiveness until 2010. He has th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
