128-421: Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill MBE (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer and politician. The only son of future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine , Randolph was brought up to regard himself as his father's political heir, although their relations became strained in later years. In the 1930s, he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament
256-627: A Liberal and subsequently Labour MP; Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon (1907–90), Governor of Cyprus (1957–60) and representative of the United Kingdom at the United Nations from 1964 to 1970; Liberal politician John Foot, later Baron Foot (1909–99); Margaret Elizabeth Foot (1911–65); Jennifer Mackintosh Highet (1916–2002); and Christopher Isaac Foot (1917–84). Michael Foot was the uncle of campaigning journalist Paul Foot (1937–2004) and of charity worker Oliver Foot (1946–2008). Foot
384-464: A Tribunite like Foot, and Peter Shore , a Eurosceptic . In 1980, Healey was widely expected by the media and many political figures to be the next Labour leader. However, Steve Richards notes that while "Healey was widely seen as the obvious successor to Callaghan", and that sections of the media ultimately reacted with "disbelief" at Labour not choosing him, the "choice of Foot was not as perverse as it seemed". He argues Labour MPs were looking for
512-566: A "Fathers and Sons" dinner at Claridge's for his birthday on 16 June 1932, with Lord Hailsham and his son Quintin Hogg , Lord Cranborne and Freddie Birkenhead , the son of Winston's late friend F. E. Smith . Also present were Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty and his son , and Oswald Mosley (then still seen as a coming man). That year Randolph flew into a rage with Lord Beaverbrook , when his Daily Express singled him out in
640-526: A British victory over Argentina , opinion polls showed the Conservatives firmly in the lead. Their position at the top of the polls was strengthened by the return to economic growth later in the year. It was looking certain that the Conservatives would be re-elected, and the only key issue that the media were still speculating by the end of 1982 was whether it would be Labour or the Alliance who formed
768-545: A body with independence from government. Foot was one of the mainstays of the "no" campaign in the 1975 referendum on British membership of the European Communities . When Wilson retired in 1976, Foot contested the party leadership and led in the first ballot, but was ultimately defeated by James Callaghan . Later that year Foot was elected Deputy Leader, and during the Callaghan government Foot took
896-504: A brother officer how deeply disliked he was, something of which he had previously had no idea. On 28 October 1941 he was promoted to the war-substantive rank of captain (acting rank of major ) and put in charge of Army information at GHQ. For a time he edited a newspaper, Desert News , for the troops. He lived at Shepheard's Hotel . Anita Leslie, then in an ambulance company, wrote that "he could not cease trumpeting his opinions and older men could be seen turning purple with anger" and that he
1024-543: A compromise candidate, Foot served as Labour leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983 . Not particularly telegenic, he was nicknamed " Worzel Gummidge " for his rumpled appearance. A faction of the party broke away in 1981 to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Foot led Labour into the 1983 general election , when the party obtained its lowest share of the vote in 65 years and
1152-544: A double-digit lead for Labour, boosting his hopes of becoming prime minister at the next general election , which had to be held by May 1984. When Foot became leader, the Conservative politician Kenneth Baker commented: "Labour was led by Dixon of Dock Green under Jim Callaghan . Now it is led by Worzel Gummidge ." Foot's nickname in the press gradually became "Worzel Gummidge", or "Worzel". This became particularly common after Remembrance Day 1981, when he attended
1280-768: A few days and handed the seat on a platter to the Labour Party" as Foot later put it. In March 1935, again with financial backing from Lady Houston , he sponsored an Independent Conservative candidate, Richard Findlay, also a member of the British Union of Fascists , to stand in a by-election in Norwood . This attracted no backing from MPs or the press, and Findlay lost to the official Conservative candidate, Duncan Sandys , who in September that year became Randolph's brother-in-law, marrying his sister Diana . He had
1408-401: A figure from the left who could unite the wider party with the leadership, which Healey could not do. Richards states that despite being on the left of the party, Foot was not a "tribal politician" and had proved he could work with those of different ideologies and had been a loyal deputy to Callaghan. Thus Foot "was seen as the unity candidate" and won the election. When he became leader, Foot
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#17327801974331536-509: A general election. The Conservatives were then unpopular because of the economic policies of Margaret Thatcher , which had seen unemployment reach a postwar high. The Labour left was still strong. In 1981, Benn decided to challenge Healey for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party , a contest Healey won, albeit narrowly. Foot struggled to make an impact, and was widely criticised for his ineffectiveness, though his performances in
1664-666: A high-profile member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). He wrote several books, including highly regarded biographies of Aneurin Bevan and H. G. Wells , and was a vice-president of the H. G. Wells Society . Foot was an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association . In 1988, he was elected a Fellow of
1792-482: A hundred-mile trip to demand that the teacher be dismissed, only to learn that the teacher had already been sacked. He remembered that he and Diana returned from ice-skating in Holland Park on 22 June 1922 to find the house guarded and being searched by "tough-looking men" following the assassination of Field Marshal Henry Wilson . Winston gave his son a choice of Eton College or Harrow School , and he chose
1920-539: A large, hostile audience, adding that "he was by no means cowed". Randolph's good looks and self-confidence soon brought him some success as a womaniser, but his attempt to seduce one young woman at Blenheim failed after she spent the night in bed for protection with his cousin Anita Leslie , while Randolph sat on the side of the bed talking at length of "when I am prime minister". Randolph, who had been lucky not to be named in court as one of her lovers, also comforted
2048-430: A lift on his plane). He was promoted to the temporary rank of major on 9 December. Major (rank) Major is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators, major is one rank above captain in armies and air forces, and one rank below lieutenant colonel . It is considered the most junior of the senior officer ranks. Etymologically,
2176-605: A look at him.") At the outbreak of the Second World War , Foot volunteered for military service, but was rejected because of his chronic asthma . In 1940, under the pen-name "Cato" he and two other Beaverbrook journalists ( Frank Owen , editor of the Standard , and Peter Howard of the Daily Express ) published Guilty Men , which attacked the appeasement policy and slow pace of British re-armament under
2304-472: A natural and brilliant gift of oratory, and a disregard for the opinions of his elders, he often held dinner parties pinned in a helpless and angry silence. I never knew a young man who had the ability to antagonise so easily." At a dinner at Blenheim for Lady Sarah Spencer-Churchill 's 18th birthday in July 1939 a drunk Randolph had to be removed after behaving badly to a woman who spurned his advances and starting
2432-507: A new CP policy of backing a Popular Front , including non-socialist parties, against fascism and appeasement . In a 1955 interview, Foot ideologically identified as a libertarian socialist . He was an avid anti-imperialist and was heavily involved in the India League . As an Oxford graduate, he was influenced by the founder of the India League, Krishna Menon . The India League was the premier UK-based organisation that fought for
2560-642: A number of times, causing his father embarrassment. He was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Preston at the 1940 Preston by-election . During the Second World War, he served with the SAS in North Africa and with Tito 's partisans in Yugoslavia . Randolph lost his seat in 1945 and was never re-elected to Parliament. Despite his lack of success in politics, Randolph enjoyed
2688-478: A recurrent embarrassment to both his parents". In what would turn out to be his final report on leaving Eton, Robert Birley , one of his history teachers, wrote of his native intelligence and writing ability, but added that he found it too easy to get by on little work or with a journalist's knack of spinning a single idea into an essay. Randolph went up to Christ Church, Oxford , in January 1929, partway through
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#17327801974332816-535: A row with another man over Winston's reputation. In August 1938, Randolph Churchill joined his father's old regiment, the 4th Queen's Own Hussars , receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in the supplementary reserve, and was called up for active service on 24 August 1939. He was one of the oldest of the junior officers, and not popular with his peers. In order to win a bet, he walked the 106-mile round trip from their base in Hull to York and back in under 24 hours. He
2944-728: A seat in Cabinet as Leader of the House of Commons , which gave him the unenviable task of trying to maintain the survival of the Callaghan government as its majority evaporated. However, he was able to steer numerous government proposals through the Commons, often by very narrow majorities, including increases in pension and benefit rates, the creation of the Police Complaints Board , the expansion of comprehensive schools ,
3072-484: A small car. Contrary to newspaper reports that she had crossed the Atlantic to put a stop to the wedding, she only learned of the engagement when she arrived. She found Randolph, to her horror, living in an extravagant suite of hotel rooms, but was able to write to Miss Halle's father, who agreed that it would be unwise for their children to marry. Clementine wrote to her husband of one of Randolph's lectures "Frankly, it
3200-407: A story on the sons of great men, which sneered that "major fathers as a rule breed minor sons, so our little London peacocks had better tone down their fine feathers." "The function of the gossip writer", said Randolph, "is not among those which commend themselves mostly highly to my generation" (in middle age Randolph would himself become a highly paid London gossip columnist). Randolph reported from
3328-530: A subsequent by-election in Darlington , and Foot remained leader for the 1983 general election . The 1983 Labour manifesto, strongly socialist in tone, advocated unilateral nuclear disarmament, higher personal taxation and a return to a more interventionist industrial policy. The manifesto also pledged that a Labour government would abolish the House of Lords , nationalise banks and immediately withdraw from
3456-485: A successful career as a writer and journalist. In the 1960s, he wrote the first two volumes of the official life of his father. Randolph was married and divorced twice. His first wife was Pamela Digby (later Harriman) ; their son Winston later became a Conservative MP. Throughout his life, Randolph had a reputation for rude, drunken behaviour. By the 1960s, his health had collapsed from years of heavy drinking; he outlived his father by only three years. Randolph Churchill
3584-466: A tearful Tilly Losch in public at Quaglino's after her divorce in 1934, to the amusement of the other diners and the waiters. In the 1930s, Winston's overindulgence of his son was one of several causes of coolness between him and Clementine. Clementine several times threw him out of Chartwell after arguments; at one time Clementine told Randolph she hated him and never wanted to see him again. Randolph Churchill's political career (like that of his son)
3712-628: A tedious speech by a local cleric. At San Simeon (the mansion of press baron Randolph Hearst ) he lost his virginity to the Austrian-born actress Tilly Losch an erstwhile lover of his close friend Tom Mitford . Randolph was already drinking double brandies at the age of nineteen, to his parents' consternation. He did little work or sport at Oxford and spent most of his time at lengthy lunch and dinner parties with other well-connected undergraduates and with dons who enjoyed being entertained by them. Randolph later claimed that he had benefited from
3840-555: A time to be escorted by plain clothes detectives on their walks in the park, because of threats by suffragettes to kidnap them. He was a page at the marriage of the Prime Minister 's daughter Violet Asquith to Maurice Bonham Carter on 1 December 1915. He recalled the Zeppelin raids of 1917 as "a great treat", as the children were taken from their beds in the middle of the night, wrapped in blankets, and "allowed" to join
3968-796: A type of duffel coat ) at the wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day in November 1981, for which he was likened to an "out-of-work navvy" by a fellow Labour MP. Foot later said that the Queen Mother had described it as a "sensible coat for a day like this". He later donated the coat to the People's History Museum in Manchester, which holds a collection that spans Foot's entire political career from 1938 to 1990, and his personal papers dating back to 1926. The formation of
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4096-432: A violent row with his father about Norwood; Winston did not support him in any way this time, although he was suspected by other Conservatives of having done so. Duncan Sandys was the only one of Randolph's Conservative opponents to win; Randolph soon became jealous when Sandys joined the family and Churchill warmed to him. Having blamed Baldwin and the party organization for his loss, Randolph libelled Sir Thomas White. Over
4224-580: A woman was deliberately burned on her hand with a cigarette by a thwarted lover, and Randolph sprang to her defence. Randolph also became embroiled in the controversy of the February 1933 King and Country debate at the Oxford Union Society . Three weeks after the Union had passed a pacifist motion, Randolph and his friend Lord Stanley proposed a resolution to delete the previous motion from
4352-651: A £400 annual parental allowance. He left the US owing $ 2,000 to his father's friend, the financier Bernard Baruch ; a debt which he did not repay for thirty years. In October 1931 Randolph began a lecture tour of the UK. He lost £600 by betting wrongly on the results of the general election ; his father paid his debts on condition he gave up his chauffeur-driven Bentley , a more extravagant car than his father drove. In 1931 he shared Edward James 's house in London with John Betjeman . By
4480-520: Is brave and Randolph has youth And is boldly determined to tell the truth Pitt was premier at twenty three So why not he? The poem was widely disseminated in the press – but without the unflattering references to 'Socialist Mac[Donald],' who at the time was still Prime Minister of the Conservative-dominated National Government. His involvement was criticised by his father for splitting
4608-509: The Saturday Review . In an attempt to encourage Randolph, Lady Houston sent him a poem: When the truth is told at Wavertree Wavertree will set India free And Socialist Mac will be up a tree With all his lies and hypocrisy Your Indian kinsfolk from over the sea Are crying to thee To save them from horrors you cannot see Gallant Randolph can set them free For Randolph
4736-540: The 'Liberation of India' . After Indian independence in 1947, Foot's interest in India continued, and he became Chair of the India League . On the recommendation of Aneurin Bevan , Foot was soon hired by Lord Beaverbrook to work as a writer on his Evening Standard . (Bevan is supposed to have told Beaverbrook on the phone: "I've got a young bloody knight-errant here. They sacked his boss, so he resigned. Have
4864-569: The Battle of France was beginning. In the summer of 1940, Winston Churchill's secretary, Jock Colville , wrote ( Fringes of Power p. 207) "I thought Randolph one of the most objectionable people I had ever met: noisy, self-assertive, whining and frankly unpleasant. He did not strike me as intelligent. At dinner he was anything but kind to Winston, who adores him". The polemic against appeasement Guilty Men (July 1940), in fact written anonymously by Michael Foot , Frank Owen , and Peter Howard ,
4992-535: The Commons – most notably on the Falklands War of 1982 – won him widespread respect from other parliamentarians. He was criticised by some on the left for supporting Thatcher's immediate resort to military action. The right-wing newspapers nevertheless lambasted him consistently for what they saw as his bohemian eccentricity, attacking him for wearing what they described as a " donkey jacket " (actually he wore
5120-572: The German elections in July 1932 . Randolph encouraged his father to try to meet Adolf Hitler in summer 1932 whilst he was retracing the Duke of Marlborough 's march to Blenheim (Winston was writing the Duke's life at the time); the meeting fell through at the last minute as Hitler excused himself. Randolph had an affair with Doris Castlerosse in 1932, causing a near fight with her husband. She later claimed to have had an affair with his father Winston in
5248-535: The National Governments of Ramsay MacDonald , Stanley Baldwin , and Neville Chamberlain ; it became a runaway bestseller. (In so doing, Foot reversed his position of the 1935 election – when he had attacked the Conservatives as militaristic and demanded disarmament in the face of Nazi Germany .) Beaverbrook made Foot editor of the Evening Standard in 1942, when he was aged 28. During
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5376-836: The Paraguayan Military School ; this report was published in the Daily Express on Thursday, 11 August 1932, when the R.I. 6 was in full preparation to depart or at the war front in the Chaco . Arturo Bray was highly requested by the British Press, as the English knew that Bray was a British officer, hero of World War I, awarded with the highest medals of bravery bestowed by Britain and France. At Lady Diana Cooper 's fortieth birthday party in Venice that year
5504-488: The Parliamentary Labour Group in 1963, when Harold Wilson became Leader of the Labour Party after the sudden death of Hugh Gaitskell . Harold Wilson — the subject of an enthusiastic campaign biography by Foot published by Robert Maxwell 's Pergamon Press in 1964 – offered Foot a place in his first government, but Foot turned it down, instead becoming the leader of Labour's left opposition from
5632-604: The Prime Minister of India , after she prompted the declaration of a state of emergency . In December 1975, The Times ran an editorial titled 'Is Mr Foot a Fascist?' — their answer was that he was — after Norman Tebbit accused him of 'undiluted fascism' when Foot said that the Ferrybridge Six deserved dismissal for defying a closed shop . Following Labour's 1979 general election defeat by Margaret Thatcher , James Callaghan remained as party leader for
5760-466: The Royal Society of Literature . In a poll of Labour Party activists in 2008, he was voted the worst post-war Labour Party leader. Though Foot is considered by many right-wingers to be a failure as Labour leader, his biographer Mervyn Jones strongly makes the case that no one else could have held Labour together at the time, particularly in the face of the controversy over the infiltration of
5888-478: The Second Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson in various roles between 1970 and 1974. In April 1972 , he stood for the Deputy Leadership of the party, along with Edward Short and Anthony Crosland . The first ballot saw Foot narrowly come second to Short winning 110 votes to the latter's 111. Crosland polled 61 votes and was eliminated. It was reported in the next day's Glasgow Herald that Short
6016-532: The Standard in 1945 to join the Daily Herald as a columnist. The Daily Herald was jointly owned by the Trades Union Congress and Odhams Press , and was effectively an official Labour Party paper. He rejoined Tribune as editor from 1948 to 1952, and was again the paper's editor from 1955 to 1960. Throughout his political career he railed against the increasing corporate domination of
6144-480: The Tory right-winger Enoch Powell to scupper the government's plan to abolish the voting rights of hereditary peers and create a House of Lords comprising only life peers – a "seraglio of eunuchs" as Foot put it. Foot challenged James Callaghan for the post of Treasurer of the Labour Party in 1967, but failed. After 1970, Labour moved to the left and Wilson came to an accommodation with Foot. Foot served in
6272-788: The West 's handling of the Korean War , an opponent of West German rearmament in the early 1950s and a founder member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in 1957. Under his editorship, Tribune opposed both the British government's Suez campaign and the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. During this period, he made regular television appearances on the current-affairs programmes In The News ( BBC Television ) and subsequently Free Speech ( ITV ). "There
6400-466: The general strike of 1926 he fixed up a secret radio set as his housemaster would not allow him to have one. In November 1926 his headmaster wrote to his father to inform him that he had caned Randolph, then aged 15, after all five of the masters then teaching him had independently reported him for "either being idle or being a bore with his chatter". As a teenager Randolph fell in love with Diana Mitford , sister of his friend Tom Mitford . Tom Mitford
6528-503: The Cenotaph observance wearing a coat that some said resembled a donkey jacket. After his tenure as leader, Foot would be "depicted as a scarecrow on ITV's satirical puppet show Spitting Image ." Almost immediately following his election as leader, he was faced with a serious crisis. On 25 January 1981, four senior politicians on the right-wing of the Labour Party ( Roy Jenkins , Shirley Williams , David Owen and William Rodgers ,
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#17327801974336656-510: The Cold War began in the late 1940s, Foot favoured a ' third way ' foreign policy for Europe (he was joint author with Richard Crossman and Ian Mikardo of the pamphlet Keep Left in 1947), but in the wake of the communist seizure of power in Hungary and Czechoslovakia he and Tribune took a strongly anti-communist position, eventually embracing NATO . Foot was, however, a critic of
6784-696: The Conduct of the War. His father, who was under great stress following recent Japanese victories in the Far East, visited him briefly in Cairo in spring 1942. Randolph had a row with his parents so violent that Clementine thought Winston might have a seizure. In April 1942 he volunteered for the newly formed SAS – to his mother's dismay, because of the strain on his father. She contemplated cabling him forbidding him to go, but knew that Winston would want him to. He joined
6912-767: The ESU USA Tour (the debating tour of the United States run by the English-Speaking Union ). Upon graduating with a second-class degree in 1934, he took a job as a shipping clerk in Birkenhead . Foot was profoundly influenced by the poverty and unemployment that he witnessed in Liverpool , which was on a different scale from anything he had seen in Plymouth. A Liberal up to this time, Foot
7040-549: The House's sympathies for Franco , but that when the House learned that the source was "Master Randolph" (as he described him) MPs were merely amused. Virginia Cowles first met Randolph in New York in the early 1930s. He helped her to get a visa to report from the USSR in February 1939. She praised his courage but wrote that "going out with him was like going out with a time bomb. Wherever he went an explosion seemed to follow. With
7168-402: The Labour left. He successfully urged Bevan to follow through with his threat to resign from the Cabinet in protest of the introduction of prescription charges at the National Health Service , leading to a split in the Labour Party between Bevanites and Gaitskellites . Foot and Bevan fell out after Bevan renounced unilateral nuclear disarmament at the 1957 Labour Party conference. Before
7296-403: The Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on Tribune and the Evening Standard . He co-wrote the 1940 polemic against appeasement of Hitler , Guilty Men , under a pseudonym. Foot was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1955 and 1960 to 1992 . A passionate orator, and associated with the left wing of the Labour Party for most of his career, Foot
7424-405: The Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin , for seeking rearmament. In his election address, Foot contended that "the armaments race in Europe must be stopped now". Foot also supported unilateral disarmament, after multilateral disarmament talks at Geneva had broken down in 1933. Foot became a journalist, working briefly on the New Statesman , before joining the left-wing weekly Tribune when it
7552-418: The SAS CO David Stirling and six SAS men on a mission behind enemy lines in the Libyan Desert to Benghazi in May 1942. The Benghazi Raid did not reach its goals and Randolph severely dislocated his back when his truck overturned in a road accident during the journey home. After a stay in Cairo he was invalided back to England. Randolph had sent few letters to Pamela, and many to Laura Charteris, with whom he
7680-445: The SDP – which formed an alliance with the Liberal Party in June 1981 – contributed to a fall in Labour support. The double-digit lead that had still been intact in opinion polls at the start of 1981 was swiftly wiped out, and by the end of October the opinion polls were showing the Alliance ahead of Labour. Labour briefly regained their lead of most opinion polls in early 1982, but when the Falklands conflict ended on 14 June 1982 with
7808-480: The US in a vain attempt to dissuade her from marrying the much older comedian Vic Oliver . Lady Houston had backed Randolph's three attempts to stand for Parliament. He was better backed financially than his father had ever been. This support came to a halt when she died late in 1936. Freddie Birkenhead remarked that he was "unbowed but bloody as usual". Thereafter he used his employment as a Beaverbrook/Rothermere journalist to promote his political career and to warn of
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#17327801974337936-422: The Union's records. After a poor speech from Stanley, the president , Frank Hardie, temporarily handed over the chair to the librarian and opposed the motion on behalf of the Union, a very unusual move. The minutes record that he received "a very remarkable ovation". Randolph was then met by a barrage of hisses and stink bombs. His speech, facing what the minutes describe as a "very antipathetic and even angry house"
8064-448: The Younger . His sister later wrote that he "manifestly needed a father's hand" but his father "spoiled and indulged him", and did not take seriously the complaints of his schoolmasters. He was influenced by his godfather Lord Birkenhead ( F. E. Smith ), an opinionated and heavy-drinking man. Winston Churchill was Chancellor of the Exchequer from late 1924 until 1929. Busy in that office, he neglected his daughters in favour of Randolph, who
8192-492: The academic year and not yet eighteen, after his father's friend Professor Lindemann had advised that a place had fallen vacant. In May he spoke for his father at the May 1929 general election . Between August and October 1929 Randolph and his uncle accompanied his father (now out of office) on his lecture tour of the US and Canada. His diary of the trip was later included in Twenty-One Years . On one occasion he impressed his father by delivering an impromptu five-minute reply to
8320-408: The back benches. He opposed the government's moves to restrict immigration , join the European Communities (or " Common Market " as they were referred to) and reform the trade unions, was against the Vietnam War and Rhodesia 's unilateral declaration of independence , and denounced the Soviet suppression of " socialism with a human face " in Czechoslovakia in 1968. He also famously allied with
8448-404: The bar or journalism and was "far more advanced than I was at his age". His mother replied that "He is certainly going to be an interest, an anxiety & an excitement in our lives". He had cool relations with his mother from an early age, in part because she felt him to be spoiled and arrogant as a result of his father's overindulgence. Clementine's biographer writes that "Randolph was for decades
8576-413: The betrayals of the Callaghan government . They called for MPs who had acquiesced in Callaghan's policies to be replaced by left-wingers who would support unilateral nuclear disarmament , withdrawal from the European Communities , and widespread nationalisation . Benn did not stand for the leadership; apart from Foot and Healey, the other candidates (both eliminated in the first round) were John Silkin ,
8704-411: The country; sublet her home and moved into a cheap room on the top floor of The Dorchester (very risky during the Blitz ). By accepting hospitality from others most evenings she was able to put her entire salary towards paying Randolph's debts. She may also have had a miscarriage at this time. The marriage was as good as over, and she soon began an affair with her future husband Averell Harriman , who
8832-536: The dangers of Hitler. In 1937 he tried in vain to get an invitation from Unity Mitford to meet Hitler. The diarist "Chips" Channon speculated (15 April) that if Winston Churchill were to return to office under the new Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain the outcome might be "an explosion of foolishness after a short time", war with Germany or even "a seat for Randolph". Churchill warned the House of Commons (19 July 1937) that there were twelve-inch Spanish howitzers trained on Gibraltar . Channon recorded that this reduced
8960-502: The early 1930s Randolph was working as a journalist for the Rothermere press. He wrote in an article in 1932 that he planned to "make an immense fortune and become Prime Minister" He warned that the Nazis meant war as early as March 1932 in his Daily Graphic column; his son Winston later claimed that he was the first British journalist to warn about Hitler. In 1932 Winston Churchill had Philip Laszlo paint an idealised portrait of his son for his 21st birthday. Winston Churchill organised
9088-522: The establishment of a statutory responsibility to provide housing for the homeless, universal Child Benefit , the nationalisation of shipbuilding , abolishing pay beds in NHS hospitals , and housing security for agricultural workers, before the government fell in a vote of no confidence by a single vote. Whilst Leader of the Commons, Foot simultaneously held the post of Lord President of the Council . In 1975, Foot, along with Jennie Lee and others, courted controversy when they supported Indira Gandhi ,
9216-427: The experience, but at the time his lifestyle earned him a magisterial letter of rebuke from his father (29 December 1929), warning him that he was "not acquiring any habits of industry or concentration" and that he would withdraw him from Oxford if he did not knuckle down to study. Winston Churchill had also received a similar and oft-quoted letter of rebuke from his own father, Lord Randolph Churchill , at almost exactly
9344-562: The fewest parliamentary seats since 1935 , which remained the case until Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election . He resigned the party leadership following the election, and was succeeded as party leader by Neil Kinnock . Foot was born in Lipson Terrace, Plymouth , Devon, the fourth son and fifth of seven children of Isaac Foot (1880–1960) and of the Scotswoman Eva (née Mackintosh, died 17 May 1946). Isaac Foot
9472-510: The former. Randolph later wrote "I was lazy and unsuccessful both at work and at games ... and was an unpopular boy". He was once said to have been given "six up" (i.e. a beating) by his house's Captain of Games (a senior boy) for being "bloody awful all round". Michael Foot later wrote that this was "the kind of comprehensive verdict which others who had dealings with him were always searching for." He once wrote apologising to his father for "having done so badly and disappointed you so much". During
9600-524: The grown-ups in the cellar; he also recalled the Armistice celebrations at Blenheim Palace . He went to Sandroyd School in Wiltshire , and later admitted that he had had a problem with authority and discipline. His headmaster reported to his father that he was "very combative". Winston, who had been neglected by his parents as a small boy, visited his son at prep school as often as possible. Randolph
9728-472: The headline "KGB: Michael Foot was our agent", stated in an article of 19 February that the Soviet intelligence services regarded Foot as an "agent of influence" (and a "useful idiot"), codenamed "Agent BOOT", and that he was in the pay of the KGB for many years. Crucially, the newspaper used material from the original manuscript of the book that mentioned Foot by name, something excluded from the published book. At
9856-740: The major part in the government's efforts to maintain the trade unions' support. He was also responsible for the Health and Safety at Work Act , as well as the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act that repealed the Heath ministry 's trade union reforms , and the Employment Protection Act , which introduced legal protections against being sacked for becoming pregnant and legislated for maternity pay. His time as Employment Secretary also saw Acas adopt its current name and modern form as
9984-407: The mass unemployment that followed Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher 's monetarist economic policies to reduce inflation. Most other newspapers urged their readers to vote Conservative. The Labour Party, led by Foot, lost to the Conservatives in a landslide – a result that had been widely predicted by the opinion polls since the previous summer. The only consolation for Foot and Labour
10112-569: The match. She was charmed by Randolph's parents, both of whom warmed to her and felt she would be a good influence on him. They were married in October 1939. On their wedding night, Randolph read her chunks of Edward Gibbon 's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire . Despite this, she became pregnant by the spring of 1940. In May 1940, Randolph's father, to whom he remained close both politically and socially, became prime minister, just as
10240-412: The medium of television , while Foot addressed public meetings around the country, and made some radio broadcasts, in the same manner as Clement Attlee did in 1945. The Daily Mirror was the only major newspaper to back Foot and the Labour Party at the 1983 general election, urging its readers to vote Labour and "Stop the waste of our nation, for your job your children and your future" in response to
10368-590: The mid-1930s, although Winston's biographer Andrew Roberts believes the latter claim unlikely to be true. Randolph, then aged just 21, was sent to Paraguay in August 1932 by Beaverbrook's Daily Express . Just after his arrival in Asunción , he conducted an interview with Major Arturo Bray Riquelme, Director of the Military School and Commander of the R.I. 6 "Boquerón", formed from the officers and cadets of
10496-424: The most senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) of a military unit. The term major can also be used with a hyphen to denote the leader of a military band such as in pipe-major or drum-major . Alphabetically sorted by name of country: Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot FRSL (23 July 1913 – 3 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of
10624-485: The next 18 months before he resigned. Foot was elected Labour leader on 10 November 1980, beating Denis Healey in the second round of the leadership election (the last leadership contest to involve only Labour MPs). Foot presented himself as a compromise candidate, capable – unlike Healey – of uniting the party, which at the time was riven by the grassroots left-wing insurgency centred around Tony Benn . The Bennites were demanding revenge for what they considered to be
10752-538: The next opposition. Through late 1982 and early 1983, there was constant speculation that Labour MPs would replace Foot with Healey as leader. Such speculation increased after Labour lost the 1983 Bermondsey by-election , in which Peter Tatchell was Labour candidate, standing against a Conservative, a Liberal (eventual winner Simon Hughes ) and John O'Grady, who had declared himself the Real Bermondsey Labour candidate. Critically, Labour held on in
10880-707: The novelist in a fatwā , and took a strongly pro-interventionist position against Serbia and Montenegro during the Yugoslav Wars , supporting NATO forces whilst citing defence of civilian populations in Croatia and Bosnia . In addition, he was among the Patrons of the British-Croatian Society. The Guardian ' s political editor Michael White criticised Foot's "overgenerous" support for Croatian President Franjo Tuđman . Foot remained
11008-501: The official Conservative vote and letting in a winning Labour candidate, although Winston appeared to support Randolph on the hustings. Michael Foot was an eyewitness at Wavertree, where he blamed Baldwin's India policy for hurting the Lancashire cotton trade. When he asked rhetorically, "And who is responsible for putting Liverpool where she is today?" a heckler shouted, " Blackburn Rovers !". "He collected 10,000 Independent votes in
11136-460: The original debate had attained). Randolph had persuaded a number of other former students, life members of the Union, to attend in the hope of carrying his motion. A bodyguard of Oxford Conservatives and police escorted Churchill back to his hotel after the debate. Sir Edward Heath recorded in his memoirs that after the debate some of the undergraduates had been intent on debagging him. Winston Churchill wrote praising his son's courage in addressing
11264-620: The outset to be Labour's choice of new leader. Foot took a back seat in Labour politics following 1983 and retired from the House of Commons at the 1992 general election , when Labour lost to the Conservative Party (led by John Major ) for the fourth election in succession, but remained politically active. From 1987 to 1992, he was the oldest sitting British MP (preceding former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath ). He defended Salman Rushdie , after Ayatollah Khomeini advocated killing
11392-577: The party by Militant . Oleg Gordievsky , a high-ranking KGB officer who defected from the Soviet Union to the UK in 1985, made allegations against Foot in his 1995 memoirs. Essentially, the allegations claimed that, up until 1968, Foot had spoken to KGB agents "dozens of times", passing information about politics and the trade unions, and Foot had been paid a total of around £1,500 for his information (said to be worth £37,000 in 2018). The Sunday Times , which serialised Gordievsky's book under
11520-476: The press. Foot fought the Plymouth Devonport constituency in the 1945 general election . His election agent was Labour activist and lifelong friend Ron Lemin. He won the seat for Labour for the first time, holding it until his surprise defeat by Dame Joan Vickers at the 1955 general election . Until 1957, he was the most prominent ally of Aneurin Bevan , who had taken Cripps's place as leader of
11648-480: The same age. Randolph dropped out of Oxford in October 1930 to conduct a lecture tour of the US. He was already in debt; his mother guessed correctly that he would never finish his degree. Contrary to his later claims, his father attempted to dissuade him at the time. Unlike his father, who had become a powerful orator through much practice, and whose speeches always required extensive preparation, public speaking came easily to Randolph. His son later recorded that this
11776-438: The shirt number 90. This made him the oldest registered professional player in the history of football. Foot was married to the film-maker, author and feminist historian Jill Craigie (1911–1999) from 1949 until her death fifty years later. He had no children. In February 2007, it was revealed that Foot had an extramarital affair with a woman around 35 years his junior in the early 1970s. The affair, which lasted nearly
11904-553: The so-called "Gang of Four") left Labour and formed the Social Democratic Party , which was launched on 26 March 1981. This was largely seen as the consequence of the Labour Party's swing to the left, polarising divisions in an already divided party. The SDP won the support of large sections of the British media . For most of 1981 and early 1982, its opinion poll ratings suggested that the SDP could at least overtake Labour and possibly win
12032-618: The summer he was summoned to the High Court to pay damages of £1,000; when advised that without an apology his career in politics was over, he immediately backtracked. Randolph Churchill was an effective manipulator of the media, using his family name to obtain coverage in newspapers such as the Daily Mail . In the November 1935 general election he stood as the official Conservative candidate at Labour-held West Toxteth ; reportedly he
12160-410: The then- European Economic Community . Gerald Kaufman , once Harold Wilson 's press officer and during the 1980s a prominent figure on the Labour right-wing, described the 1983 Labour manifesto as " the longest suicide note in history ." As a statement on internal democracy, Foot passed the edict that the manifesto would consist of all resolutions arrived at conference. The party also failed to master
12288-874: The time a leading article in The Independent newspaper asserted: "It seems extraordinary that such an unreliable figure should now be allowed, given the lack of supporting evidence, to damage the reputation of figures such as Mr Foot." In a February 1992 interview, Gordievsky declared that he had no further revelations to make about the Labour Party. Foot successfully sued the Sunday Times , winning "substantial" damages. Following Foot's death, Charles Moore writing in The Daily Telegraph in 2010 gave an account that he said had been provided to him by Gordievsky, containing additional uncorroborated information concerning his allegations. Moore said there
12416-513: The time was the American actress Claire Luce , who often visited him in camp. He appears to have decided that as Winston's only son, it was his duty to marry and sire an heir in case he was killed, a common motivation among young men at the time. He quickly became engaged to Pamela Digby in late September 1939. It was rumoured that Randolph had proposed to eight women in the previous few weeks, and Pamela's friends and parents were not pleased about
12544-644: The war, Foot made a speech that was later featured in the documentary TV series The World at War broadcast in February 1974. Foot was speaking in defence of the Daily Mirror , which had criticised the conduct of the war by the Churchill government . He mocked the notion that the Government would make no more territorial demands of other newspapers if they allowed the Mirror to be censored. Foot left
12672-471: The word stems from the Latin word major meaning "greater". The rank can be traced back to the rank of sergeant major general , which was shortened to sergeant major , and subsequently shortened to major . When used in hyphenated or combined fashion, the term can also imply seniority at other levels of rank, including major general , denoting a low-level general officer, and sergeant major , denoting
12800-611: Was "insufferable". On leave in January 1942, he criticised the Tories for exculpating Winston Churchill's decision to defend Greece and Crete. He was sensitive to the "co-operation and self-sacrifice" of parts of the Empire that in 1942 were in more immediate danger than the British Isles, mentioning Australia and Malaya which suffered under Japanese threats of invasion. He was scathing of Sir Herbert Williams' Official Report into
12928-418: Was "unfortunate in his manner and phrasing" and was met with "delighted jeers". He then attempted to withdraw the motion. Hardie was willing to permit this, but an ex-president pointed out from the floor that a vote of the whole house was required to allow a motion to be withdrawn. The request to withdraw was defeated by acclamation and the motion was then defeated by 750 votes to 138 (a far better attendance than
13056-482: Was a mixed blessing: "because of the very facility with which he could speak extemporaneously [he] failed to make the effort required to bring him more success". Randolph very nearly married Kay Halle of Cleveland , Ohio, seven years his senior. His father wrote begging him not to be so foolish as to marry before he had established a career. Clementine visited him in December, using money Winston had given her to buy
13184-585: Was a solicitor and founder of the Plymouth law firm Foot and Bowden (which amalgamated with another firm to become Foot Anstey). Isaac Foot, an active member of the Liberal Party , served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Bodmin in Cornwall from 1922 to 1924 and again from 1929 to 1935, and as a Lord Mayor of Plymouth. Michael Foot's siblings included: Sir Dingle Foot MP (1905–78),
13312-465: Was already 67 years old and frail. Following the 1979 energy crisis , Britain went into recession in 1980, which was blamed on the Conservative government 's controversial monetarist policy against inflation, which had the effect of increasing unemployment . As a result, Labour had moved ahead of the Conservatives in the opinion polls. Following Foot's election as leader, opinion polls showed
13440-595: Was also staying at the Dorchester at the time. Once in Egypt, Randolph served as a General Staff (Intelligence) officer at Middle East HQ. Averell Harriman visited Randolph in Cairo in June 1941 to bring him news of his family. Randolph, who himself had a long-term mistress and several casual girlfriends at the time, had no idea yet that he was being cuckolded. He had recently been reduced to tears on being told to his face by
13568-495: Was an ardent supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and of British withdrawal from the European Economic Community (EEC). He was appointed to Harold Wilson 's Cabinet as Employment Secretary in 1974, and he later was Leader of the House of Commons from 1976 to 1979 under James Callaghan . He was also Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under Callaghan from 1976 to 1980. Elected as
13696-493: Was based at Plymouth at the time) to Cherbourg to bring the Duke and Duchess of Windsor back to England from their exile. Randolph was on board the destroyer untidily attired in his 4th Hussars uniform; he had attached the spurs to his boots upside down. The Duke was mildly shocked and insisted on bending down to fit Randolph's spurs correctly. Randolph was in love with Laura Charteris (she did not reciprocate) but his mistress at
13824-510: Was born at his parents' house at Eccleston Square , London, on 28 May 1911. His parents nicknamed him "the Chumbolly" before he was born. His father Winston Churchill was already a leading Liberal Cabinet Minister, and Randolph was christened in the House of Commons crypt on 26 October 1911, with Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey and Conservative politician F. E. Smith among his godparents . Randolph and his older sister Diana had for
13952-650: Was celebrating the successful conclusion of the Tunisian Campaign . Randolph, along with his sister Sarah, accompanied his father to the Tehran Conference in November 1943. On the way back they quarrelled again about his failed marriage, which may have contributed to the serious heart attack which Winston Churchill suffered at Tunis. He visited his father, who was laid up with pneumonia , in Marrakesh in December 1943 ( General Alexander gave him
14080-525: Was certainly nothing wrong with his television technique in those days," reflected Anthony Howard shortly after Foot's death. Foot returned to parliament at a by-election in Ebbw Vale , Monmouthshire , in 1960, the seat having been left vacant by Bevan's death. He had the Labour whip withdrawn in March 1961 after rebelling against the Labour leadership over Royal Air Force estimates. He only returned to
14208-465: Was converted to socialism by Oxford University Labour Club president David Lewis , a Canadian Rhodes scholar, and others: "I knew him [at Oxford] when I was a Liberal [and Lewis] played a part in converting me to socialism." Foot joined the Labour Party and first stood for parliament, aged 22, at the 1935 general election , where he contested Monmouth . During the election, Foot criticised
14336-594: Was educated at Plymouth College Preparatory School , Forres School in Swanage , and Leighton Park School in Reading . When he left Forres School, the headmaster sent a letter to his father in which he said "he has been the leading boy in the school in every way". He then went on to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Wadham College, Oxford . Foot was a president of the Oxford Union . He also took part in
14464-557: Was followed by a car, both to witness the event and in case his blisters became too painful to walk further, and made it with around twenty minutes to spare. To his great annoyance, his brother officers did not pay up. On the outbreak of war, Randolph's father was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty . He sent Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten , along with Lieutenant Randolph Churchill, aboard HMS Kelly (which
14592-472: Was his only son. On a visit to Italy in 1927 Winston and Randolph were received by Pope Pius XI . In later life "relations between Winston and Randolph were always uneasy, the father alternately spoiling and being infuriated by the son." In April 1928 Winston forwarded a satisfactory school report to Clementine, who was in Florence, commenting that Randolph was "developing fast" and would be fit for politics,
14720-657: Was in love and who was in the process of getting divorced. Evelyn Waugh recorded that Pamela "hates him so much that she can't sit in a room with him". By November 1942 Randolph had formally left her; his parents, who adored their baby grandson Winston, sympathised with Pamela. In November 1942 he visited Morocco to witness the American landings . Randolph encouraged the conversion of Vichy fighters to de Gaulle 's army, submitting reports to Parliament on 23 February 1943. In May 1943 Randolph visited his father in Algiers , where he
14848-506: Was long and lively, carried out in wintry conditions in which Randolph and the other candidates drove many miles over narrow mountain tracks, carrying spades in their cars to dig themselves out of snowdrifts, to reach far areas of the large constituency. Although Randolph enjoyed it all enormously, he was defeated again. This embarrassed his father, who was hoping to be offered a Cabinet position at this time. In September 1936, at his father's behest, Randolph pursued his younger sister Sarah to
14976-575: Was no evidence to show that Foot gave away state secrets. Foot was a passionate supporter of Plymouth Argyle Football Club from his childhood and once remarked that he was not going to die until he had seen them play in the Premier League . He served for several years as a director of the club, seeing two promotions under his tenure. For his 90th birthday, Foot was registered with the Football League as an honorary player and given
15104-552: Was not as successful as that of his father or grandfather Lord Randolph Churchill . In an attempt to assert his own political standing he announced in January 1935 that he was a candidate in the Wavertree by-election in Liverpool; on 6 February 1935, an Independent Conservative on a platform of rearmament and opposition to Indian Home Rule . His campaign was funded by Lucy, Lady Houston , an eccentric ardent nationalist who owned
15232-527: Was not at all good" and commented that he should have had it well-practised by now, although she was impressed by his delivery. She went home in April 1931, having enjoyed Randolph's company in New York. She would later look back on the trip with nostalgia. Randolph's lecture tour earned him $ 12,000 (£2,500 at the then rate of exchange, roughly £150,000 at 2020 prices). By the time of his mother's arrival he had already spent £1,000 in three months, despite being on
15360-605: Was regarded as having a calming influence on him, although his housemaster Colonel Sheepshanks wrongly suspected Randolph and Tom of being lovers; Randolph replied, "I happen to be in love with his sister". Randolph was "a loquacious and precocious boy". From his teenage years he was encouraged to attend his father's dinner parties with leading politicians of the day, drink and have his say, and he later recorded that he would simply have laughed at anyone who had suggested that he would not go straight into politics and perhaps even become prime minister by his mid-twenties like William Pitt
15488-630: Was set up in early 1937 to support the Unity Campaign, an attempt to secure an anti-fascist united front between Labour and other left-wing parties. The campaign's members were Stafford Cripps 's (Labour-affiliated) Socialist League , the Independent Labour Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain (CP). Foot resigned in 1938 after the paper's first editor, William Mellor , was sacked for refusing to adopt
15616-481: Was so unwelcome that they threw bananas. The Earl of Derby lent his support, and Randolph continued to aid the Conservative campaigning across the city. He stood for Parliament a third time, as a Unionist on 10 February 1936 in a by-election at Ross and Cromarty , opposed to the National Government candidacy of Malcolm MacDonald . Randolph's campaign was funded by Lady Houston for a third time. It
15744-513: Was still earning £1,500 per annum as a Lord Beaverbrook journalist, lost £3,000 gambling on the voyage. Pamela had to go to Beaverbrook, who refused her an advance on Randolph's salary. Declining his offer of an outright gift (it is unclear whether submitting to his sexual advances was a condition), she sold her wedding presents, including jewellery; took a job in Beaverbrook's ministry, arranging accommodation for workers being redeployed around
15872-513: Was that they did not lose their place in opposition to the SDP–Liberal Alliance , who came close to them in terms of votes but were still a long way behind in terms of seats. Foot was very critical of the Alliance, accusing them of "siphoning" Labour support and enabling the Tories to win more seats. Foot resigned days following the bitter election defeat, and was succeeded as leader on 2 October by Neil Kinnock ; who had been tipped from
16000-482: Was the favourite to pick up most of Crosland's votes. The second ballot saw Short increase his total to 145 votes, while Foot's only rose to 116, giving Short victory by 29 votes. When, in 1974, Labour returned to office under Wilson, Foot became Secretary of State for Employment . According to Ben Pimlott, his appointment was intended to please the left of the party and the Trade Unions. In this role, he played
16128-453: Was very good-looking as a child and into his twenties. In his autobiography Twenty-One Years (pp. 24–25) he recorded that at the age of ten he had been "interfered with" by a junior prep school master, who made Randolph touch him sexually, only to leap embarrassed to his feet when a matron came in. At home, a maid overheard Randolph confiding in his sister Diana. He later wrote that he had never seen his father so angry, and that he had made
16256-697: Was widely suspected, including by Randolph himself, that secret orders had been given that the 4th Hussars were not to be sent into action (they were, as soon as Randolph transferred out). Randolph transferred to No. 8 (Guards) Commando . In February 1941 they were sent out, a six-week journey via the Cape of Good Hope and the East Coast of Africa, avoiding the Central Mediterranean where the Italian navy and Axis air forces were strong. Randolph, who
16384-447: Was wrongly attributed to Randolph Churchill. Randolph was elected unopposed to Parliament for Preston at a wartime by-election in September 1940. Soon afterwards, his son Winston was born on 10 October 1940. During the first year of marriage, Randolph had no home of his own until Brendan Bracken found them a vicarage at Ickleford , near Hitchin , Hertfordshire . Pamela often had to ask Winston to pay Randolph's gambling debts. It
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