It's That Man Again!
COMING BACK FROM SHOWBIZ ? Neil and Christine Hamilton.
"Hamilton held strong conservative views. He opposed trade unions, immigration and child benefits. He supported free market economics, privatisation of public bodies and the continuance of capital punishment. Hamilton was in favour of coal mine closures and the development of nuclear power as an alternative".
Wikipedia
London Evening Standard"I was not in any way embarrassed in being in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, where I had to dance down the stairs in six-inch stiletto heels, a basque, suspenders and stockings," he says, .... "It was strangely pleasurable." I am wondering, I say, if you did it solely for pleasure. "No," he says, sounding amazed, "we did it for money."
THERE was the woman in Kent who confided her conspiracy theory that Jews had organised the Holocaust, and the man in Cornwall who said disabled children ought to have been aborted to prevent them being a burden on the taxpayer.
Nigel Farage might have assured us his United Kingdom Independence Party(UKIP) was not allowing itself to be infiltrated by extremists from the British National Perty (BNP), but the more we hear of some of its candidates, we are expecting Nick Griffin of the BNP to issue a statement repudiating anything to do with the nutters from UKIP.
Still, as Farage's ambitions turn from Brussels to Westminster, buoyed by his party's success in riding the tide of public bewilderment about the crisis, disenchantment with the old same-same parties, and newspapers repeatedly blaming the EU and immigrants for everything, he may have just the man to entrust with maintaining things on the European front.
Indeed this guy making a comeback via UKIP has more front than Mae West, and if that's not enough his partner Christine could be joining him..
According to the Independent:
Neil Hamilton lined up as UKIP MEP
Former Tory MP Neil Hamilton was never one from the top drawer like Old Etonian David Cameron and chums. Like Margaret Thatcher, of whom he was a devoted adnirer, Hamilton came from relatively humble origins. Her father was a Grantham grocer, his worked for the National Coal Board in Wales according to Wikipedia, though in an interview with the Telegraph business page Hamilton claimed to have learnt about money while helping in the family pub.
Fame and Fortune: the Hamiltons
Like Thatcher, Hamilton seems to have been determined to put distance between himself and his origins (grandad a miner) and prove his True Blue credentials to the Tory Right. His first speech at a Tory party conference called for mass privatisation. But whereas Thatcher took pride in the "Iron Lady" title and even fancied herself a female Churchill for a time, Hamilton has always trodden a path of uncertainty between taking his right-wing views seriously further and merely taking the piss.
As a student he managed to obtain Master's degree in economics and politics while also finding time to edit something called the Feudal Times and Reactionary Herald, and pose in funny uniforms to suit. While at Aberystwith he became a leading member of the Federation of Conservative Students, and represented it at a conference of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) in 1973. Joining the right-wing Monday Club for a time, Hamilton also went on to join Western Goals, which declared its aim to "combat the insidious menace of liberalism and Communism within all sectors of British society". Western Goals said it had been a "mistake" to allow non-European immigrants into Britain, and it opposed charities supporting the struggle against Apartheid. It was not against all foreigners - in fact it invited French fascist Jean-Marie le Pen to Britain.
After the Panorama programme "Maggie's Militant Tendency" (broadcast January 30, 1984), which dealt with the rise of the right-wingers from the FCS, Hamilton and fellow MP Gerald Howarth sued the BBC for libel over an allegation that he had given a Nazi salute while 'messing around' on a parliamentary visit to Germany in August 1983. The MP had a post-graduate qualification in law, but to further strengthen his confidence he had financial backing from among others, Sir James Goldsmith, Tate and Lyle, and Lord Harris of High Cross.
According to The Guardian newspaper, Hamilton admitted in The Sunday Times that he did give "a little salute with two fingers to his nose to give the impression of a toothbrush moustache." During the case, Hamilton said he saw himself as "the Mike Yarwood of the Federation of Young Conservatives", and that he frequently did impressions of public figures.
The BBC capitulated on October 21, 1986. The BBC Director-General Alasdair Milne, stated he was instructed to do so by the Governors of the BBC. The corporation was directed to pay the men's legal costs. Hamilton and Howarth were awarded £20,000 each and in the next edition of Panorama on 27 October, the BBC made an unreserved apology.
Eight years later however On 20 October 1994, The Guardian published an article which claimed that Hamilton and another minister, Tim Smith, had received money, in the form of cash in brown envelopes. It claimed the money was paid to the men by Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods. In return, the men were to ask questions on behalf of Al-Fayed in the House of Commons. Smith admitted his guilt and resigned immediately. Hamilton claimed innocence but was forced to resign five days later, on October 25, 1994.
Hamilton brought legal action against The Guardian regarding a case of libel. Hamilton joined Ian Greer, a parliamentary lobbyist as a co-plaintiff. But September 30, 1996, one day prior to the start of the trial, Hamilton and Greer settled, citing a conflict of interest and lack of funds. They each paid £7500 towards The Guardian's legal costs. All the "cash-for-questions" evidence was sent to Sir Gordon Downey, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
Before this Hamilton had enjoyed a 16,000 vote majority in his Tatton, Cheshire, constituency, making it the fourth safest Tory seat in Great Britain. Determined to stand again, he was adopted by the Tatton Tories for the 1997 election, though not without dissent. BBC war correspondent Martin Bell announced he would stand against Hamilton as an independent, Labour and Lib dems withdrew to give Bell a clear run, and he beat Hamilton by a resounding 11,000 votes. The seemingly bizarre offer of support to Hamilton by followers of LM magazine (formerly the Revolutionary Communist Party) does not seem to have impressed the Tatton voters, though it may have marked a milestone in this group's impressive career path towards niche Establishment jobs.
It might have seemed like the end for Neil Hamilton's political career. Unlike the late John Profumo who sought to scrub off disgrace by plunging into good deeds and social work, the Hamilton's found a new forte in entertainment, appearing in a number of shows and TV programmes which might have made them figures of fun but also helped obscure their less than lovable side from those who had either forgotten or been too young to know about their politics.
Meanwhile, the couple moved to Wiltshire, where they bought a big house, and began getting into politics again. In September 2011, Hamilton attended UKIP's annual conference and let it be known that he was available. The party's leader Nigel Farage pledged to support him in the election for the National Executive Committee, and Hamilton was elected to the committee on November 1, 2011. We shall be interested to see how he gets on now.
Still, as Farage's ambitions turn from Brussels to Westminster, buoyed by his party's success in riding the tide of public bewilderment about the crisis, disenchantment with the old same-same parties, and newspapers repeatedly blaming the EU and immigrants for everything, he may have just the man to entrust with maintaining things on the European front.
Indeed this guy making a comeback via UKIP has more front than Mae West, and if that's not enough his partner Christine could be joining him..
According to the Independent:
Neil Hamilton lined up as UKIP MEP
Former Tory MP Neil Hamilton was never one from the top drawer like Old Etonian David Cameron and chums. Like Margaret Thatcher, of whom he was a devoted adnirer, Hamilton came from relatively humble origins. Her father was a Grantham grocer, his worked for the National Coal Board in Wales according to Wikipedia, though in an interview with the Telegraph business page Hamilton claimed to have learnt about money while helping in the family pub.
Fame and Fortune: the Hamiltons
Like Thatcher, Hamilton seems to have been determined to put distance between himself and his origins (grandad a miner) and prove his True Blue credentials to the Tory Right. His first speech at a Tory party conference called for mass privatisation. But whereas Thatcher took pride in the "Iron Lady" title and even fancied herself a female Churchill for a time, Hamilton has always trodden a path of uncertainty between taking his right-wing views seriously further and merely taking the piss.
As a student he managed to obtain Master's degree in economics and politics while also finding time to edit something called the Feudal Times and Reactionary Herald, and pose in funny uniforms to suit. While at Aberystwith he became a leading member of the Federation of Conservative Students, and represented it at a conference of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) in 1973. Joining the right-wing Monday Club for a time, Hamilton also went on to join Western Goals, which declared its aim to "combat the insidious menace of liberalism and Communism within all sectors of British society". Western Goals said it had been a "mistake" to allow non-European immigrants into Britain, and it opposed charities supporting the struggle against Apartheid. It was not against all foreigners - in fact it invited French fascist Jean-Marie le Pen to Britain.
After the Panorama programme "Maggie's Militant Tendency" (broadcast January 30, 1984), which dealt with the rise of the right-wingers from the FCS, Hamilton and fellow MP Gerald Howarth sued the BBC for libel over an allegation that he had given a Nazi salute while 'messing around' on a parliamentary visit to Germany in August 1983. The MP had a post-graduate qualification in law, but to further strengthen his confidence he had financial backing from among others, Sir James Goldsmith, Tate and Lyle, and Lord Harris of High Cross.
According to The Guardian newspaper, Hamilton admitted in The Sunday Times that he did give "a little salute with two fingers to his nose to give the impression of a toothbrush moustache." During the case, Hamilton said he saw himself as "the Mike Yarwood of the Federation of Young Conservatives", and that he frequently did impressions of public figures.
The BBC capitulated on October 21, 1986. The BBC Director-General Alasdair Milne, stated he was instructed to do so by the Governors of the BBC. The corporation was directed to pay the men's legal costs. Hamilton and Howarth were awarded £20,000 each and in the next edition of Panorama on 27 October, the BBC made an unreserved apology.
Eight years later however On 20 October 1994, The Guardian published an article which claimed that Hamilton and another minister, Tim Smith, had received money, in the form of cash in brown envelopes. It claimed the money was paid to the men by Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods. In return, the men were to ask questions on behalf of Al-Fayed in the House of Commons. Smith admitted his guilt and resigned immediately. Hamilton claimed innocence but was forced to resign five days later, on October 25, 1994.
Hamilton brought legal action against The Guardian regarding a case of libel. Hamilton joined Ian Greer, a parliamentary lobbyist as a co-plaintiff. But September 30, 1996, one day prior to the start of the trial, Hamilton and Greer settled, citing a conflict of interest and lack of funds. They each paid £7500 towards The Guardian's legal costs. All the "cash-for-questions" evidence was sent to Sir Gordon Downey, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
Before this Hamilton had enjoyed a 16,000 vote majority in his Tatton, Cheshire, constituency, making it the fourth safest Tory seat in Great Britain. Determined to stand again, he was adopted by the Tatton Tories for the 1997 election, though not without dissent. BBC war correspondent Martin Bell announced he would stand against Hamilton as an independent, Labour and Lib dems withdrew to give Bell a clear run, and he beat Hamilton by a resounding 11,000 votes. The seemingly bizarre offer of support to Hamilton by followers of LM magazine (formerly the Revolutionary Communist Party) does not seem to have impressed the Tatton voters, though it may have marked a milestone in this group's impressive career path towards niche Establishment jobs.
It might have seemed like the end for Neil Hamilton's political career. Unlike the late John Profumo who sought to scrub off disgrace by plunging into good deeds and social work, the Hamilton's found a new forte in entertainment, appearing in a number of shows and TV programmes which might have made them figures of fun but also helped obscure their less than lovable side from those who had either forgotten or been too young to know about their politics.
Meanwhile, the couple moved to Wiltshire, where they bought a big house, and began getting into politics again. In September 2011, Hamilton attended UKIP's annual conference and let it be known that he was available. The party's leader Nigel Farage pledged to support him in the election for the National Executive Committee, and Hamilton was elected to the committee on November 1, 2011. We shall be interested to see how he gets on now.
See also:
The Weird and Wonderful World of ex-Tory MP Neil Hamilton
Labels: Tories
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