Beverley Baxter
Encyclopedia
Sir Arthur Beverley Baxter, FRSL
(8 January 1891 – 26 April 1964) was a Canadian
born journalist and politician. He spent most of his career in the United Kingdom
working for the Daily Express
and as a theatre critic for the Evening Standard
, and was a Member of Parliament
(MP) for the Conservative Party
from 1935 until his death.
-born Methodist
who had emigrated to Canada
, and Baxter was born in Toronto
. He left school at the age of 15, to work as an office boy for a stockbroker. However, Baxter disliked the work and left soon after to work for the Nordheimer Piano and Music Company where he sold piano
s. He was made personal assistant to the owner. In his spare time he composed music, sang in operas, and wrote a novel.
and served as a Lieutenant in the Infantry with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France
. He was attached to the Royal Engineers
for a time in 1918. Baxter received no decorations in the war, saying he was "neither sufficiently forward, nor far enough back".
. In 1920 he managed to get an interview with fellow Canadian Lord Beaverbrook
, who was one of the British "press Barons" seeking to build up the circulation of the Daily Express
to match that of Lord Northcliffe's Daily Mail
. The interview led to an appointment as a leader-writer and occasional reporter. When something written by Baxter caught the approving eye of editor R. D. Blumenfeld
, Baxter was put in charge of page 4 of the paper which included the editorial, opinion pieces, and letters to the editor.
Baxter was made Managing Editor of the Sunday Express, then still a new paper which had yet to find its place, in 1922. Under Baxter's guidance the paper became considerably livelier and its features were remarked upon. After two years, Baxter was moved to the same position on the Daily Express
, in effect as deputy to Blumenfeld. Baxter, who was nicknamed "Bax" within the office, got on well with both Blumenfeld and Beaverbrook. In 1924 Baxter married Edith Letson, a girl from Vancouver
.
In early January 1923 Beverley Baxter made a most notable last-minute effort to save the life of Edith Thompson. He – like many others – was convinced that she had been unjustly found guilty in the Bywaters-Thompson trial. In his memoirs he provides a staggering account of the events, concluding that “on an appointed day we shall rub our eyes and believe that it could only have been in a nightmare that judicial killing was ever countenanced by a supposedly civilised people” (Strange Street, 1935, p. 154ff )
group (Inveresk publications), Baxter made the move; however, within months Blumenfeld retired and he was persuaded back to follow him as Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Express. Baxter increased circulation, which for the first time it exceeded 1,000,000 under his stewardship; in 1933 it topped 2,000,000.
That year Baxter left the newspaper industry to work as Public Relations counsel for the Gaumont British Picture Corporation Ltd
. In 1935 his autobiography
, "Strange Street" was published; it illuminated the internal rivalries of Fleet Street
newspapers and was well-reviewed. He was recruited by Allied Newspapers to be an Editorial Adviser in 1938 but did not hold this post for long.
In early January 1923 Beverley Baxter made a most notable last-minute effort to save the life of Edith Thompson. He – like many others – was convinced that she had been unjustly found guilty in the Bywaters-Thompson trial. In his memoirs he provides a staggering account of the events, concluding that “on an appointed day we shall rub our eyes and believe that it could only have been in a nightmare that judicial killing was ever countenanced by a supposedly civilised people” (Strange Street, 1935, p. 154ff )
candidate for Wood Green
in suburban London in 1935. The 1935 general election
was called inconveniently for him as he was touring in Canada
at the time and had to be sent a telegram urging him to return immediately; he won the seat with a majority of over 21,000.
During the debates about foreign policy in the late 1930s, Baxter was strongly associated with support for appeasement. In a debate in July 1938 he called for the United Kingdom to go to Germany helpfully, and not to block Germany wherever she tried to expand. He drew a parallel between Germans and Britons, saying that the two had the same human ambitions and sense of destiny. While a Member of Parliament Baxter often wrote features which were published in various newspapers (especially the Daily Sketch
), and he became known as one of the most eloquent and persuasive supporters of the government.
in the Norway debate
of May 1940, and the next morning protested vigorously about the attacks on Chamberlain's character, urging him not to regard the vote as one of censure but to show the courage of David Lloyd George
; Chamberlain however decided otherwise and resigned that day.
Despite his allegiance to Chamberlain, the incoming Churchill government appointed Baxter to an unofficial post with the Ministry of Aircraft Production where he was responsible for keeping up production of aero-engines. He became as strong a campaigner for the new Prime Minister as he had been for the old; when Sir John Wardlaw-Milne put down a motion of no confidence after the loss of Libya
in June 1942, Baxter put down an amendment assuring Churchill of "unqualified support in the introduction of any measures .. for the intensified prosecution of the war". In April 1941 Baxter was in the minority, but with the government, in opposing a motion to keep theatres and cinemas closed on Sundays.
, then writing one of the many follow-ups to "Guilty Men
", imagined a joint effort by a Chamberlain supporter and a Churchill supporter to write a counter. Foot characterised the two as Mr Tadpole and Mr Taper, the two petty politicians in Benjamin Disraeli's "Coningsby
", and while disingenuously insisting that they were fictitious, identified them by titling the book "Brendan
and Beverley".
with a majority reduced to under 6,000. Despite having no official role he was mentioned as a potential future Conservative Party leader by Sir Hartley Shawcross in July 1946. Baxter was part of the large Conservative rebellion against the Anglo-American loan in December 1945, and in 1948 was one of eight Conservatives to oppose Marshall Aid. However, he supported suspension of capital punishment
.
, Baxter moved constituencies to fight instead at Southgate. He was never endangered at any election there. After Churchill returned to power in 1951, Baxter condemned the Foreign Office under the previous Labour government for having been "like a branch of the State Department
".
Baxter was given a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 1954. He continued to support the abolition of capital punishment and acted as a sponsor of Bills to that effect brought in by the Labour MP Sydney Silverman
, and spent a great deal of the late 1950s campaigning for a reduction in theatre tax. In 1959 he signed a motion deploring the call by some Labour MPs for televising the proceedings of the House of Commons
.
in which I declared that they were bad critics." Four months later he was appointed by Lord Beaverbrook as theatre critic for the Standard, a post which he held for the next 8 years, combining it with his duties as a Conservative MP for the Wood Green constituency.
Milton Shulman
, then the paper’s notorious film critic, would fill in whenever Baxter was on holiday or his poliical commitments made him miss a first night. And as Shulman reports in his 1998 memoirs, he eventually found that “Baxter’s ability to attend first nights was becoming somewhat erratic.” In fact Shulman was instrumental in Baxter’s 1951 downfall. Gavin Lambert
had written “a sardonic knifing of all of Fleet Street’s working theatre critics but was particularly derisive about the ‘merciless volubility’ of Beverley Baxter”. It was published in an undergraduate magazine Panorama edited by Kenneth Tynan, and Shulman mischievously showed the article to Charles Curran
, the features editor, who passed it to Baxter who “was not amused.”
About a year later, Baxter was presented with a golden opportunity to get his own back, when he reviewed Tynan’s performance as the Player King in Alec Guinness
’s 1951 production of Hamlet at the New Theatre
in London, writing: “I am a man of a kindly nature, who takes no joy in hurting those who are without defence, but Mr Ken Tynan would not get a chance in a village hall unless he was related to the vicar. His performance was quite dreadful”
Tynan responded with an open letter to the Standard, published 22 May 1951, declaring that his performance was “not ‘quite dreadful’; it is, in fact, only slightly less than mediocre.” This intrigued the Standard’s editor Percy Elland
who gave Tynan freelance work for the Standard and in July 1951 Beaverbrook appointed him as replacement for Baxter as the paper’s theatre critic, a post Tynan held until August 1953.
for young offenders. He was very concerned at the Macmillan government's application to join the European Communities
lest it damage ties with the Commonwealth, and abstained rather than support the government when it was put to the vote in August 1961.
In poor health, Baxter announced that that Parliament was to be his last. He was criticised in January 1963 by the television programme "That Was The Week That Was
" for having made no speeches since the 1959 general election
. Baxter died before Parliament was dissolved, but no byelection to replace him was held due to the imminence of the general election.
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
(8 January 1891 – 26 April 1964) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
born journalist and politician. He spent most of his career in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
working for the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
and as a theatre critic for the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
, and was a 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,...
(MP) for the Conservative Party
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...
from 1935 until his death.
Life in Canada
Baxter's father (James B. Baxter) was a YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
-born Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
who had emigrated to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Baxter was born in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. He left school at the age of 15, to work as an office boy for a stockbroker. However, Baxter disliked the work and left soon after to work for the Nordheimer Piano and Music Company where he sold piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
s. He was made personal assistant to the owner. In his spare time he composed music, sang in operas, and wrote a novel.
Wartime service
He found that he enjoyed writing and was considering a professional career as a novelist when the First World War broke out. In 1915 he enlisted in the Canadian Military EngineersCanadian Military Engineers
The Canadian Military Engineers is the military engineer branch of the Canadian Forces.-Mission:The mission of the Canadian Military Engineers is to contribute to the survival, mobility, and combat effectiveness of the Canadian Forces...
and served as a Lieutenant in the Infantry with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He was attached to the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
for a time in 1918. Baxter received no decorations in the war, saying he was "neither sufficiently forward, nor far enough back".
Entry to newspapers
After the end of the war, Baxter remained in Europe and settled in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1920 he managed to get an interview with fellow Canadian Lord Beaverbrook
Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
, who was one of the British "press Barons" seeking to build up the circulation of the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
to match that of Lord Northcliffe's Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
. The interview led to an appointment as a leader-writer and occasional reporter. When something written by Baxter caught the approving eye of editor R. D. Blumenfeld
R. D. Blumenfeld
Ralph David Blumenfeld was an American-born journalist, writer and newspaper editor who is chiefly notable for having been in charge of the British newspaper Daily Express from 1902 to 1932....
, Baxter was put in charge of page 4 of the paper which included the editorial, opinion pieces, and letters to the editor.
Baxter was made Managing Editor of the Sunday Express, then still a new paper which had yet to find its place, in 1922. Under Baxter's guidance the paper became considerably livelier and its features were remarked upon. After two years, Baxter was moved to the same position on the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
, in effect as deputy to Blumenfeld. Baxter, who was nicknamed "Bax" within the office, got on well with both Blumenfeld and Beaverbrook. In 1924 Baxter married Edith Letson, a girl from Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
In early January 1923 Beverley Baxter made a most notable last-minute effort to save the life of Edith Thompson. He – like many others – was convinced that she had been unjustly found guilty in the Bywaters-Thompson trial. In his memoirs he provides a staggering account of the events, concluding that “on an appointed day we shall rub our eyes and believe that it could only have been in a nightmare that judicial killing was ever countenanced by a supposedly civilised people” (Strange Street, 1935, p. 154ff )
Editorship
In 1929 when offered a considerable increase in salary to work for the Daily ChronicleDaily Chronicle
The Daily Chronicle was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the Daily News to become the News Chronicle.-History:...
group (Inveresk publications), Baxter made the move; however, within months Blumenfeld retired and he was persuaded back to follow him as Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Express. Baxter increased circulation, which for the first time it exceeded 1,000,000 under his stewardship; in 1933 it topped 2,000,000.
That year Baxter left the newspaper industry to work as Public Relations counsel for the Gaumont British Picture Corporation Ltd
Gaumont Film Company
Gaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont . Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world....
. In 1935 his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, "Strange Street" was published; it illuminated the internal rivalries of 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...
newspapers and was well-reviewed. He was recruited by Allied Newspapers to be an Editorial Adviser in 1938 but did not hold this post for long.
In early January 1923 Beverley Baxter made a most notable last-minute effort to save the life of Edith Thompson. He – like many others – was convinced that she had been unjustly found guilty in the Bywaters-Thompson trial. In his memoirs he provides a staggering account of the events, concluding that “on an appointed day we shall rub our eyes and believe that it could only have been in a nightmare that judicial killing was ever countenanced by a supposedly civilised people” (Strange Street, 1935, p. 154ff )
Transfer to politics
Baxter was interested in politics and was selected as Conservative PartyConservative 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...
candidate for Wood Green
Wood Green (UK Parliament constituency)
Wood Green was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Wood Green area of North London. It which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.-History:...
in suburban London in 1935. The 1935 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...
was called inconveniently for him as he was touring in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
at the time and had to be sent a telegram urging him to return immediately; he won the seat with a majority of over 21,000.
Parliamentary contribution
His maiden speech in December 1935 argued that the problems of depressed areas in Britain could be alleviated by encouraging emigration to the other countries of the British Empire, and he returned to this theme in several later speeches. He used his experience in the film industry when the issue of a Films Council to encourage more production in Britain was debated; Baxter called for a "dictator approved by the industry" to take charge.During the debates about foreign policy in the late 1930s, Baxter was strongly associated with support for appeasement. In a debate in July 1938 he called for the United Kingdom to go to Germany helpfully, and not to block Germany wherever she tried to expand. He drew a parallel between Germans and Britons, saying that the two had the same human ambitions and sense of destiny. While a Member of Parliament Baxter often wrote features which were published in various newspapers (especially the Daily Sketch
Daily Sketch
The Daily Sketch was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton.It was bought in 1920 by Lord Rothermere's Daily Mirror Newspapers but in 1925 Rothermere offloaded it to William and Gomer Berry The Daily Sketch was a British national tabloid newspaper,...
), and he became known as one of the most eloquent and persuasive supporters of the government.
Second world war
In the early days of the war, Baxter obtained a pledge from the government that there would be no repeat of an incident when the police went to newspaper offices to check on the contents of the next days' papers. He supported Neville ChamberlainNeville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
in the Norway debate
Norway Debate
The Norway Debate, sometimes called the Narvik Debate, was a famous debate in the British House of Commons that took place in May 1940. It led to the formation of a widely-based National Government led by Winston Churchill which was to govern Britain until the end of World War II in Europe...
of May 1940, and the next morning protested vigorously about the attacks on Chamberlain's character, urging him not to regard the vote as one of censure but to show the courage of David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
; Chamberlain however decided otherwise and resigned that day.
Despite his allegiance to Chamberlain, the incoming Churchill government appointed Baxter to an unofficial post with the Ministry of Aircraft Production where he was responsible for keeping up production of aero-engines. He became as strong a campaigner for the new Prime Minister as he had been for the old; when Sir John Wardlaw-Milne put down a motion of no confidence after the loss of Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
in June 1942, Baxter put down an amendment assuring Churchill of "unqualified support in the introduction of any measures .. for the intensified prosecution of the war". In April 1941 Baxter was in the minority, but with the government, in opposing a motion to keep theatres and cinemas closed on Sundays.
'Brendan and Beverley'
However, Baxter's previous support for Chamberlain was not forgotten. In 1944, Michael FootMichael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
, then writing one of the many follow-ups to "Guilty Men
Guilty Men
Guilty Men was a book published in Great Britain in 1940 that attacked British public figures for their appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s...
", imagined a joint effort by a Chamberlain supporter and a Churchill supporter to write a counter. Foot characterised the two as Mr Tadpole and Mr Taper, the two petty politicians in Benjamin Disraeli's "Coningsby
Coningsby (novel)
Coningsby, or The New Generation, is an English political novel by Benjamin Disraeli published in 1844.-Background:The book is set against a background of the real political events of the 1830s in England that followed the enactment of the Reform Bill of 1832...
", and while disingenuously insisting that they were fictitious, identified them by titling the book "Brendan
Brendan Bracken, 1st Viscount Bracken
Brendan Randell Bracken, 1st Viscount Bracken PC was an Irish businessman and a minister in the British Conservative cabinet. Primarily, the 1st Viscount Bracken is remembered for opposing the Bank of England's co-operation with Adolf Hitler, and for subsequently supporting Winston Churchill's...
and Beverley".
Post-war
Baxter survived 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...
with a majority reduced to under 6,000. Despite having no official role he was mentioned as a potential future Conservative Party leader by Sir Hartley Shawcross in July 1946. Baxter was part of the large Conservative rebellion against the Anglo-American loan in December 1945, and in 1948 was one of eight Conservatives to oppose Marshall Aid. However, he supported suspension of capital punishment
Capital punishment in the United Kingdom
Capital punishment in the United Kingdom was used from the creation of the state in 1707 until the practice was abolished in the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom, by hanging, took place in 1964, prior to capital punishment being abolished for murder...
.
Southgate
At the 1950 general electionUnited 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...
, Baxter moved constituencies to fight instead at Southgate. He was never endangered at any election there. After Churchill returned to power in 1951, Baxter condemned the Foreign Office under the previous Labour government for having been "like a branch of the State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
".
Baxter was given a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 1954. He continued to support the abolition of capital punishment and acted as a sponsor of Bills to that effect brought in by the Labour MP Sydney Silverman
Sydney Silverman
Samuel Sydney Silverman was a British Labour politician and vocal opponent of capital punishment.-Early life:...
, and spent a great deal of the late 1950s campaigning for a reduction in theatre tax. In 1959 he signed a motion deploring the call by some Labour MPs for televising the proceedings of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
.
London theatre critic
In a foreword to Beverley Baxter's collection of theatre reviews, published in 1949, he writes that he "first did dramatic criticism for the Daily Express 25 years earlier", and was the author of a failed play, It Happened in September, "which made the round of the provinces and arrived in the blackout at St James's Theatre in December 1942. The critics said that I was a bad playwright and I replied with an article in the Evening StandardEvening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
in which I declared that they were bad critics." Four months later he was appointed by Lord Beaverbrook as theatre critic for the Standard, a post which he held for the next 8 years, combining it with his duties as a Conservative MP for the Wood Green constituency.
Milton Shulman
Milton Shulman
Milton Shulman was a Canadian author, film and theatre critic.-Early life:He was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of a successful shopkeeper. His parents were born in Ukraine and were driven out of the Russian Empire by poverty and the pogroms against the Jews...
, then the paper’s notorious film critic, would fill in whenever Baxter was on holiday or his poliical commitments made him miss a first night. And as Shulman reports in his 1998 memoirs, he eventually found that “Baxter’s ability to attend first nights was becoming somewhat erratic.” In fact Shulman was instrumental in Baxter’s 1951 downfall. Gavin Lambert
Gavin Lambert
Gavin Lambert was a British-born screenwriter, novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood...
had written “a sardonic knifing of all of Fleet Street’s working theatre critics but was particularly derisive about the ‘merciless volubility’ of Beverley Baxter”. It was published in an undergraduate magazine Panorama edited by Kenneth Tynan, and Shulman mischievously showed the article to Charles Curran
Charles Curran
Charles Curran may refer to:* Charles Curran , British Conservative politician, MP for Uxbridge 1959–1966* Charles Curran , BBC Director-General 1969–1977...
, the features editor, who passed it to Baxter who “was not amused.”
About a year later, Baxter was presented with a golden opportunity to get his own back, when he reviewed Tynan’s performance as the Player King in Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
’s 1951 production of Hamlet at the New Theatre
Noël Coward Theatre
The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre on St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by...
in London, writing: “I am a man of a kindly nature, who takes no joy in hurting those who are without defence, but Mr Ken Tynan would not get a chance in a village hall unless he was related to the vicar. His performance was quite dreadful”
Tynan responded with an open letter to the Standard, published 22 May 1951, declaring that his performance was “not ‘quite dreadful’; it is, in fact, only slightly less than mediocre.” This intrigued the Standard’s editor Percy Elland
Percy Elland
Percy Elland was an English newspaper editor.Born in Doncaster, Elland attended Doncaster Grammar School before entering journalism. In 1952, he became editor of the Evening Standard, serving until 1959, but making few changes to the title...
who gave Tynan freelance work for the Standard and in July 1951 Beaverbrook appointed him as replacement for Baxter as the paper’s theatre critic, a post Tynan held until August 1953.
Last years
In 1961 Baxter broke the whip to support a Conservative backbench amendment to restore corporal punishmentCorporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
for young offenders. He was very concerned at the Macmillan government's application to join the European Communities
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
lest it damage ties with the Commonwealth, and abstained rather than support the government when it was put to the vote in August 1961.
In poor health, Baxter announced that that Parliament was to be his last. He was criticised in January 1963 by the television programme "That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
" for having made no speeches since the 1959 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
. Baxter died before Parliament was dissolved, but no byelection to replace him was held due to the imminence of the general election.