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Neil Hamilton (politician)
Encyclopedia
Mostyn Neil Hamilton is a former British barrister
, teacher
and Conservative
MP
. Since losing his seat in 1997 and leaving politics, Hamilton and his wife Christine
have become media celebrities. In Who's Who
, Hamilton now describes himself as being a writer, actor, broadcaster and entertainer.
In September 2011 Hamilton attended the UKIP conference and commented he is available to assist the party. The leader of the party Nigel Farage
pledged to support him in the national executive committee election, and he was elected on 1 November.
pit village
near Blackwood. Both of his grandfathers were coal miners, but in the 1950s Hamilton moved to Ammanford because his father was a chief engineer
for the National Coal Board
. He grew up in Tirydail, and joined the Conservative party in 1964.
Following education at Ammanford Grammar School in Carmarthenshire
, Hamilton studied economics
at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and law at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
, where he attained a post-graduate law degree between 1976 and 1977.
While at Aberystwyth he was a leading light in the Federation of Conservative Students
, of which he was a member between 1968 and 1974. Hamilton first came to national attention after attending and addressing the 1973 conference of the Italian neo-fascist party, the Italian Social Movement
(MSI), as a delegate from the Federation of Conservative Students.
, as it was then called. In 1973, he stood as chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students against David Davis
but was defeated. In the February 1974 general election
, Hamilton stood as the Conservative candidate in Abertillery
and at the 1979 general election
as a parliamentary candidate in Bradford North
, but was not elected on either occasion.
He was for some years a member of the right-wing Conservative Monday Club
and was elected to its Executive Council in 1972, but he left the group a year later.
He worked as a teacher between 1973 and 1976 at St John's College, Southsea, and privately studied for the Bar in his spare time. Hamilton also taught constitutional law
at Hatfield Polytechnic
between September 1978 and July 1982. From September 1979, Hamilton was a barrister, specialising in taxation law. However, after he lost his seat in 1997, he vowed never to return to "that constipated profession" and in April 2001 said, "If I am bankrupt, [which he was the following month] I won't be able to return to the bar but even if I was able to do so, I couldn't contain myself from saying what I thought to some of the judges."
during this time. He was selected as the Conservative candidate for the newly-created Tatton constituency on 12 March 1983, after being runner-up for Bournemouth West
and other constituencies. He was elected to Parliament
three months later, at the 1983 general election
as the MP for the Tatton constituency
. On 4 June 1983, five days before polling day, he married Mary Christine Holman, secretary to Tory MP Michael Grylls
, in Cornwall
.
In 1984 Hamilton strongly supported leaded petrol and criticised his own party for seeking to abolish it, saying that there was no evidence it was damaging to the environment and that jobs would be lost in his constituency if it was banned, as it later was.
Despite holding very strong Thatcherite views, such as being anti-trade union
, immigration
and child benefit, and being pro-free market
and supporting capital punishment
and privatisation, he was not favoured or given rapid promotion. Hamilton was in favour of coal mine closures and nuclear power
as an energy of the future. He also supported the freedom to smoke, the right of people to sell their organs, which the Thatcher government refused to allow, and Welsh as a national language and was one of ten MPs to vote against the government on an EEC
bill vote in April 1986.
, also one of his closest friends, successfully sued the BBC
for libel in October 1986 after a Panorama
programme, "Maggie's Militant Tendency", broadcast on 30 January 1984, stated that the MPs had links with far-right groups in Europe and in the UK. The programme had alleged that he gave a Nazi salute in Berlin while 'messing around' on a Parliamentary visit in August 1983. According to the Guardian, he later admitted in The Sunday Times
that he gave "a little salute with two fingers to his nose to give the impression of a toothbrush moustache."
The two MPs' case was financed largely by Sir James Goldsmith though David Davis, then a director of Tate and Lyle, persuaded the company to donate a sum to the cause. Lord Harris of High Cross, who helped to finance Hamilton's failed libel action against Mohammed Al-Fayed 13 years later, also raised around £100,000.
During the case, Hamilton said that he was "The Mike Yarwood
of the Federation of Young Conservatives"., and that he frequently sent up public figures such as Frankie Howerd
, Harold Wilson
, Edward Heath
, Charles De Gaulle
and Enoch Powell
. Hamilton did an impression of Hitler whilst in the defence box by putting two fingers under his nose. Hamilton claimed he had blacked up in 1982 as an Idi Amin
look-a-like and dressed as Canon James Owen on a boat on the River Cam
.
The BBC capitulated on 21 October. According to the BBC Director-General Alasdair Milne
, he was instructed to do so by the Governors. The corporation had to pay the pair'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 to both.
In a Sunday Times article, Hamilton denied that any malicious intent was behind the salute. He also pointed out that one of the party present, Julian Lewis
, was a Jew himself and that a "number of his relatives were killed by the Nazis during the war". Hamilton and Howarth dropped their libel action against Philip Pedley, who was the principal source of material in the programme, as they believed that extracting an apology from him was not "worth the bother of obtaining". On 3 December 1986, Hamilton and Howarth both agreed to pay Pedley's costs incurred in the six weeks since they defeated the BBC, as the case was formally brought to an end.
After winning the case, Hamilton was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary
to David Mitchell
in December 1986.
and a few other Labour left-wingers. Hamilton attended Heffer's memorial service on 10 July 1991.
In January 1987 he asserted that Frank Dobson
, during a debate on amputees that "He does not have a leg to stand on". Later that year, he told Jeremy Corbyn
that some of his IRA friends could be used to get rid of pensioners by shooting them. During a debate, Greville Janner
said he that lost half of his family in the Holocaust. Hamilton allegedly replied "Unfortunately, the wrong half"
Hamilton said Augusto Pinochet
being leader in Chile
was a "Good thing". When the pop music world collaborated to stage a free Nelson Mandela concert at Wembley in June 1988, at a time when the ANC leader was still behind bars, Hamilton attacked the BBC for screening the event. He also called the ANC
a "Typical terrorist organisation".
In November 1989, he won the Spectator
parliamentary wit of the year award. He jokingly remarked that when told of winning the award, he thought it was for being the "Twit of the year".
Margaret Thatcher made him a whip
in July 1990.
Hamilton vehemently urged Thatcher to fight on to a second ballot in November 1990 during the leadership contest and was devastated when she resigned. Hamilton had initially leaned towards voting for Michael Heseltine
, as had a few other Right-wingers, such as Michael Brown
and Edward Leigh
, because they took the view that "Heseltine had stabbed Thatcher in the front". He saw her at Downing Street
late on 21 November 1990, with Michael Portillo
, Michael Forsyth
, Michael Fallon
and Ian Twinn
, in the desperate hope of persuading her not to resign, and to fight a second ballot. At a meeting earlier that week, when Peter Lilley
argued that Thatcher could not survive, Hamilton subjected him to a barrage of "sarcasm and heckling".
Hamilton eventually voted for John Major
, though Norman Tebbit
had to persuade him to do so as he and Christopher Chope
, a close friend with identical views, were going to write "Thatcher" on their ballot papers as a protest. For a while after Thatcher's resignation, Hamilton's enthusiasm for any type of Conservative government waned.
Hamilton was the minister for deregulation
and corporate affairs from April 1992 to October 1994 in John Major's government. Despite being hostile to the Maastricht Treaty
and being delighted when, on 2 June 1992, Denmark rejected it, he remained a Major government loyalist, persuading several right-wing ministers not to resign, mainly over Europe, but also over several other issues. Despite being generally supportive of the government, even after his resignation in October 1994, he voted for John Redwood
in the 1995 leadership contest. Hamilton was bitterly disappointed when Michael Portillo did not challenge Major for the leadership, as he believed he was more electable than Redwood and if he had, he would have obtained more votes, forcing Major to resign.
published an article claiming that Hamilton, and another minister, Tim Smith
, had received money, paid in the form of cash in brown envelopes, from Harrods
' owner Mohamed Al-Fayed
, for asking questions on his behalf in the House of Commons. Smith admitted his guilt and resigned immediately. Hamilton claimed innocence but was eventually forced to resign his position as Corporate Affairs Minister on 25 October.
Hamilton sued The Guardian, along with Ian Greer, and had a 300-year-old law changed so he could do so, which was the Defamation Bill - altering the Bill of Rights 1689
by permitting what had been said in Parliament to be questioned in the courts. The Defamation Act 1996
gained Royal Assent in July 1996. However, on 30 September 1996, a day before the libel trial was due to begin, Hamilton and Greer claimed that a conflict of interest arose and both men dropped the libel action, saying that they could not afford to continue. They each paid £7,500 to The Guardians legal costs. All the cash for questions evidence was sent to Sir Gordon Downey
, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
. On the evening of 1 October 1996, on Newsnight
, Hamilton took part in a televised live debate with Alan Rusbridger
, the editor of The Guardian.
During the 1997 General Election
, Hamilton was determined to hold on to his parliamentary seat in what was then the fourth safest Conservative seat in the country. Hamilton's majority at the 1992 General Election was almost 16,000. Conservative Central Office said that selection of candidates was purely a matter for the local party and refused to intervene. On 8 April 1997, he won a candidacy selection vote by 182 to 35, although 100 members of the local party abstained. Hamilton said that if the Downey report found against him, he would resign as an MP.
decided to stand as an independent candidate in Tatton, the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates stood down in order to give him a clear run against Hamilton. Bell trounced Hamilton, winning by a majority of over 11,000 votes. Despite vowing that he would return to Parliament in the speech he made afterwards, this defeat marked the end of Hamilton's political career.
, the former health minister, told the cash-for-questions inquiry how Hamilton had been unmoved, in May 1988, by a set of photographs showing cancers that could be caused to young people by a product he was promoting. Hamilton apparently said that they were not relevant. The Thatcher government banned the sale of Skoal
bandit products in the UK in late 1989. Both Hamilton and Michael Brown
received a £6,000 fee and hospitality from Skoal bandits.
Hamilton was found guilty of taking cash for questions, along with Tim Smith, by Sir Gordon Downey on 3 July 1997. Both Hamilton and Smith were both severely criticised in the report, along with Michael Brown and Michael Grylls
. The recommendation was that if Hamilton and Smith were still MPs, both would have been given a substantial suspension from the House of Commons. Downey said that that evidence that Hamilton took cash from Al-Fayed for asking questions was "compelling" and that he was unlikely to have taken less than £25,000. Also, according the report, Hamilton deliberately misled Michael Heseltine, then President of the Board of Trade, in October 1994, when he said he had no financial relationship with Ian Greer. In a phone conversation, Hamilton gave an absolute assurance to Heseltine that there was no such relationship. In fact, he had received two commission payments from Greer in 1988 and 1989, totalling £10,000. According to the report, Hamilton asked for payment in kind so the money would not be taxable. He also failed to register his stays at the Ritz
in Paris and at Al-Fayed's castle in Scotland in 1989.
Hamilton rejected these findings, whereas Smith, who had stood down, accepted them, apologised for his conduct, and retired from politics altogether.
Hamilton launched an appeal on 14 October 1997 and appealed to a new committee, which on 6 November only partially endorsed Sir Gordon Downey's findings, but still criticised his behaviour whilst an MP. In March 1999, George Osborne
was selected by the Tatton Conservative association to be their candidate for the next general election.
Dispatches programme in January 1997. Al-Fayed had claimed that Hamilton had demanded and accepted cash payments, gift vouchers and a free holiday at the Paris Ritz, in return for asking parliamentary questions on behalf of Harrods.
Hamilton was given permission to sue on 31 July 1998. Money was raised, with again, the late Lord Harris of High Cross being one of the chief fund raisers, along with the Earl of Portsmouth
and Taki
, a journalist, another donator to the 1986 libel action against the BBC, donating £50,000. Other contributors to the fund included Simon Heffer
, Norris McWhirter
, a Scots Tory Peter Clarke, Lord Bell, Gyles Brandreth
and Gerald Howarth
, who sued the BBC with Hamilton thirteen years before. Other contributors included about 40 Tory MPs, out of the party's 165 at the time. In total, around £410,000 was raised.
Hamilton took Mohamed Al-Fayed to court for libel in November 1999, but after he and his wife Christine had been cross-examined by George Carman
QC, he lost on 21 December when the eleven jurors determined that he had corruptly taken and demanded £10,000 from Mobil Oil in 1989. Hamilton demanded the money as payment for tabling an amendment to a Finance Bill on behalf of Mobil. At the time, Hamilton was a member of the Commons finance select committee.
He also lost the subsequent appeal in December 2000. In April 2001, he was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords
. On 22 May 2001, unable to pay his legal fees and with costs amounting to some £3m, he was declared bankrupt. He was discharged from bankruptcy in May 2004. Former Granada
journalist Jonathan Boyd Hunt investigated the "Cash For Questions" affair and declared in his book Trial By Conspiracy that the case against Hamilton was untrue.
a week after Neil lost his Tatton seat. Angus Deayton
, the chairman of the panel game
, wore a white suit instead of his usual brown one, in reference to Martin Bell
, who wore such a suit throughout the election campaign at which he had just defeated Hamilton.
The subject of numerous taunts about the scandal, the Hamiltons were given their "fee" in brown envelopes at the end of the show. At one point Hamilton quipped, "I've found it's much better making political jokes than being one." Since then they have often appeared on chat shows. They have appeared on programmes such as The Weakest Link
and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
, as well as in pantomime
. In an appearance on a celebrity edition of Mastermind
on Boxing Day
2004, Hamilton described himself as being "an object of professional curiosity".
. The investigation against them was dropped when it became apparent that the accusations were entirely false. The episode of their lives regarding the alleged rape was captured on film by Louis Theroux
, who at that time was filming the Hamiltons for an episode of When Louis Met.... In June 2003, the woman who had fabricated the accusation, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, was imprisoned for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
In February 2005, the publicist Max Clifford
, who had acted for Milroy-Sloan, paid an undisclosed sum in damages to settle for the 2001 rape allegations.
, Wiltshire
, in October 2004.
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
and Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. Since losing his seat in 1997 and leaving politics, Hamilton and his wife Christine
Christine Hamilton
Christine Hamilton is a British television personality and author, and the wife of former British Member of Parliament Neil Hamilton who was Minister for Corporate Affairs between 1992-1994....
have become media celebrities. In Who's Who
Who's Who
Who's Who is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on a particular group of people...
, Hamilton now describes himself as being a writer, actor, broadcaster and entertainer.
In September 2011 Hamilton attended the UKIP conference and commented he is available to assist the party. The leader of the party Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage MEP , a position he previously held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a current Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group....
pledged to support him in the national executive committee election, and he was elected on 1 November.
Early life
Hamilton was born at Fleur-de-Lis, a MonmouthshireMonmouthshire (historic)
Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....
pit village
Pit village
A pit village is a term used in the UK for the village serving a deep coal mine.Many of the workers lived in houses that were provided by the colliery. Many villages have experienced depopulation after colliery closures forced people to move to other towns and cities where there are jobs for them...
near Blackwood. Both of his grandfathers were coal miners, but in the 1950s Hamilton moved to Ammanford because his father was a chief engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
for the National Coal Board
British Coal
thumb|right|British Coal company logoThe British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation in the United Kingdom responsible for the extraction of coal...
. He grew up in Tirydail, and joined the Conservative party in 1964.
Following education at Ammanford Grammar School in Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
, Hamilton studied economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and law at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
, where he attained a post-graduate law degree between 1976 and 1977.
While at Aberystwyth he was a leading light in the Federation of Conservative Students
Federation of Conservative Students
The Federation of Conservative Students was the student organisation of the British Conservative Party from the late 1940s to 1986. It was created to act as a bridge between the student movement and the Conservative Party....
, of which he was a member between 1968 and 1974. Hamilton first came to national attention after attending and addressing the 1973 conference of the Italian neo-fascist party, the Italian Social Movement
Italian Social Movement
The Italian Social Movement , and later the Italian Social Movement–National Right , was a neo-fascist and post-fascist political party in Italy. Formed in 1946 by supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the party became the fourth largest party in Italy by the early 1960s...
(MSI), as a delegate from the Federation of Conservative Students.
Early career
At the 1970 Conservative party conference, Hamilton called for mass privatisation and, a year later, spoke against entering the EECEEC
EEC is an abbreviation that usually refers to the European Economic Community, the forerunner to the European Union.It may also refer to;* The East Erie Commercial Railroad, a shortline in Pennsylvania...
, as it was then called. In 1973, he stood as chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students against David Davis
David Davis (British politician)
David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...
but was defeated. In the February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, Hamilton stood as the Conservative candidate in Abertillery
Abertillery
Abertillery is a town in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent in South Wales, north-west of Newport, originally on the Great Western Railway. Its population rose steeply during the period of mining development in South Wales, being 10,846 in the 1891 census and 21,945 ten years later...
and at the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
as a parliamentary candidate in Bradford North
Bradford North (UK Parliament constituency)
Bradford North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until it was abolished for the 2010 general election, it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
, but was not elected on either occasion.
He was for some years a member of the right-wing Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
and was elected to its Executive Council in 1972, but he left the group a year later.
He worked as a teacher between 1973 and 1976 at St John's College, Southsea, and privately studied for the Bar in his spare time. Hamilton also taught constitutional law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
at Hatfield Polytechnic
University of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire is a new university based largely in Hatfield, in the county of Hertfordshire, England, from which the university takes its name. It has more than 27,500 students, over 2500 staff, with a turnover of over £181m...
between September 1978 and July 1982. From September 1979, Hamilton was a barrister, specialising in taxation law. However, after he lost his seat in 1997, he vowed never to return to "that constipated profession" and in April 2001 said, "If I am bankrupt, [which he was the following month] I won't be able to return to the bar but even if I was able to do so, I couldn't contain myself from saying what I thought to some of the judges."
Parliamentary career
Hamilton was also European and Parliamentary Affairs Director of the Institute of DirectorsInstitute of Directors
The Institute of Directors is a UK-based organisation, established in 1903 and incorporated by royal charter in 1906 to support, represent and set standards for company directors...
during this time. He was selected as the Conservative candidate for the newly-created Tatton constituency on 12 March 1983, after being runner-up for Bournemouth West
Bournemouth West
-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:-Notes and references:...
and other constituencies. He was elected to Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
three months later, at the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
as the MP for the Tatton constituency
Tatton (UK Parliament constituency)
- Elections in the 1990s :- Elections in the 1980s :- Sources :* Data for the 2005 election are from the .* Data for the 2001 election are from http://www.election.demon.co.uk/....
. On 4 June 1983, five days before polling day, he married Mary Christine Holman, secretary to Tory MP Michael Grylls
Michael Grylls
Sir William Michael John Grylls, known as Michael Grylls, was a British Conservative politician. He was implicated in the cash-for-questions affair, a poitical scandal of the 1990s...
, in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
In 1984 Hamilton strongly supported leaded petrol and criticised his own party for seeking to abolish it, saying that there was no evidence it was damaging to the environment and that jobs would be lost in his constituency if it was banned, as it later was.
Despite holding very strong Thatcherite views, such as being anti-trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and child benefit, and being pro-free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
and supporting capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
and privatisation, he was not favoured or given rapid promotion. Hamilton was in favour of coal mine closures and nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
as an energy of the future. He also supported the freedom to smoke, the right of people to sell their organs, which the Thatcher government refused to allow, and Welsh as a national language and was one of ten MPs to vote against the government on an EEC
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
bill vote in April 1986.
BBC libel case
Hamilton and fellow MP Gerald HowarthGerald Howarth
James Gerald Douglas Howarth known as Gerald Howarth is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Aldershot since 1997, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992....
, also one of his closest friends, successfully sued the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
for libel in October 1986 after a Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
programme, "Maggie's Militant Tendency", broadcast on 30 January 1984, stated that the MPs had links with far-right groups in Europe and in the UK. The programme had alleged that he gave a Nazi salute in Berlin while 'messing around' on a Parliamentary visit in August 1983. According to the Guardian, he later admitted in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
that he gave "a little salute with two fingers to his nose to give the impression of a toothbrush moustache."
The two MPs' case was financed largely by Sir James Goldsmith though David Davis, then a director of Tate and Lyle, persuaded the company to donate a sum to the cause. Lord Harris of High Cross, who helped to finance Hamilton's failed libel action against Mohammed Al-Fayed 13 years later, also raised around £100,000.
During the case, Hamilton said that he was "The Mike Yarwood
Mike Yarwood
Mike Yarwood, OBE is an English impressionist and comedian. He was one of Britain's top-rated entertainers, regularly appearing on television from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s. He left Bredbury Secondary Modern School in 1956 and worked as a messenger and then salesman at a garment warehouse...
of the Federation of Young Conservatives"., and that he frequently sent up public figures such as Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
, Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, Charles De Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
and Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
. Hamilton did an impression of Hitler whilst in the defence box by putting two fingers under his nose. Hamilton claimed he had blacked up in 1982 as an Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
look-a-like and dressed as Canon James Owen on a boat on the River Cam
River Cam
The River Cam is a tributary of the River Great Ouse in the east of England. The two rivers join to the south of Ely at Pope's Corner. The Great Ouse connects the Cam to England's canal system and to the North Sea at King's Lynn...
.
The BBC capitulated on 21 October. According to the BBC Director-General Alasdair Milne
Alasdair Milne
Alasdair David Gordon Milne is a former BBC producer who became Controller of BBC Scotland, the BBC's Director of Programmes and then Director-General of the BBC in July 1982. His resignation was forced by the BBC Governors in January 1987, following pressure from the Thatcher government...
, he was instructed to do so by the Governors. The corporation had to pay the pair'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 to both.
In a Sunday Times article, Hamilton denied that any malicious intent was behind the salute. He also pointed out that one of the party present, Julian Lewis
Julian Lewis
Dr. Julian Murray Lewis is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for New Forest East in Hampshire since the 1997 general election.-Education:Born on 26 September 1951 in Swansea, Dr...
, was a Jew himself and that a "number of his relatives were killed by the Nazis during the war". Hamilton and Howarth dropped their libel action against Philip Pedley, who was the principal source of material in the programme, as they believed that extracting an apology from him was not "worth the bother of obtaining". On 3 December 1986, Hamilton and Howarth both agreed to pay Pedley's costs incurred in the six weeks since they defeated the BBC, as the case was formally brought to an end.
After winning the case, Hamilton was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to David Mitchell
David Mitchell (politician)
Sir David Bower Mitchell is a British Conservative politician who served as a Member of Parliament for over 30 years.-Education:...
in December 1986.
After libel case
In Parliament, Hamilton became known as a punchily partisan speaker and was combative in the House of Commons. He enjoyed making jibes against the Labour Party, though he respected Eric HefferEric Heffer
Eric Samuel Heffer was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. His working-class background and consciousness fed in to his left-wing politics, but to an extent disguised the depth of his knowledge: with 12,000 books in...
and a few other Labour left-wingers. Hamilton attended Heffer's memorial service on 10 July 1991.
In January 1987 he asserted that Frank Dobson
Frank Dobson
Frank Gordon Dobson, is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Holborn and St. Pancras since 1979...
, during a debate on amputees that "He does not have a leg to stand on". Later that year, he told Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Islington North since 1983.-Early and personal life:...
that some of his IRA friends could be used to get rid of pensioners by shooting them. During a debate, Greville Janner
Greville Janner
Greville Ewan Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone is a British Labour politician, lawyer and author. A QC since 1971, he was a Labour MP from 1970 to 1997...
said he that lost half of his family in the Holocaust. Hamilton allegedly replied "Unfortunately, the wrong half"
Hamilton said Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
being leader in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
was a "Good thing". When the pop music world collaborated to stage a free Nelson Mandela concert at Wembley in June 1988, at a time when the ANC leader was still behind bars, Hamilton attacked the BBC for screening the event. He also called the ANC
ANC
ANC commonly refers to the African National Congress, a revolutionary movement which became the ruling political party in South Africa in the 1994 election.ANC may also refer to:-Organizations:...
a "Typical terrorist organisation".
In November 1989, he won the Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
parliamentary wit of the year award. He jokingly remarked that when told of winning the award, he thought it was for being the "Twit of the year".
Margaret Thatcher made him a whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in July 1990.
Hamilton vehemently urged Thatcher to fight on to a second ballot in November 1990 during the leadership contest and was devastated when she resigned. Hamilton had initially leaned towards voting for Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
, as had a few other Right-wingers, such as Michael Brown
Michael Brown (UK politician)
Michael Russell Brown is a British former Conservative Party politician and is now a newspaper and broadcast political journalist. He was a Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1997.-Biography:...
and Edward Leigh
Edward Leigh
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh is a British Conservative politician. He has sat in the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Gainsborough in Lincolnshire since 1997, and for its predecessor constituency of Gainsborough and Horncastle between 1983 and 1997...
, because they took the view that "Heseltine had stabbed Thatcher in the front". He saw her at Downing Street
Downing Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...
late on 21 November 1990, with Michael Portillo
Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
, Michael Forsyth
Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean
Michael Bruce Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean PC, Kt is a British financier and politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Stirling from 1983 to 1997 and served in the cabinet of John Major as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1995 to 1997...
, Michael Fallon
Michael Fallon
For the American Physician / Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives see Mike FallonMichael Cathel Fallon is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Sevenoaks, and as of September 2010 the deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party.-Early life:Michael Fallon...
and Ian Twinn
Ian Twinn
Ian David Twinn is a British Conservative politician. He was educated at Cambridge Grammar School, the University of Wales and Reading University. He then worked as a lecturer. He was MP for Edmonton from 1983 until he lost his seat to Labour's Andy Love in 1997...
, in the desperate hope of persuading her not to resign, and to fight a second ballot. At a meeting earlier that week, when Peter Lilley
Peter Lilley
Peter Bruce Lilley MP is a British Conservative Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament MP since 1983. He currently represents the constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden and, prior to boundary changes, represented St Albans...
argued that Thatcher could not survive, Hamilton subjected him to a barrage of "sarcasm and heckling".
Hamilton eventually voted for John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
, though Norman Tebbit
Norman Tebbit
Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment...
had to persuade him to do so as he and Christopher Chope
Christopher Chope
Christopher Robert Chope OBE is a British barrister and Conservative politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Christchurch.-Early life:...
, a close friend with identical views, were going to write "Thatcher" on their ballot papers as a protest. For a while after Thatcher's resignation, Hamilton's enthusiasm for any type of Conservative government waned.
Hamilton was the minister for deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
and corporate affairs from April 1992 to October 1994 in John Major's government. Despite being hostile to the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
and being delighted when, on 2 June 1992, Denmark rejected it, he remained a Major government loyalist, persuading several right-wing ministers not to resign, mainly over Europe, but also over several other issues. Despite being generally supportive of the government, even after his resignation in October 1994, he voted for John Redwood
John Redwood
John Alan Redwood is a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for Wokingham. He was formerly Secretary of State for Wales in Prime Minister John Major's Cabinet and was an unsuccessful challenger for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995...
in the 1995 leadership contest. Hamilton was bitterly disappointed when Michael Portillo did not challenge Major for the leadership, as he believed he was more electable than Redwood and if he had, he would have obtained more votes, forcing Major to resign.
"Cash for questions"
On 20 October 1994, The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
published an article claiming that Hamilton, and another minister, Tim Smith
Tim Smith (UK politician)
Timothy John Smith, known as Tim Smith, is a former British Conservative politician.-Politics:...
, had received money, paid in the form of cash in brown envelopes, from Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
' owner Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman and billionaire. Amongst his business interests are ownership of the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club, Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge...
, for asking questions on his behalf in the House of Commons. Smith admitted his guilt and resigned immediately. Hamilton claimed innocence but was eventually forced to resign his position as Corporate Affairs Minister on 25 October.
Hamilton sued The Guardian, along with Ian Greer, and had a 300-year-old law changed so he could do so, which was the Defamation Bill - altering the Bill of Rights 1689
Bill of Rights 1689
The Bill of Rights or the Bill of Rights 1688 is an Act of the Parliament of England.The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament on 16 December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 ,...
by permitting what had been said in Parliament to be questioned in the courts. The Defamation Act 1996
Defamation Act 1996
The Defamation Act 1996 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Section 14 - Reports of court proceedings absolutely privileged:See Absolute privilege in English law-Section 19 - Commencement:...
gained Royal Assent in July 1996. However, on 30 September 1996, a day before the libel trial was due to begin, Hamilton and Greer claimed that a conflict of interest arose and both men dropped the libel action, saying that they could not afford to continue. They each paid £7,500 to The Guardians legal costs. All the cash for questions evidence was sent to Sir Gordon Downey
Gordon Downey
Sir Gordon Downey was Britain's first Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.The Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards was set up by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 1995 as a result of recommendations made by the Committee on Standards in Public Life...
, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons.He or she is appointed by a Resolution of the House of Commons and works a four-day week.- Tasks :...
. On the evening of 1 October 1996, on Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
, Hamilton took part in a televised live debate with Alan Rusbridger
Alan Rusbridger
Alan Charles Rusbridger is the editor of the British newspaper The Guardian. He has also been a reporter and a columnist.-Early life:...
, the editor of The Guardian.
During the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, Hamilton was determined to hold on to his parliamentary seat in what was then the fourth safest Conservative seat in the country. Hamilton's majority at the 1992 General Election was almost 16,000. Conservative Central Office said that selection of candidates was purely a matter for the local party and refused to intervene. On 8 April 1997, he won a candidacy selection vote by 182 to 35, although 100 members of the local party abstained. Hamilton said that if the Downey report found against him, he would resign as an MP.
Loses seat
When the well-known BBC war correspondent Martin BellMartin Bell
Martin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician...
decided to stand as an independent candidate in Tatton, the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates stood down in order to give him a clear run against Hamilton. Bell trounced Hamilton, winning by a majority of over 11,000 votes. Despite vowing that he would return to Parliament in the speech he made afterwards, this defeat marked the end of Hamilton's political career.
Cash for questions findings
Edwina CurrieEdwina Currie
Edwina Jonesnée Cohen is a former British Member of Parliament. First elected as a Conservative Party MP in 1983, she was a Junior Health Minister for two years, before resigning in 1988 over the controversy over salmonella in eggs...
, the former health minister, told the cash-for-questions inquiry how Hamilton had been unmoved, in May 1988, by a set of photographs showing cancers that could be caused to young people by a product he was promoting. Hamilton apparently said that they were not relevant. The Thatcher government banned the sale of Skoal
Skoal tobacco
Skoal Tobacco is a division of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company . USSTC distributes dipping tobacco and, more recently, snus, both of which are marketed as smokeless tobacco. Skoal was first produced by US Smokeless Tobacco in 1934.-Cuts and Flavors:Skoal is packaged in 1.2 oz plastic can and is...
bandit products in the UK in late 1989. Both Hamilton and Michael Brown
Michael Brown (UK politician)
Michael Russell Brown is a British former Conservative Party politician and is now a newspaper and broadcast political journalist. He was a Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1997.-Biography:...
received a £6,000 fee and hospitality from Skoal bandits.
Hamilton was found guilty of taking cash for questions, along with Tim Smith, by Sir Gordon Downey on 3 July 1997. Both Hamilton and Smith were both severely criticised in the report, along with Michael Brown and Michael Grylls
Michael Grylls
Sir William Michael John Grylls, known as Michael Grylls, was a British Conservative politician. He was implicated in the cash-for-questions affair, a poitical scandal of the 1990s...
. The recommendation was that if Hamilton and Smith were still MPs, both would have been given a substantial suspension from the House of Commons. Downey said that that evidence that Hamilton took cash from Al-Fayed for asking questions was "compelling" and that he was unlikely to have taken less than £25,000. Also, according the report, Hamilton deliberately misled Michael Heseltine, then President of the Board of Trade, in October 1994, when he said he had no financial relationship with Ian Greer. In a phone conversation, Hamilton gave an absolute assurance to Heseltine that there was no such relationship. In fact, he had received two commission payments from Greer in 1988 and 1989, totalling £10,000. According to the report, Hamilton asked for payment in kind so the money would not be taxable. He also failed to register his stays at the Ritz
Hôtel Ritz Paris
The Hôtel Ritz is a grand palatial hotel in the heart of Paris, the 1st arrondissement. It overlooks the octagonal border of the Place Vendôme at number 15...
in Paris and at Al-Fayed's castle in Scotland in 1989.
Hamilton rejected these findings, whereas Smith, who had stood down, accepted them, apologised for his conduct, and retired from politics altogether.
Hamilton launched an appeal on 14 October 1997 and appealed to a new committee, which on 6 November only partially endorsed Sir Gordon Downey's findings, but still criticised his behaviour whilst an MP. In March 1999, George Osborne
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in...
was selected by the Tatton Conservative association to be their candidate for the next general election.
Unsuccessfully sues Al-Fayed
Hamilton sought to sue Al-Fayed for libel for what he had said in a Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
Dispatches programme in January 1997. Al-Fayed had claimed that Hamilton had demanded and accepted cash payments, gift vouchers and a free holiday at the Paris Ritz, in return for asking parliamentary questions on behalf of Harrods.
Hamilton was given permission to sue on 31 July 1998. Money was raised, with again, the late Lord Harris of High Cross being one of the chief fund raisers, along with the Earl of Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
and Taki
Taki Theodoracopulos
Taki Theodoracopulos , originally named Panagiotis Theodoracopulos is a Greek/American journalist, socialite, and political commentator.Better known as Taki, diminutive for Panagiotis, he is a Greek-born journalist and writer living in New York City, London and Switzerland...
, a journalist, another donator to the 1986 libel action against the BBC, donating £50,000. Other contributors to the fund included Simon Heffer
Simon Heffer
Simon James Heffer is a British journalist, columnist and writer.-Education:Heffer was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.-Career:...
, Norris McWhirter
Norris McWhirter
Norris Dewar McWhirter, CBE was a writer, political activist, co-founder of the Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother, Ross, were known internationally for the Guinness Book of Records, a book they wrote and annually updated together between 1955 and 1975...
, a Scots Tory Peter Clarke, Lord Bell, Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Daubeney Brandreth is a British writer, broadcaster and former Conservative Member of Parliament and junior minister.-Early life:...
and Gerald Howarth
Gerald Howarth
James Gerald Douglas Howarth known as Gerald Howarth is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Aldershot since 1997, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992....
, who sued the BBC with Hamilton thirteen years before. Other contributors included about 40 Tory MPs, out of the party's 165 at the time. In total, around £410,000 was raised.
Hamilton took Mohamed Al-Fayed to court for libel in November 1999, but after he and his wife Christine had been cross-examined by George Carman
George Carman
George Alfred Carman, QC , was a leading English barrister of the 1980s and 1990s. He first came to the attention of the general public in 1979, when he successfully defended the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after he was charged with conspiracy to murder...
QC, he lost on 21 December when the eleven jurors determined that he had corruptly taken and demanded £10,000 from Mobil Oil in 1989. Hamilton demanded the money as payment for tabling an amendment to a Finance Bill on behalf of Mobil. At the time, Hamilton was a member of the Commons finance select committee.
He also lost the subsequent appeal in December 2000. In April 2001, he was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. On 22 May 2001, unable to pay his legal fees and with costs amounting to some £3m, he was declared bankrupt. He was discharged from bankruptcy in May 2004. Former Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
journalist Jonathan Boyd Hunt investigated the "Cash For Questions" affair and declared in his book Trial By Conspiracy that the case against Hamilton was untrue.
After the scandal
Hamilton's career took an unusual turn on 9 May 1997 when he and Christine appeared on the current affairs satire quiz Have I Got News For YouHave I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
a week after Neil lost his Tatton seat. Angus Deayton
Angus Deayton
Gordon Angus Deayton is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster. He is best known for his role as Victor Meldrew's long-suffering neighbour Patrick Trench in the comedy series One Foot in the Grave...
, the chairman of the panel game
Panel game
A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....
, wore a white suit instead of his usual brown one, in reference to Martin Bell
Martin Bell
Martin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician...
, who wore such a suit throughout the election campaign at which he had just defeated Hamilton.
The subject of numerous taunts about the scandal, the Hamiltons were given their "fee" in brown envelopes at the end of the show. At one point Hamilton quipped, "I've found it's much better making political jokes than being one." Since then they have often appeared on chat shows. They have appeared on programmes such as The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz show which offers a maximum cash prize of one million pounds for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty...
, as well as in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
. In an appearance on a celebrity edition of Mastermind
Mastermind (TV series)
Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness.Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never changed — four and in later contests five contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the...
on Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
2004, Hamilton described himself as being "an object of professional curiosity".
Wrongful rape accusation
On 10 August 2001, Neil and Christine Hamilton were arrested by police investigating an alleged rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
. The investigation against them was dropped when it became apparent that the accusations were entirely false. The episode of their lives regarding the alleged rape was captured on film by Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux
Louis Sebastian Theroux is an English broadcaster best known for his Gonzo style journalism on the television series Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends and When Louis Met.... His career started off in journalism and bears influences of notable writers in his family such as his father, Paul Theroux and...
, who at that time was filming the Hamiltons for an episode of When Louis Met.... In June 2003, the woman who had fabricated the accusation, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, was imprisoned for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
In February 2005, the publicist Max Clifford
Max Clifford
Maxwell Frank Clifford is an English publicist, considered the highest-profile and best-known publicist in the United Kingdom...
, who had acted for Milroy-Sloan, paid an undisclosed sum in damages to settle for the 2001 rape allegations.
Personal and family life
Neil and Christine Hamilton sold their house in Tatton in September 2003 and moved after 20 years of living there. They bought a house in HullavingtonHullavington
Hullavington is an English village in Wiltshire, just to the north of the M4 motorway, 5 miles south-south-west of Malmesbury and 7 miles north of Chippenham.-History:Hullavington is first attested as Hunlavintone in the Domesday Book of 1086...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, in October 2004.
External links
- Guardian Special Report - Hamilton, Al Fayed Libel Case
- Mohamed Al Fayed on Hamilton
- Socialist Review article on Hamilton, Nov 1994
- Guardian Lies - site claiming a conspiracy against Hamilton