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The Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Hailsham in 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lord Chancellor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 20 June 1970 – 4 March 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Lord Gardiner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | The Lord Elwyn-Jones | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 May 1979 – 13 June 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Lord Elwyn-Jones | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | The Lord Havers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shadow Home Secretary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 13 April 1966 – 20 June 1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Peter Thorneycroft | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | James Callaghan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Education and Science | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 April 1964 – 16 October 1964 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Himself(as Minister for Science) Sir Edward Boyle(as Minister of Education) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Michael Stewart | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 November 1959 – 31 March 1964 Minister for Science | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alec Douglas-Home(as Lord President of the Council) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Himself(as Secretary of State for Education and Science) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 14 January 1957 – 17 September 1957 Minister of Education | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sir David Eccles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Geoffrey Lloyd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lord President of the Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 27 July 1960 – 16 October 1964 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Herbert Bowden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 17 September 1957 – 14 October 1959 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the House of Lords | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 27 July 1960 – 20 October 1963 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alec Douglas-Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | The Lord Carrington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Conservative Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 18 September 1957 – 14 October 1959 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Lord Poole | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Rab Butler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 14 October 1959 – 27 July 1960 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Harold Macmillan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Rab Butler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Edward Heath | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Lord of the Admiralty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 19 October 1956 – 14 January 1957 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Anthony Eden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Viscount Cilcennin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Selkirk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Air | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 April 1945 – 4 August 1945 Serving with The Lord Sherwood andThe Earl Beatty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Lord Sherwood | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Strachey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Quintin McGarel Hogg (1907-10-09)9 October 1907 London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 12 October 2001(2001-10-12) (aged 94) London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Resting place | All Saints,Herstmonceux, Sussex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 5, includingDouglas Hogg &DameMary Claire Hogg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent |
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| Education | Sunningdale School Eton College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone[2] (9 October 1907 – 12 October 2001), was a British barrister, philosopher andConservative Party politician.[3] He was known asthe 2nd Viscount Hailsham between 1950 and 1963, at which point he disclaimed his hereditary peerage.
Like his father, Hailsham was considered to be a contender for the leadership of the Conservative Party. He was a contender to succeedHarold Macmillan as prime minister in 1963, renouncing his hereditary peerage to do so, but was passed over in favour ofAlec Douglas-Home. He was created a life peer in 1970 and served asLord Chancellor, the office formerly held by his father, in 1970–74 and 1979–87.
Born inBayswater, London, Hogg was the son of the1st Viscount Hailsham, who wasLord Chancellor underStanley Baldwin, and grandson ofQuintin Hogg, a merchant, philanthropist andeducational reformer, and an American mother; Hogg's great-grandfather wasSir James Hogg, 1st Baronet, a businessman and politician fromUlster.[4][5] The middle name McGarel comes fromCharles McGarel, anUlsterman who had large holdings of slaves, and who financially sponsored Quintin Hogg's grandfather, also called Quintin Hogg, who was McGarel's brother-in-law.[6]
Hogg was educated atSunningdale School and thenEton College, where he was aKing's Scholar and won theNewcastle Scholarship in 1925. He enteredChrist Church, Oxford as a Scholar and he was President of theOxford University Conservative Association and of theOxford Union. He tookFirsts inHonours Moderations in 1928 and inLiterae Humaniores in 1930. He was elected to a Prize Fellowship in Law atAll Souls College, Oxford, in 1931.[4] He wascalled to the bar byLincoln's Inn in 1932.[4]
Hogg spoke in opposition to the motion "That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country" in the1933 King and Country debate at the Oxford Union.[4]
Hogg participated in his first election campaign in the1924 general election, and in all subsequent general election campaigns until his death.
In 1938, Hogg was chosen as a candidate for Parliament in theOxford by-election.[4] This election took place shortly after theMunich Agreement, and theLabour candidatePatrick Gordon Walker was persuaded to step down to allow a unified challenge to the Conservatives;A. D. Lindsay, theMaster ofBalliol College, fought as an "Independent Progressive" candidate. Hogg narrowly defeated Lindsay, who was said to be horrified by the popular slogan of "Hitler wants Hogg".
Hogg voted againstNeville Chamberlain in theNorway Debate of May 1940, and supportedWinston Churchill.[4] He served briefly in the desert campaign as a platoon commander with theRifle Brigade during theSecond World War. His commanding officer had been his contemporary at Eton; after him and the second-in-command, Hogg was the third-oldest officer in the battalion. After a knee wound in August 1941, which almost cost him his right leg, Hogg was deemed too old for further front-line service, and later served on the staff ofGeneral "Jumbo" Wilson before leaving the army with the rank of major. In the run-up to the 1945 election, Hogg wrote a response to the bookGuilty Men, calledThe Left Was Never Right.[4]
Hogg's father died in 1950, and Hogg entered theHouse of Lords, succeeding his father as the secondViscount Hailsham. Believing his political career to be over, he concentrated on his career at the bar for some years. Hetook silk in 1953[7] and becoming head of hisbarristers' chambers in 1955, succeedingKenneth Diplock.[4] When the Conservatives returned to power under Churchill in 1951, he refused to be considered for office. In 1956, he refused appointment asPostmaster-General underAnthony Eden on financial grounds, only to accept appointment asFirst Lord of the Admiralty six weeks later.[4] His appointment, however, had to be delayed because of theCrabb affair.
As First Lord, Hailsham was briefed about Eden's plans to use military force against Egypt, which he thought were "madness". Nevertheless, onceOperation Musketeer had been launched, he thought that Britain could not retreat until theSuez Canal had been captured. In the middle of the operation,Lord Mountbatten threatened to resign asFirst Sea Lord in protest, but Hailsham ordered him in writing to stay on duty: he believed that Mountbatten was entitled to be protected by his minister, and that he was bound to resign if the honour of the Navy was impaired by the conduct of the operation.[4] Hailsham remained critical of the actions of the thenChancellor of the Exchequer,Harold Macmillan, during the crisis, believing that he had suffered from a failure of nerve.
Hailsham becameMinister of Education in 1957 under Macmillan. He held this office for eight months, before accepting appointment asLord President of the Council andChairman of the Conservative Party in September 1957.[4] During his term as Party Chairman, the Conservative Party won a notable victory in the1959 general election, which it had been predicted to lose, and formed thesecond Macmillan government. After the election, Hailsham was sidelined, and was madeMinister for Science and Technology; he served in that post until 1964. His tenure as Science Minister was successful, and he was later elected to theRoyal Society under Statute 12 in 1973.[4]
Concurrently, Hailsham wasLord Privy Seal between 1959 and 1960, Lord President of the Council between 1960 and 1964, andLeader of the House of Lords between 1960 and 1963, having been Deputy Leader between 1957 and 1960. Macmillan also gave him a number of special assignments: he was Minister with special responsibility for Sport from 1962 to 1964, for unemployment in the North-East between 1963 and 1964, and for higher education between 1963 and 1964. Hailsham, who had little interest in sports, thought little of his appointment asde facto Sports Minister, later writing that "[t]he idea of a Minister for Sport has always appalled me. It savours of dictatorship and the nastiest kind of populist or Fascist dictatorship at that."[citation needed]
Hailsham appeared before theWolfenden Committee to discuss homosexuality. The historian Patrick Higgins said that he used it as "an opportunity to express his disgust". He stated, "The instinct of mankind to describe homosexual acts as 'unnatural' is not based on mere prejudice" and that homosexuals were corrupting and "a proselytising religion".[8]
In June 1963, when his fellow MinisterJohn Profumo had to resign after admitting lying to Parliament about his private life, Hailsham attacked him savagely on television. The Labour MPReginald Paget called this "a virtuoso performance of the art of kicking a friend in the guts". He added, "When self-indulgence has reduced a man to the shape of Lord Hailsham, sexual continence involves no more than a sense of the ridiculous."[9]
In 15 July, he andAverell Harriman arrived in Moscow fornuclear test-ban negotiations.[10]
Hailsham wasLeader of the House of Lords whenHarold Macmillan announced his sudden resignation from the premiership for health reasons at the start of the 1963 Conservative Party conference. At that time there was no formal ballot for the Conservative Party leadership.[11] Hailsham, who was at first Macmillan's preferred successor, announced that he would use the newly-enactedPeerage Act 1963 to disclaim his title and fight a by-election and return to the House of Commons. His publicity-seeking antics at the Party Conference—such as feeding his baby daughter in public,[4] and allowing his supporters to distribute "Q" (for Quintin) badges—were considered vulgar at the time, so Macmillan did not encourage senior party members to choose him as his successor.[citation needed]
Eventually, on the advice of Macmillan, The Queen choseAlec Douglas-Home to succeed Macmillan as prime minister. Hailsham nevertheless renounced his peerage on 20 November 1963, becoming againQuintin Hogg. He stood and was elected as MP forSt Marylebone, his father's old constituency, in the1963 St Marylebone by-election.[4]
Hogg as a campaigner was known for his robust rhetoric and theatrical gestures. He was usually in good form in dealing with hecklers, a valuable skill in the 1960s, and was prominent in the 1964 general election. One evening when giving a political address, he was hailed by his supporters as he leaned over the lectern pointing at a long-haired heckler. He said, "Now, see here, Sir or Madam whichever the case might be, we have had enough of you!" The police ejected the man and the crowd applauded and Hogg went on as if nothing had happened. Another time, when a Labour Party supporter waved aHarold Wilson placard in front of him, Hogg smacked it with his walking-stick.[citation needed]
Hogg served in the Conservativeshadow cabinet during the Wilson government, and built up his practice at the bar, where one of his clients was Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister and his political opponent.[12] WhenEdward Heath won the 1970 general election he received alife peerage asBaron Hailsham of St Marylebone, ofHerstmonceux in the County of Sussex, and becameLord Chancellor. Hogg was the first to return to the House of Lords as a life peer after having disclaimed an hereditary peerage. Hailsham's choice ofLord Widgery asLord Chief Justice was criticised by his opponents, although he later redeemed himself in the eyes of the profession by appointingLord Lane to succeed Widgery. His appointment as Lord Chancellor caused some amusement; in October 1962 he had told a journalist (Logan Gourlay of theDaily Express) that when he had inherited his title he had thought that by 1970 if the Tory Government were in power "some ass might make me Lord Chancellor".
During his first term as Lord Chancellor, Hailsham oversaw the passage of theCourts Act 1971, which fundamentally reformed English justice by abolishing the ancientassizes andquarter sessions, which were replaced by permanentCrown Courts.[4] The Act also established a unified court service, under the responsibility of theLord Chancellor's Department, which as a result expanded substantially. He also piloted through the House of Lords Heath's controversialIndustrial Relations Act 1971, which established the short-livedNational Industrial Relations Court.[4]
Hailsham announced his retirement after the end of the Heath government in 1974. He popularised the term "elective dictatorship" in 1976, later writing a detailed exposition,The Dilemma of Democracy. However, after the tragic death of his second wife in a riding accident,[4] he decided to return to active politics, as aShadow Minister without Portfolio first in theShadow Cabinet of Edward Heath and then in theShadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher.[4]
Hailsham served again as Lord Chancellor from 1979 to 1987 underMargaret Thatcher.[4] He vigorously opposed the Thatcher government's plans to reform the legal profession. He opposed the introduction ofcontingency fees, observing that the professions were "not like the grocer's shop at the corner of a street in a town likeGrantham",[13] (a reference to Margaret Thatcher's origins).[14] He argued that theCourts and Legal Services Act 1990 disregarded "almost every principle of the methodology which law reform ought to attract" and was no less than an attempt to "nationalise the profession and part of the judiciary" (Hansard 5L, 514.151, 19 December 1989).[4]
Hailsham was widely considered as a traditionalist Lord Chancellor. He put great emphasis on the traditional roles of his post, sitting on theAppellate Committee of the House of Lords more frequently than any of his post-war predecessors.[4] Appointment of deputies to preside over the Lords enabled him to give more time to judicial work, although he often sat on theWoolsack himself. He was protective of the English bar, opposing the appointment of solicitors to the High Court and the extension of theirrights of audience. He was, however, responsible for implementing the far-reaching 1971 reform of the courts system, and championed law reform and the work of theLaw Commission.
Towards the end of his life Hailsham suffered from depression, which he managed somewhat by his lifelong love of classical literature.[4]
Hailsham remained an active if semi-detached member of the governing body ofAll Souls College, Oxford almost until his death.[4]
In addition to his peerages, he was appointed aMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1974[15] and aKnight Companion of the Garter in 1988.[4][16]
Hailsham married three times:
Hailsham retained some of the manner of a clever schoolboy – likeable, irritating and untidy – throughout his life. He was in the habit of reciting long passages of Ancient Greek verse at inappropriate moments in conversations.[4]
As a young man Hailsham was a keenmountain-climber, and broke both his ankles while climbing theValais Alps. The fractures (which he wrongly believed to be sprains) healed for the time being.[18] Hailsham remained physically energetic until late middle age, and in the 1960s he could often be seen cycling unsteadily around London, dressed in the bowler hat and pin-striped suit of a barrister.[4][19] He was also ascuba diver, and trained with theLondon Branch of theBritish Sub-Aqua Club.[20] However, both of his damaged ankles, as he later wrote, "packed up within a week of one another in June 1974". Thereafter he was only able to walk short distances, with the aid of two walking-sticks.[18] In old age he also suffered from arthritis.[4]
Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone died fromheart failure and pneumonia at his home inPutney Heath, London, on 12 October 2001, aged 94.[4] The viscountcy that he had disclaimed in 1963 was inherited by his elder sonDouglas, who was then an MP. As a result of theHouse of Lords Act 1999, which had removed the right of mosthereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, it was not necessary for him to disclaim his viscountcy to remain a member of the House of Commons.[4]
Like his father and other members of the family, he was buried in the churchyard at All Saints,Herstmonceux, Sussex.[4]
Hailsham's wealth at death was valued for probate at £4,618,511 (around £7.5 million at 2018 prices)[needs update].[4][21]
Hogg's 1945 bookThe Left Was Never Right was a fierce response to two books inVictor Gollancz's "Victory Books" series,Guilty Men byFrank Owen,Michael Foot, andPeter Howard, andYour M.P. byTom Wintringham, both published during the war and largely attempting to discredit Tory MPs as appeasers and war profiteers. The Wintringham volume had been republished in the lead up to the 1945 general election, widely acknowledged at the time as a major factor in shifting public opinion away from the Conservative party. Hogg's book sought to contrast Wintringham's statistics on appeasement with patriotic statistics of his own, maintaining that Labour MPs had been lacking in their wartime duties.
Perhaps his most important book, the Penguin paperbackThe Case for Conservatism, was a similar response toLabour Marches On byJohn Parker MP. Published in 1947 in the aftermath of the crushing Conservative election defeat of 1945, and aimed at the mass market and the layman, it presented a well-written and coherent case for Conservatism. According to the book, the role of Conservatism is not to oppose all change but to resist and balance the volatility of current political fads and ideology, and to defend a middle position that enshrines a slowly changing organic humane traditionalism. For example, in the 19th century Conservatives often opposed the policies of prevailing British liberalism, favouring factory regulation, market intervention and controls to mitigate the effects oflaissez faire capitalism, but in the 20th century the role of Conservatism was to oppose an ostensible danger from the opposite direction, the regulation, intervention, and controls favoured by social democracy.
Hailsham was also known for his writings on faith and belief. In 1975 he published his spiritual autobiographyThe Door Wherein I Went, which included a brief chapter ofChristian apologetics, using legal arguments concerning the evidence for the life ofJesus. The book included a particularly moving passage about suicide; when he was a young man his half-brotherEdward Marjoribanks had taken his own life, and the experience left Hailsham with a deep conviction that suicide is always wrong.
His writings on Christianity have been the subject of discussion in the writings ofRoss Clifford. Hailsham revisited themes of faith in his memoirsA Sparrow's Flight (1991), and the book's title alluded to remarks about sparrows and faith recorded inBede'sEcclesiastical History and the words of Christ in theGospel of Matthew.
S. M. Cretney argues that "Hailsham was on any assessment one of the outstanding personalities of 20th-century British politics. None of his contemporaries combined so brilliant and well-trained an intellect with a capacity for oratory that enjoyed such wide appeal. His most notable success may well have been his role in reviving the Conservative Party's fortunes in the 1950s … even so, Hailsham's actual achievements in politics arguably failed to reflect his remarkable intellectual power and oratorical skills" and that given his "emotional and temperamental volatility and even instability ... it is difficult to make any rational estimate of quite what a Hailsham administration would have achieved" had he become Prime Minister in 1963.[4]
InJimmy McGovern's 2002 filmSunday, which portrayed the events ofBloody Sunday and the subsequentWidgery Tribunal, Hailsham was played by the actorOliver Ford Davies.
Rees, J. (John) Tudor, and Harley V. Usill, editors.They Stand Apart: A Critical Survey of the Problems of Homosexuality. London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1955. A collection of essays by multiple authors.
Lewis, Geoffrey.Lord Hailsham: A Life. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1997.
Utley, T. E. (Thomas Edwin).Not Guilty: The Conservative Reply. A Vindication of Government Policy. "Foreword by the Rt. Hon. Viscount Hailsham, Q.C." London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1957. OCLC Number: 1412752. A defence of the policies of then-Prime Minister Anthony Eden.
Clifford, Ross.Leading Lawyers' Case for the Resurrection. Edmonton, Alberta: Canadian Institute for Law, Theology, and Public Policy, 1996.ISBN 9781896363028. (Also published asThe Case for the Empty Tomb: Leading Lawyers Look at the Resurrection. Sydney: Albatross Books, 1993.ISBN 9780867601275.)
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Hailsham sexual continence requires no more than a sense of the ridiculous.
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