Friday 19 December 2014

Sir Alec Douglas Home.


                                          

I was recently going through a list of British Prime Ministers, and found myself compelled to stop when I came to Sir Alec. He was always something of an enigma in British politics. After his brief term of office he seemed to simply fade away; perhaps that it something that all ex-PM's should do.

Wiki describes a polite unremarkable man who worked tirelessly for his country. Cyril Connolly, a school contemporary of Douglas Home's, described the young Alec thus....

A votary of the esoteric Eton religion, the kind of graceful, tolerant, sleepy boy who is showered with favours and crowned with all the laurels, who is liked by the masters and admired by the boys without any apparent exertion on his part, without experiencing the ill-effects of success himself or arousing the pangs of envy in others. In the 18th century he would have become Prime Minister before he was 30. As it was, he appeared honourably ineligible for the struggle of life.,
The most poignant bits of his biography reveal that Sir Alec played a bit of above-average Cricket for his school, received a rather poor degree from Oxford, and has the honour of having served as Prime Minister for just under one year; almost a record.

Part of my fascination with Sir Alec is that his brother, the playwright William Douglas Home, lived in a house opposite the entrance to my people's house in West Chiltington Sussex. Unknown to us at the time, it is where he used to 'entertain' Princess Margaret. I never actually saw the man; his house always seemed empty.

Sir Alec was the archetypal 'Gentleman Politician'; quiet, unassuming, and dedicated to his cause. I suppose he could be summed-up as having been somewhat ineffectual, but a charming person. He died back in 1995; no fuss was made.


p.s. He also happens to be the spitting image of my old school housemaster, David Scott, who died very recently. David was equally 'Gentlemanly'. RIP David Scott.



12 comments:

  1. In the midle of Christmas preparation you are thinking about ex prime ministers. I was wondering this morning how and why people get the ideas for their posts.

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    1. I have no idea Yael. It must be my confused mind, I imagine.

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  2. Just think how different it would have been if Quentin Hogg had been chosen instead of Home. He always seemed uncomfortable as PM.

    As for ideas for posts, I never have any. They just appear as I start typing.

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    1. Hogg certainly had a better brain, and was more forceful in his approach to politics. It's still a mystery why Home was chosen over him.

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    2. As also was RAB Butler. I don't think Home was the right man at the time.

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    3. RAB was always known as 'The best Prime Minister we never had'; probably right too.

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  3. Home was the last leader of the Conservative Party that was not elected to the role by the parliamentary party. (Heath who followed in 1965 was the first). Prior to this the leader 'emerged' which in practice meant the outgoing leader (and also PM) MacMillan could effectively advise the Queen of his choice. He always he was never going to recommend either Hogg or RAB. It has also been said that in the new TV age (cf the US with the likes of JFK) Home (nick-named Skull face within the Party) was not considered photo-genic enough. Nevertheless, his personal qualities were rare among political leaders.

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    1. Being photogenic now seems to be an essential qualification for PM-ship. Maybe that's why so many seem to want Miliband to move over. IDS was another one who didn't have TV quality. Blair did; and look where that got us!

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  4. I always though he did the 'right thing' - he was such a gentleman, but definitely not in the Churchill mould of Conservative P Ms'

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  5. I've just heard that Mandy Rice-Davies has died. RIP.

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    1. Politics, class and sex. And her famous line

      "Well he would say that wouldn't he"

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  6. A "gentleman politician"... that's something we certainly don't see much of any more. As for PM Home not being very effective, today's non-gentlemanly fight-the-other-side-tooth-and-nail types aren't terribly effective, either.

    A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

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