Sir Colin Reith Coote,
DSO (19 October 1893 – 8 June 1979) was a British journalist and
Liberal politician. For fourteen years he was the editor of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
''.
Biography
He was born in
Fenstanton
Fenstanton is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, south of St Ives in Huntingdonshire, a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and historic county. Fenstanton lies on the south side of the River Ouse.
Known as ' ...
,
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The p ...
. He was the son of Howard Browning Coote of Stukeley Hall, later
Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire
This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire.
Huntingdonshire became part of Huntingdon and Peterborough in 1965; see Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdon and Peterborough. From 1672 until 1965, all Lords Lieutenant were also ...
, and Jean Coote (née Gray) of
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...
.
He was educated at
Rugby School
Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
and
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...
, graduating in 1914.
On the outbreak of the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
, he obtained a commission in the Gloucestershire Regiment
The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...
.[ He served in ]France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
and Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, and was forced to return to the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, having been wounded and gassed. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typi ...
in 1918.[
In November 1917, the sitting Liberal ]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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
for Wisbech
Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and only 5 miles (8& ...
, Neil James Archibald Primrose
Neil James Archibald Primrose (14 December 1882 – 15 November 1917) was a British Liberal politician and soldier. The second son of Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, he represented Wisbech in parliament from 1910 to 1917 and served as Under-Secr ...
, was killed in action. Coote was chosen as the Liberal candidate for the seat, and, due to a war-time pact between the two parties, was also nominated by the local Conservative and Unionist Association. He was returned unopposed to 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. ...
on 14 December 1917.[
A ]general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
was held in 1918. Constituencies were completely reorganised by the Representation of the People Act 1918
The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, als ...
, and the Wisbech seat became part of the new Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county.
Etymology
Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures tha ...
division. Coote was elected as MP for the Isle of Ely, again unopposed.[
At the subsequent general election in 1922 his differences with the Conservatives saw them running a candidate against him. Coote, running as a National Liberal, was defeated by Colonel Norman Coates. With hindsight, Coote described his defeat as the "crowning mercy" of his career, as it allowed him to pursue journalism.][
Whilst a Member of Parliament, Coote had gained a reputation as a freelance writer. On leaving the Commons, he was appointed Rome correspondent of '']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'' ...
''.[ His period in Italy saw him covering the rise of Italian Fascism under ]Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...
.[ Returning to the UK in 1926, he spent three years as a parliamentary reporter before becoming a leader writer.][
By the time of the ]Munich Crisis
The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
, Coote found himself opposed to the newspaper's support of appeasement
Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governme ...
, and refused to write leaders supporting the policy.[ He finally left ''The Times'' in 1942 on the resignation of Geoffrey Dawson as editor, and took up a post with ''The Daily Telegraph''.][ He became deputy editor of the ''Telegraph'' in 1945, and succeeded Arthur Watson as editor in 1950.][ He held the post until 1964, with his Liberal tendencies balancing the otherwise Conservative views of the paper.][ In 1961, Coote introduced osteopath Stephen Ward to Soviet diplomat Eugene Ivanov, a meeting that would lead to the ]Profumo affair
The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler b ...
. He was knighted in 1962.
Coote died at his London home on 8 June 1979, aged 85.[
]
Family
Coote married three times. In 1916, he married Marguerite Doris Wellstead, of Hessle
Hessle () is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of ...
, East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...
and they had two daughters before divorcing in 1925. He subsequently married Denise Dethoor, of Doulieu, France. She died in 1945, and he married Amalie Lewkowitz in the following year.[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coote, Colin Reeth
1893 births
1979 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
British male journalists
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Knights Bachelor
People educated at Rugby School
The Times people
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1910–1918
UK MPs 1918–1922
Gloucestershire Regiment officers
British newspaper editors
British Army personnel of World War I
People from Fenstanton
National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians
The Daily Telegraph people
20th-century English businesspeople