"the entire period of the next Parliament"". This alienated him from Thatcher and resulted in his being dropped from the Cabinet after the 1987 General Election. His dismissal was no surprise, in that Thatcher's press secretary Bernard Ingham had already famously called him a ""semi-detached"" member of the Cabinet. Thatcher in her memoirs described Biffen's desire for a balanced ticket as ""foolish"" and ""a recipe for paralysis."" In the month after his sacking Biffen criticised Thatcher's government as a ""Stalinist regime"". On the backbenches Biffen voted against the Local Government Finance Act 1988 which introduced the Community Charge (the poll"
"John Biffen William John Biffen, Baron Biffen, PC, DL (3 November 1930 – 14 August 2007) was a Conservative member of the House of Lords, who previously spent 36 years in the House of Commons and served in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet. The son of a tenant farmer Victor Biffen and his wife 'Tish', John Biffen was born at Combwich, a small village on the River Parrett near Bridgwater, Somerset in 1930. He was educated firstly at Otterhampton village school followed by Dr. Morgan's Grammar School, Bridgwater. He then earned a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge where he graduated with a"
"deserved a referendum on EU membership. At the time the new party was largely seen as a threat to the governing Conservative Party, which was experiencing high levels of mid-term unpopularity. In September 1995, the party began recruiting candidates to contest the next general election. Goldsmith was also able to obtain celebrity endorsements. Despite Goldsmith's longstanding criticism of the mainstream media—he had previously stated that ""reporting in England is a load of filth""—the party used its finances to promote its message in the media. It hired Ian Beaumont, who had formerly been the press officer to Thatcher's government, to work"
"tax). He voted against the Maastricht Treaty and was in favour of a referendum on the EU Constitution so he could vote ""No"". On 3 June 1997 he was created a life peer, as Baron Biffen, of Tanat in the County of Shropshire. Biffen married Sarah Wood in 1979. He had one stepson, Nicholas Wood, a correspondent with ""The New York Times"" and ""International Herald Tribune"", and a stepdaughter, Lucy. Despite his right-wing views on economic policy, he was very much to the left of Margaret Thatcher on social policy: he completely opposed capital punishment, and was very supportive of"
"some of the statements that Heseltine had made about the takeover contest of the Westland helicopter company. Brittan's claim that Ingham and Charles Powell had approved the leak of the letter led to calls from some Labour MPs for there to be a new inquiry into the Westland affair. Ingham was knighted on Thatcher's resignation – and retirement – in 1990. His successor as press secretary was Gus O'Donnell, who went on to become Cabinet secretary and head of the Civil service in 2005. Ingham's book ""Kill the Messenger"", concerning his time as press secretary, was not well received. Paul"
"Bernard Ingham Sir Bernard Ingham (born 21 June 1932) is a British journalist and former civil servant, best known as Margaret Thatcher's long-serving chief press secretary while she was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. He was knighted in Thatcher's 1990 resignation honours list. Ingham was educated at Hebden Bridge Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the ""Hebden Bridge Times"" newspaper, for whom he continued to write until 2013. He attended Bradford Technical College on day release as part of the studies required to qualify for the Certificate of Training for Junior"
"local Conservative MP Irvine Patnick. ""The Daily Express"" also carried Patnick's version, under the headline ""Police Accuse Drunken Fans"" which gave Patnick's views, saying he had told Margaret Thatcher, while escorting her on a tour of the ground after the disaster, of the ""mayhem caused by drunks"" and that policemen told him they were ""hampered, harassed, punched and kicked"". The story accompanying ""The Sun"" headlines claimed ""drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims"" and ""police officers, firemen and ambulance crew were punched, kicked and urinated upon"". A quotation, attributed to an unnamed policeman, claimed"
"Manchester and Salford, but Bernard's grandfather Henry Ingham moved to the Calder Valley and Hebden Bridge. On his maternal side, Bernard's ancestors were mostly from Hebden Bridge and Heptonstall, while his maternal grandmother Jane Vernon descended from Staffordshire coal miners. Ingham spent 11 years as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's chief press secretary in No. 10 Downing Street. In 1989–90 he was also head of the Government Information Office. In the course of his civil service career he was also press secretary to Barbara Castle, Robert Carr, Maurice Macmillan, Lord Carrington, Eric Varley and Tony Benn. Although a career civil servant,"
"the report by the independent panel investigating the disaster confirmed that ""the source for these despicable untruths was a Sheffield news agency reporting conversations with South Yorkshire Police and Irvine Patnick, the then MP for Sheffield Hallam"". Earlier, ""Sun"" editor Kelvin MacKenzie had said of his coverage: ""It was a fundamental mistake. The mistake was I believed what an MP said"". The ""Daily Express"" also carried the story, under the headline ""Police Accuse Drunken Fans"" and giving Patnick's views, saying he had told Margaret Thatcher, whilst escorting her on a tour of the grounds after the tragedy, of the ""mayhem"
"the release of confidential documents under the UK Government's 30-year rule revealed Hoskyns' thoughts regarding the Liverpool Riots. He saw little point in spending more money on Liverpool saying ""this money is likely to be money wasted"". Hoskyns was interviewed about ""Stepping Stones"" and the rise of Thatcherism for the 2006 BBC TV documentary series ""Tory! Tory! Tory!"". John Hoskyns Sir John Leigh Austin Hungerford Hoskyns (23 August 1927 – 20 October 2014) was best known as a Policy Advisor to Margaret Thatcher while head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit from May 1979 and April 1982. Prior to this"
"'Adviser on Public Relations'. Winston Churchill shunned the role, and did not appoint anyone to the role until several months into his premiership, when he hired Fife Clark. In 1997 Alastair Campbell was appointed by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. When David Cameron was elected, Gabby Bertin who had previously served as the head of press for the Conservative Party became the Downing Street Press Secretary. She was later replaced by Susie Squire in 2012. In July 2016 when Theresa May became Prime Minister, Lizzie Loudon was appointed as her Press Secretary. Following the resignation of Loudon in April 2017, Paul"
"at Lambeth Palace, and Pitcher while he was Lambeth communications director, were read out at IICSA, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, in 2018. The emails suggested ""throwing"" the then Bishop of Chichester, the Rt Revd John Hind, ""to the press as a sacrifice"", in the hope that it would distance Archbishop Rowan Williams from the abuse scandal and prevent the media from suggesting that the CofE’s abuse problem was as grave as that of the Roman Catholic Church. Pitcher insisted on social media that the Church should not see him as ""the bad boy of its communications"" and"
"""repair its damaged relationship with the Abbott government and stem criticism from News Corporation"" which attracted further commentary from opinion-writer Andrew Bolt. Butcher is from Muckleford, near Castlemainein country Victoria. His partner is American journalist, Sara James and the couple has two children. On his friendship with Rupert Murdoch, Butcher told ""Australian Story ""that he"" """"got along famously with Rupert. I was lucky enough to not be in awe of him. I found him to be very Australian."" Andrew Butcher Andrew Butcher is an Australian businessman, former spokesperson for Rupert Murdoch and a partner in corporate advisory firm and political"
"Margaret Thatcher but refused. Patten served as Secretary of State for Education from 1992 to 1994. He was interviewed at some length by Brian Sherratt in 1994 regarding his role as Secretary of State. While he was Education Secretary, Patten described Birmingham education chief Tim Brighouse as ""a madman ... wandering the streets, frightening the children."" Brighouse sued, and won substantial damages which were donated to educational charities. Patten was created a life peer as Baron Patten of Wincanton in the County of Somerset on 17 June 1997. He is married to the businesswoman Louise Patten and they have one"
"member of the government. Biffen was dropped at the next reshuffle. This blurring of the distinction between his nominally neutral role as a civil servant and a more partisan role as apologist and promoter of Margaret Thatcher's policies led the late Christopher Hitchens to characterise Ingham as ""a nugatory individual"" and to criticise what he saw as the negative consequences of Ingham's time as Thatcher's press secretary: ""During his time in office, Fleet Street took several steps towards an American system of Presidentially-managed coverage and sound-bite deference, without acquiring any of the American constitutional protection in return."" In 1987 Downing"
"freelancer to the ""Daily Mail"", her spiritual home. On 21 November 2011, at the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the British press, Hugh Grant accused Platell of a ""hatchet job"" on his recent fatherhood following an article she wrote for the ""Daily Mail"". She has recently written articles calling for greater restrictions on Internet pornography. Platell regularly reviews the Sunday newspapers on The Andrew Marr Show. Amanda Platell Amanda Jane Platell (born 12 November 1957) is an Australian journalist. Between 1999 and 2001 she was the press secretary to William Hague, the then leader of the"
"In addition, he was one of the founders of Story Productions, a media production company that still operates today. Story has written for ""The Daily Telegraph"", ""City A.M."", ""The Wall Street Journal"" and more. He is married and has four children. On 5 November 2017, the Conservative MP for Tamworth, Christopher Pincher, resigned as Assistant Whip and ""voluntarily"" referred himself to the Conservative Party's complaints procedure and the police, after Story alleged that Pincher had made an unwanted pass at him, describing him as a ""pound shop Harvey Weinstein"". Story said that he had been invited back to Pincher's flat,"
"his daughter in 1995 that he would have banned trade unions altogether in Britain. He had a low regard for the BBC, thinking it was biased against his wife and her government, as well as unpatriotic. In his most famous outburst about the corporation, he claimed his wife had been ""stitched up by bloody BBC poofs and Trots"" when she was questioned by a member of the public about the sinking of the on ""Nationwide"" in 1983. Thatcher was reported by New Zealand broadcaster and former diplomat Chris Laidlaw—at the time NZ High Commissioner to Zimbabwe—as leaning towards him during"
"racism row. Peer was on Newsnight to defend the company after it was thrown out of the leading PR trade body – but just made the whole thing worse"". The ""Daily Express""'s take was, ""Lord Bell was left red-faced after his phone rang twice while he was live on air during a Newsnight interview."". Timothy Bell, Baron Bell Timothy John Leigh Bell, Baron Bell (born 18 October 1941), is a British advertising and public relations executive, best known for his advisory role in Margaret Thatcher's three successful general election campaigns and his co-founding and 30 years of heading Bell Pottinger."
"Timothy Bell, Baron Bell Timothy John Leigh Bell, Baron Bell (born 18 October 1941), is a British advertising and public relations executive, best known for his advisory role in Margaret Thatcher's three successful general election campaigns and his co-founding and 30 years of heading Bell Pottinger. Bell was born on 18 October 1941, to Greta Mary Finlay, an Australian, and Arthur Leigh Bell, who was Irish. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Barnet, and joined ABC Television at 18 as a post boy. He worked in various advertising/PR firms in the late 60s including the London agency Geers"
"paper. The Labour Party ran a personal class-based campaign against the Conservative candidate, calling him ""the Tarporley Toff"", ""Lord Snooty"", ""Tory Boy Timpson"". Labour supporters donned top hats to mock Timpson, whose family own Timpson, a national shoe repair and key-cutting business. This has been viewed by some social commentators as a form of reverse snobbery. Dunwoody, who arrived for the campaign from her holding in Wales, was termed ""One of us"", as she was daughter of the deceased Labour MP. The campaign was criticised by a number of national newspapers, including the left-leaning ""Guardian"" as well as ""The Times"","
"replacing it with an alternative independent press regulator. David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral David James Fletcher Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral MBE PC, (born 21 May 1942), is a British Conservative politician, and was a member of the Cabinet during the Margaret Thatcher and John Major administrations, while also being appointed to serve on the Privy Council in 1990. Hunt was educated at Liverpool College, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), in Liverpool, at the time in Lancashire (and now in Merseyside), followed by the University of Bristol, where he studied Law. In 1965, representing the university, he"
"modern politics. Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Tony Blair's spokesman and campaign director (1994–1997), followed by Downing Street Press Secretary (1997–2000), for Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. He then became Director of Communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003). He resigned in August 2003 during the Hutton Inquiry into the death of David Kelly. He published his fifteenth book in 2018. He is editor at large of ""The New European"" and chief interviewer for ""GQ"" magazine. He continues to act"
"Ingham gained a reputation for being a highly effective propagandist for the Thatcherite cause. The phrase spin doctor did not enter common parlance until after his retirement, but he was nevertheless a gifted exponent in what came to be known as the ""black arts"" of spin. In those days, Downing Street briefings were ""off the record"", meaning that information given out by Ingham could be attributed only to ""senior government sources"". Occasionally he used this deniability to brief against the government's own ministers, such as when he described the leader of the House of Commons John Biffen as a ""semi-detached"""
"the Socialist Party of Great Britain's journal, ""The Socialist Standard"", and was instantly convinced. Soon after, he joined the SPGB, and served as a regular writer for the ""Standard"" and as an outdoor speaker at Speakers' Corner and Lincoln's Inn. Weidberg had a reputation for being caustic, sharp-witted, and provocative, and he harboured a particular hatred for ""The Guardian"". Besides dismissing the newspaper's overall tone as ""half-baked lefty crap"", he led an eleven-year campaign to challenge its report that snow had fallen during a Lord's cricket match on 2 June 1975. The complaint made it all the way to the"
"once a staunch Thatcherite paper—had declared their support for Labour. He moved into government when Labour won the general election in May 1997 and served as the Prime Minister's chief press secretary until 2000. In government, he implemented many radical changes to both procedure and operational management. He persuaded Cabinet Secretary Sir Robin Butler that government communications had to be modernised, and the government set up the Mountfield Review. He created a Strategic Communications Unit which gave Downing Street the power to co-ordinate all government activity, using what became known as ""the grid"" as it's main apparatus. He set up"
"elements of the Conservative press, notably the ""Daily Telegraph"", the wife of whose chairman, Lady Pamela Berry (an ambitious and sometimes spiteful society hostess, described by the biographer of her father, Lord Birkenhead, as ""the politician ""manquée"" of the second generation""), was said by some to have had a ""blood row"" (Macmillan's phrase) with Lady Avon. The latter's attempts to make up this puzzling rift were apparently shunned. As hostess at 10 Downing Street, Lady Avon oversaw the organisation of official receptions. She brought in new caterers, causing US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to lose a bet with"
"""material inaccuracies"" in Heseltine's letter, and asking Heseltine to write to Horne again, correcting them. Mayhew's letter of rebuke to Heseltine—marked ""Confidential""—reached Heseltine at lunchtime on Monday 6 January and was immediately and selectively leaked to the Press Association by Colette Bowe, chief information officer at the Department of Trade and Industry, at Brittan's request. There was controversy over whose orders Colette Bowe was following. The Attorney-General, Sir Michael Havers, took a stern view of leaks, especially of confidential legal advice, and threatened to resign if an official inquiry was not set up to look into it. Thatcher agreed to"
"included the House of Commons journalist and later Conservative Member of Parliament Jonathan Aitken, who was charged in 1971 with the ""Official Secrets Act"" for passing classified information about the Biafra war to the weekly ""The Sunday Telegraph"". Wigoder successfully argued in his plea in favour of Aitken that it was his duty ""to act in the interests of the state"". This plea has since become a basis for similar processes. Over the years he has been a constant critic of the provisions of this law, which he considered illiberal and unfair. Most recently, Wigoder appeared as a defence lawyer"
"Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Tony Blair's spokesman and campaign director (1994–1997), followed by Downing Street Press Secretary (1997–2000), for Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. He then became Director of Communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003). He resigned in August 2003 during the Hutton Inquiry into the death of David Kelly. He published his fifteenth book in 2018. He is editor at large of ""The New European"" and chief interviewer for ""GQ"" magazine. He continues to act as a"
"a number of casualties, and set up a rendezvous centre for relatives at a local boys' club. After the disaster and in the period leading up to the Taylor Report, Bettison was seconded to an internal review group within South Yorkshire Police team who were tasked with liaising with regards issues associated with Hillsborough. Later described as a ""black propaganda"" unit, the media output included a 30 minute film narrated by Bettison that was shown to MP's during a visit by SYP to Westminster, which verbally reiterated the claims of drunk, violent and ticketless fans breaking down the dilapidated turnstiles"
"of major western news organisations whose coverage has irked Beijing were excluded from Xi Jinping's speech event launching new politburo. However, the ""Daily Telegraph"", which regularly publishes Communist party propaganda in the UK in an advert section as part of a reported £800,000 annual contract with Beijing's China Daily, has been granted an invitation to the event. The paper published premature obituaries for Cockie Hoogterp, the second wife of Baron Blixen, Dave Swarbrick in 1999, and Dorothy Southworth Ritter, the widow of Tex Ritter and mother of John Ritter, in August 2001. The Daily Telegraph The Daily Telegraph, commonly referred"
"chairman, calling for more regard for the wide range of opinions in the party before leaving for a trip to the Middle East. His Association officers sent him a 97-word reply on 5 November saying that they supported Thatcher's leadership. The party's regional agent had been present at their meeting, although they insisted he had not interfered with their reply. At about the same time, Thatcher's press secretary Bernard Ingham briefed journalists that Heseltine had ""lit the blue touch paper then retired"", although he denied having demanded that Heseltine ""put up or shut up""; Heseltine was also taunted along similar"