Mary Christine Hamilton (''née'' Holman; born 10 November 1949) is an English media personality and author. She is married to
Neil Hamilton, the former
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Tatton.
Hamilton and her husband have become prominent supporters of the
UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...
(UKIP), with Neil standing for a local council seat in the
2014 local elections.
Neil Hamilton's application to become a
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...
ary candidate for UKIP was rejected in 2013, though he had been elected to UKIP's National Executive Committee in 2011.
Early life
Hamilton's father was a
GP in
Ringwood, Hampshire, and she grew up in the
New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
area. She attended
Wentworth College, an independent boarding school for girls in
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
[The Scotsman Interview 10 May 2000]
retrieved 10 May 2014 and a co-educational Grammar School in
Christchurch, Hampshire
Christchurch () is a town and civil parish on the south coast of Dorset, England. The parish had a population of 31,372 in 2021. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Part of the Historic counties of England, hist ...
. She then studied sociology at the
University of York
The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
and first met Neil Hamilton when they both attended a student political conference.
[Christine Hamilton interview at Women Talking]
. Retrieved 10 May 2014[Christine Hamilton interview at Hampshire Life]
Retrieved 10 May 2014 In 2006, they released a song coinciding with the World Cup, "England Are Jolly Dee".
Career
MP's secretary
Hamilton spent many years working as secretary to various Conservative MPs, first
Wilfred Proudfoot MP for
Brighouse and Spenborough, then
Gerald Nabarro, MP for
South Worcestershire
South Worcestershire was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
The constituency was created ...
.
She stood behind Nabarro as he spoke on the steps of Winchester Court after being cleared on appeal of a motoring offence.
Hamilton worked as her husband's secretary following their 1983 marriage. Neil Hamilton eventually reached the post of Minister for Corporate Affairs between 1992 and 1994 in Prime Minister
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...
's
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
. Neil Hamilton became embroiled in the
Cash-for-questions affair, and the former BBC broadcaster
Martin Bell
Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war Journalist, reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Ta ...
stood against him for the
Tatton seat at the
1997 general election. Bell campaigned as an ‘anti-sleaze’ candidate, and Christine Hamilton confronted him during a televised press conference on Knutsford Heath, which brought her to public prominence.
Hamilton later described the confrontation with Bell as "...the making of me."
The journalist
John Sweeney later published ''Purple Homicide'', an account of the campaign for the Tatton seat.
Neil Hamilton's later failure in a libel case against the Egyptian businessman,
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (; 27 January 192930 August 2023) was an Egyptian businessman whose residence and primary business interests were in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. His business interests included ownership of the Hôtel R ...
, would lead to her husband's bankruptcy. Their home in
Nether Alderley, Cheshire was sold to the market for £1.25 million.
Entertainment personality
After Hamilton's electoral defeat, Christine and her husband appeared together on the satirical BBC quiz show ''
Have I Got News for You
''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990.
The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...
'', on 9 May 1997, an appearance that established her as a chat-show personality and she subsequently appeared on programmes including her own ''Christine Hamilton Show'' on
BBC Choice
BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first United Kingdom, British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in Digital television, digital format, as well as t ...
where she interviewed celebrities who suffered some form of adversity, including
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving until 1997), and wa ...
,
James Hewitt,
Bernard Manning
Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner. He gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and '' The Wheeltappers and Shun ...
,
Ivana Trump,
Paul Merson
Paul Charles Merson (born 20 March 1968) is an English former professional footballer, manager, commentator and sports television pundit for Sky Sports.
Originally a forward, Merson found success as an attacking midfielder and playmaker late ...
and
John Fashanu
John Winton Fashanu (born 18 September 1962) is an English television presenter and former professional footballer.
As a footballer he was a centre-forward from 1978 until 1995, most notably in an eight-year spell at Wimbledon in which he won ...
. The Hamiltons were the subjects of an episode of
Louis Theroux's 2001 documentary series ''
When Louis Met...''.
Hamilton has described herself as a "media butterfly"
and has appeared on a variety of television shows since her husband's electoral defeat. Hamilton came third in the
first series
First most commonly refers to:
* First, the ordinal form of the number 1
First or 1st may also refer to:
Acronyms
* Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array
* Far Infrared a ...
of the reality television programme, ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' in 2002,
and reached the final of ''
Celebrity Masterchef'' in 2010.
Hamilton appeared on ''
Have I Got News for You
''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990.
The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...
'' in 2002 and taunted presenter
Angus Deayton
Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster.
Deayton was the original presenter of two successful British comedy panel shows, ''Have I Got News for You'' (1990–2002) and ''Woul ...
over recent tabloid revelations about his personal life.
In the theatre, Hamilton has appeared in
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
in ''
Jack and the Beanstalk
"Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale with ancient origins. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition :File:Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, 4th edn, 1734.pdf, On C ...
'' at the
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre,
Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
in 2002,
as the
Fairy Godmother in ''
Cinderella
"Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
'' at the
Kettering
Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...
Lighthouse Theatre in 2011
and has taken the role of the narrator for ''
The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...
'' musical.
Hamilton toured her one-woman show, ''Share an Evening with Christine Hamilton'', in 2003,
and has appeared several times in
Eve Ensler
V, formerly Eve Ensler (; born May 25, 1953), is an American playwright, author, performer, feminist, and activist. V is best known for her play ''The Vagina Monologues''. 's play ''
The Vagina Monologues
''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run at the Westside Theatre. The play explores ...
'', including its 2005
West End run at
Wyndhams Theatre, where she appeared alongside
Jenny Eclair and
Heather Small
Heather Marguerita Small (born 20 January 1965) is an English soul music, soul singer and lead vocalist of the band M People. Her subsequent debut solo studio album, ''Proud (Heather Small album), Proud'', was released in 2000. Her second and ...
. The Hamiltons appeared at the
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...
in 2006 with their show, ''Lunch with the Hamiltons'', at the
Pleasance Dome in 2006.
Hamilton was the face of 'British Sausage Week' in 2005 and the judge of 'Mr Gay Torbay' in 2009.
Hamilton legally changed her name by
deed poll
A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party.
Etymology
Th ...
to 'Mrs British Battleaxe' in February 2009 as a promotion for an online deed service company.
She later regretted the decision.
Media commentator, presenter and writer
Hamilton has appeared on numerous topical television programmes including ''
GMTV
GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...
'', ''
Loose Women
''Loose Women'' (known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about aspects of ...
'', ''
This Week'', ''
The Alan Titchmarsh Show'', ''
This Morning'' and ''
The Wright Stuff''.
Hamilton has also been a dictionary corner guest on ''
Countdown''.
Hamilton also interviewed successful women in business for the digital channel ''Simply Money'', has presented programmes on Sky Digital's ''Destination Lunch'', and stood in for Gloria Hunniford and Fern Britton on ''
Open House'' and ''
This Morning''.
As a writer Hamilton published ''The Book of British Battleaxes'' in 1999, and an autobiography, ''For Better For Worse: Her Own Story'', in 2005.
Hamilton has also written columns for ''
Western Daily Press
The ''Western Daily Press'' is a regional newspaper covering parts of South West England, mainly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset as well as the metropolitan areas of Bath and North East Somerset and the Bristol area. It is published Mon ...
'' and the gay magazine ''Refresh''.
False allegation
Along with her husband, she was arrested in May 2001 by police investigating an alleged rape that was found to be false. Their accuser, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, was charged with attempting to
pervert the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Statu ...
, and in 2002 sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for making the false accusations.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Christine
1949 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of York
English autobiographers
English Eurosceptics
English journalists
English non-fiction writers
False allegations of sex crimes
Mass media people from Bournemouth
Right-wing populists in the United Kingdom
Spouses of British politicians
Television personalities from Hampshire
UK Independence Party people
Writers from Bournemouth