Anthony Lambton
Encyclopedia
Antony Claud Frederick Lambton (10 July 1922 – 30 December 2006), briefly 6th Earl of Durham, styled before 1970 as Viscount Lambton, and widely known as "Lord Lambton", was a Conservative
Member of Parliament
and a cousin of Sir Alec Douglas-Home
, the former Prime Minister
and Foreign Secretary. Lambton resigned from Parliament and ministerial office in 1973.
near Washington
in County Durham
, actually living at the nearby Biddick Hall
. He was educated at Harrow School
and served for a period in the Hampshire Regiment during the Second World War
, before being invalided
out. He then did war work in a Wallsend
factory. Lambton married Belinda (Bindy) Blew-Jones (1921–2003) in 1942. They had five daughters including Lucinda
(the writer and architectural commentator) and Anne
(an actress), and one son, Ned (who fought Berwick-upon-Tweed for the Referendum Party
at the 1997 General Election).
in the safe Labour
seat of Chester-le-Street
, then Bishop Auckland
in 1950
. He was elected to Durham City Council and to Durham County Council in 1947, serving for two years. He was elected Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed
in 1951
where he served until 1973
.
for Defence
(RAF
) in 1970. He succeeded to the Earldom of Durham
upon his father's death on 4 February 1970 but disclaimed
it on 23 February to continue as an MP and Government Minister. He nonetheless insisted on being addressed as "Lord Lambton", the form of address appropriate to his former courtesy title, though a ruling of the Committee for Privileges said that he should not do so in the House of Commons since he had renounced his peerage. Contradictory rulings from two speakers, Horace King and Selwyn Lloyd, then left the point unresolved.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1538319/Antony-Lambton.html
. The husband of one of the prostitutes, Norma Levy, had secretly taken photographs of Lambton in bed with Ms. Levy and had attempted to sell the photographs to Fleet Street
tabloids. As well, a police search of Lambton's home found a small amount of cannabis. On 22 May, Lambton resigned from both his office and Parliament, which caused a by-election for his seat which was won by Alan Beith
for the Liberal Party. Shortly after, the name Jellicoe emerged in connection to a rendezvous for one of Norma's girls at a Somers Town
mansion block which had been named Jellicoe House, after the earl's kinsman Basil Jellicoe (1899-1935), the housing reformer and priest from Magdalen College (Oxford). There was a confusion and Lord Jellicoe
, the Lord Privy Seal
and Leader of the House of Lords
, admitted 'casual affairs' with prostitutes from a Mayfair escort agency but denied knowing Norma Levy.
A security inquiry on the prostitution scandal concluded that there had been "nothing in (Lambton's) conduct to suggest that the risk of indiscretions on these occasions was other than negligible." Lambton stated that he had never taken his red state boxes of government documents with him when he visited Norma Levy. The security inquiry was held due to fears that the prostitution scandal may have involved an actual or potential breach of national security (as had occurred in the Profumo scandal
in the 1960s).
When MI5
officer Charles Elwell interviewed Lambton, Lambton first claimed that the pressure of his job as a minister was what drove him to procure the prostitutes. Later, Lambton stated that his sense of "the futility of the job" and lack of demanding tasks as a junior minister were reasons he went to prostitutes. Finally, Lambton claimed that his judgment was faulty when he went to the prostitutes due to his obsession with the battle over the use of an aristocratic title that had been used by his father; Lambton claimed that he sought to soothe this obsession by engaging in frantic activities such as gardening and debauchery.
a 17th century villa in Tuscany
, where he lived with Claire Ward, née Baring, daughter of the cricketer Giles Baring
. He never divorced his wife Bindy, who died in 2003. Despite renouncing his titles, he continued to use his former courtesy title
Viscount Lambton, although, since it was now a title that had passed by courtesy to his eldest son, it was argued by Sir Anthony Wagner
and others, that this was incorrect.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1538319/Antony-Lambton.html. Lambton died in his Italian home on 30 December 2006.
* After disclaiming his titles in 1970, Lambton preferred the style "Lord Lambton"
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...
Member of Parliament
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,...
and a cousin of Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
, the former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
and Foreign Secretary. Lambton resigned from Parliament and ministerial office in 1973.
Private life
Lambton grew up on the family estates centred on Lambton CastleLambton Castle
Lambton Castle, located in County Durham, England, between the towns of Washington and Chester-le-Street, is a stately home, the ancestral seat of the Lambton family, the Earls of Durham...
near Washington
Washington, Tyne and Wear
Washington is a town in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it joined a new county in 1974 with the creation of Tyne and Wear...
in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, actually living at the nearby Biddick Hall
Shiney Row
Shiney Row is a village in Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear. Shiney Row enjoys good travel links with the rest of Sunderland. One of the City of Sunderland College's main centres is located in Shiney Row...
. He was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and served for a period in the Hampshire Regiment during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, before being invalided
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
out. He then did war work in a Wallsend
Wallsend
Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...
factory. Lambton married Belinda (Bindy) Blew-Jones (1921–2003) in 1942. They had five daughters including Lucinda
Lucinda Lambton
Lady Lucinda Lambton, Lady Worsthorne is a British writer, photographer and broadcaster on architectural subjects, born 10 May 1943, in Newcastle upon Tyne.Her father was the Conservative government defence minister Lord Lambton She is married to the journalist Peregrine WorsthorneShe left school...
(the writer and architectural commentator) and Anne
Anne Lambton
The Lady Anne Mary Gabrielle Lambton is a British actress.Lambton is a younger daughter of Antony Lambton and his wife Bindy née Blew-Jones. Her older sister is Lucinda Lambton, the British writer, photographer and broadcaster...
(an actress), and one son, Ned (who fought Berwick-upon-Tweed for the Referendum Party
Referendum Party
The Referendum Party was a Euro-sceptic, single issue party in the United Kingdom formed by Sir James Goldsmith to fight the 1997 General Election. The party called for a referendum on aspects of the UK's relationship with the European Union.-Policy:...
at the 1997 General Election).
Member of Parliament
Lambton first stood for Parliament at the 1945 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
in the safe Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
seat of Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street (UK Parliament constituency)
Chester-le-Street was a county constituency centred on the town of Chester-le-Street in County Durham. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, then Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland (UK Parliament constituency)
Bishop Auckland is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. Since 1935 it has elected Labour MPs.-Boundaries:...
in 1950
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...
. He was elected to Durham City Council and to Durham County Council in 1947, serving for two years. He was elected Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)
Berwick-upon-Tweed is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
in 1951
United Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...
where he served until 1973
Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election, 1973
The Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election, 1973 was a parliamentary by-election held on 8 November 1973 for the British House of Commons constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed. It was one of four UK by-elections held on the same day....
.
Under-Secretary of State
Lambton was made a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of StateParliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
for Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
(RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
) in 1970. He succeeded to the Earldom of Durham
Earl of Durham
Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the prominent Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Great Reform Act of 1832...
upon his father's death on 4 February 1970 but disclaimed
Peerage Act 1963
The Peerage Act 1963 is the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permitted peeresses in their own right and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, and which allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be "disclaimed".-Background:The Act resulted largely from the...
it on 23 February to continue as an MP and Government Minister. He nonetheless insisted on being addressed as "Lord Lambton", the form of address appropriate to his former courtesy title, though a ruling of the Committee for Privileges said that he should not do so in the House of Commons since he had renounced his peerage. Contradictory rulings from two speakers, Horace King and Selwyn Lloyd, then left the point unresolved.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1538319/Antony-Lambton.html
Resignation
In 1973, Lambton's liaisons with prostitutes were revealed in the Sunday tabloid The News of the WorldNews of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
. The husband of one of the prostitutes, Norma Levy, had secretly taken photographs of Lambton in bed with Ms. Levy and had attempted to sell the photographs to Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
tabloids. As well, a police search of Lambton's home found a small amount of cannabis. On 22 May, Lambton resigned from both his office and Parliament, which caused a by-election for his seat which was won by Alan Beith
Alan Beith
Sir Alan James Beith is a British Liberal Democrat politician and Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed.-Early life:Alan Beith was born in 1943 in Poynton, in Cheshire...
for the Liberal Party. Shortly after, the name Jellicoe emerged in connection to a rendezvous for one of Norma's girls at a Somers Town
Somers Town, London
Somers Town, was named for Charles Cocks, 1st Baron Somers. The area in St Pancras, London, was originally granted by William III to John Somers, Lord Chancellor and Baron Somers of Evesham. It was to be strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston , St...
mansion block which had been named Jellicoe House, after the earl's kinsman Basil Jellicoe (1899-1935), the housing reformer and priest from Magdalen College (Oxford). There was a confusion and Lord Jellicoe
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, KBE, DSO, MC, PC, FRS was a British politician and statesman, diplomat and businessman....
, the Lord Privy Seal
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
and Leader of the House of Lords
Leader of the House of Lords
The Leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The role is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, usually one of the sinecure offices of Lord President of the Council,...
, admitted 'casual affairs' with prostitutes from a Mayfair escort agency but denied knowing Norma Levy.
A security inquiry on the prostitution scandal concluded that there had been "nothing in (Lambton's) conduct to suggest that the risk of indiscretions on these occasions was other than negligible." Lambton stated that he had never taken his red state boxes of government documents with him when he visited Norma Levy. The security inquiry was held due to fears that the prostitution scandal may have involved an actual or potential breach of national security (as had occurred in the Profumo scandal
Profumo Affair
The Profumo Affair was a 1963 British political scandal named after John Profumo, Secretary of State for War. His affair with Christine Keeler, the reputed mistress of an alleged Russian spy, followed by lying in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it, forced the resignation of...
in the 1960s).
When MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
officer Charles Elwell interviewed Lambton, Lambton first claimed that the pressure of his job as a minister was what drove him to procure the prostitutes. Later, Lambton stated that his sense of "the futility of the job" and lack of demanding tasks as a junior minister were reasons he went to prostitutes. Finally, Lambton claimed that his judgment was faulty when he went to the prostitutes due to his obsession with the battle over the use of an aristocratic title that had been used by his father; Lambton claimed that he sought to soothe this obsession by engaging in frantic activities such as gardening and debauchery.
Later years
Following the scandal, Lambton retired, separated from his wife and bought Villa CetinaleVilla Cetinale
Villa Cetinale is a 17th century villa in Tuscany, Italy, located in the hamlet of Cetinale near Sovicille and about 12 km west of Siena....
a 17th century villa in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, where he lived with Claire Ward, née Baring, daughter of the cricketer Giles Baring
Giles Baring
Amyas Evelyn Giles Baring , known as Giles Baring, was a first-class English cricketer between the years 1930 and 1946.-Background:...
. He never divorced his wife Bindy, who died in 2003. Despite renouncing his titles, he continued to use his former courtesy title
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
Viscount Lambton, although, since it was now a title that had passed by courtesy to his eldest son, it was argued by Sir Anthony Wagner
Anthony Wagner
Sir Anthony Richard Wagner, KCB, KCVO, FSA was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as Garter Principal King of Arms before retiring to the post of Clarenceux King of Arms...
and others, that this was incorrect.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1538319/Antony-Lambton.html. Lambton died in his Italian home on 30 December 2006.
Titles from birth
- The Hon. Antony Lambton (10 July 1922 – 31 January 1929)
- Viscount Lambton (31 January 1929 – 25 October 1951)
- Viscount Lambton, MP (25 October 1951 – 4 February 1970)
- The Rt Hon. The Earl of Durham (4 February 1970 – 23 February 1970)
- Antony Lambton, MP * (23 February 1970 – 8 November 1973)
- Antony Lambton * (8 November 1973 – 30 December 2006)