Cecil Parkinson (1931 - 2016) RIP

Cecil Parkinson, the former Conservative Party Chairman, Secretaty of State for Trade & Industry, and one of Margaret Thatcher's closest political allies, has died of cancer at the age of 84.

Given his grandiose demeanour, it will surprise many to know that he was born in Carnforth, Lancashire, the son of a railway worker and from a solid working class background. He won a scholarship to Cambridge where he read Law and was for a time a member of the Labour Party. He did his National Service in the RAF before qualifying as an accountant and entered parliament in November 1970 at the by-election caused by the sudden death of the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Ian MacLeod.

When the Conservatives won the 1979 election he was made a junior trade minister and rapidly rose through the ranks. In September 1981 he was made Chairman of the Conservative Party, and Paymaster-General with a seat in the cabinet and in 1982 was given the added official title of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Despite his relatively junior status, he was a member of the small War Cabinet which Mrs Thatcher set up to run the Falklands War.

He worked on the Conservative Party's 1983 election campaign, standing in the new Hertsmere constituency after Hertfordshire South's abolition. As a result of his success on the campaign he was tipped for high office, and many were baffled when he was only rewarded with the relatively lowly position of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

But what they did not know was that he had forewarned Mrs Thatcher (who had intended to promote him to Foreign Secretary), of a developing scandal in his private life, and he had to resign from the Government when the news broke that the married Parkinson had been having an affair with his secretary, Sara Keays, and she was expecting his child (a daughter, Flora, who suffered from learning difficulties after contracting a brian tumour in her early years).

The media went into a feeding frenzy, especially when a protracted legal dispute broke out over child maintenance payments, leading to a controversial court order banning the media from any discussion of the daughter until she reached the age of 18 (at the time Private Eye published the famous clerihew of "Sara Keays/Was hard to please/After she got laid/By the Minister of Trade!" and they taunted him about the affair for decades).

Parkinson returned to the front line as Secretary of State for Energy in 1987 and Transport in 1989. He resigned after Thatcher's leadership defeat in 1990 and left the Commons in 1992, becoming Baron Parkinson of Carnforth.

Had it not been for the Keays affair, there is a very good chance that Parkinson would have become Prime Minister, as he was seen by many as the natural successor to Thatcher. As it was, in 2001, when the order lapsed, it emerged that Parkinson had never met his child and presumably had no intention of doing so. While he had assisted with Flora's education and financially her upkeep, it was publicly pointed out that he had not even sent her a birthday card and that her mother assumed that Flora could not ever expect to receive one.

Despite his affair, his marriage survived until his death (for 59 years). He had three daughters with his wife and was a lifelong supporter of Preston North End.

A thoroughly unpleasant man by any standard.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics...ghter.html

That's some cabinet that God is assembling up there. I didn't agree with his politics but will say RIP anyway.

(25-01-2016 18:20 )Tumble_Drier Wrote:  A thoroughly unpleasant man by any standard.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics...ghter.html

Women never 'accidentally' get pregnant and keep it if they don't want to, those that do get pregnant have it terminated if they don't want the child. This woman clearly tried to trap him and then ruined his career and probably a chance at being prime minister. No wonder he wasn't very happy about it.

He shouldn't have cheated but she was knowingly going with a married man and then tried to get finantial gain out of having the baby.

In short, they were both has bad as one another.

(25-01-2016 22:16 )wackawoo Wrote:  In short, they were both has bad as one another.

But neither was as bad as you, judging by your comments. She never said she didn't want the child, so why are you suggesting that?

Asking a multi-millionaire to make reasonable provision for his daughter, becomes in your terms trying to make financial gain. Nice.

(25-01-2016 22:40 )schvall Wrote:  But neither was as bad as you, judging by your comments. She never said she didn't want the child, so why are you suggesting that?

Asking a multi-millionaire to make reasonable provision for his daughter, becomes in your terms trying to make financial gain. Nice.

Explain how I'm worse than an aldulterer and a woman sleeping with another womans husband, trying to trap him and ruining his career when she didn't get what she wanted? I have never slept with another persons partner nor have I ever commited adultery so don't judge people you don't know.

Also where on earth did you get it that she never wanted the child? Course she wanted the kid, that was my point.

What money he has is irrelavant, the WOMAN decided to have the baby, he didn't, lets face it, when it comes to an abortion women are the first to say this is nothing to do with the man it's their body etc; seems it's different when that man is a multimillionaire (oh now I see the relavance)

He actually owed the kid nothing since it was not a joint decision. Lets face it, there's thousands on blokes fucking and running up and down the country. There's also thousands of woman denying access right to the fathers, yet always have the hand out streatch for the money.

All I can say is you are a very very niave person if you don't think woman can have kids then 'trap' a man, one of the oldest tricks in the book. You'll be saying they don't have kids to jump the housing list next.

(26-01-2016 00:35 )wackawoo Wrote:  He actually owed the kid nothing

The courts decided otherwise.

(26-01-2016 00:58 )schvall Wrote:  The courts decided otherwise.

I wasn't meaning from a legal view point.

Guessing you couldn't justify your comments about me then.

If you think a father shouldn't try and support his own child (especially when the father is a multi-millionaire and his child has serious health issues and needs special care) it's quite evident that you are morally bankrupt.

(26-01-2016 02:18 )schvall Wrote:  If you think a father shouldn't try and support his own child (especially when the father is a multi-millionaire and his child has serious health issues and needs special care) it's quite evident that you are morally bankrupt.

You seem very judgmental to me, so I have no idea why you are trying to take the moral high ground. I am also wondering why you took it upon yourself to attack me personally when you know nothing about me whatsoever. As far as I am aware I have not attacked you personally and what i have stated has been facts, not assumptions

I'd also advise agaisnt trying to manipulate what I put for your own purposes and don't assume anything about what I think. What I personally think on the subject is neither here nor there.

I stated he OWED her nothing, nor the mother, which he didn't, whether thats right or not is another matter. She became pregnant for ulterior motives, you don't fuck the same man for 12 years and apparently manage not to become pregnant then all off a sudden when the biological clock is ticking you do.

Twilight zone here we come.