John Gouriet
Encyclopedia
Major John Prendergast Gouriet (1 June 1935 – 4 September 2010) was a British
Army
officer, company director and political activist. He was best known as a founder of the National Association for Freedom (now The Freedom Association
), and for pioneering the use of legal action to oppose actions of trade union
s and campaigning groups which he believed interfered with personal liberty, during three years as the Association's director.
in the Royal Air Force
from Watchet
in Somerset
. Gouriet was educated at Charterhouse School
in Girdlestoneites House, an independent school
in Godalming
in Surrey
, from where he won a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
in 1954.
in the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
with seniority from December 1955. He joined his regiment in Malaya on active service.
In the Army Gouriet became the second in command of a company of the Somaliland Scouts from 1959 until the Scouts were disbanded in late 1960. He was promoted to Captain in 1961, became Adjutant of the Trucial Oman Scouts from 1961 to 1963, and then served as General Staff Officer Grade III Intelligence 1965-66 to the Director of Operations in Borneo. After attending Staff College, Camberley where he earned a recommendation to return on the Teaching Staff as a Lieut Colonel, he became a Squadron Leader in 15/19 Hussars, a Chieftain tank regiment in Germany
. He finished his Army career as Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General at the Ministry of Defence
, responsible for Q Operations and Plans, in 1971 to 1972. and retired voluntarily on compassionate grounds
-shooting trip to Speyside
with family and friends, he was discussing the political and economic state of Britain in 1973-1974, he told the assembled party over lunch in the heather that "It's no use complaining and then doing nothing!" That night he resolved to "take up the cudgels" himself. Gouriet then contacted Ralph Harris
of the free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs
to discuss linking up sympathetic groups and forming a co-ordinated opposition; Harris introduced him to Ross McWhirter
. During the Conservative Party
conference of 1975, Gouriet and McWhirter placed a copy of a campaign broadsheet called "Majority" on every seat.
and had responded by impounding all the cars on their ship, which had not been unloaded. Gouriet thought that this action was illegal and agreed with McWhirter to challenge it; they found one of the car owners (John Nundy) who was willing to be a test case and funded him to apply for an injunction to release his car. After a hearing reportedly lasting eight minutes, Nundy was granted an injunction by the High Court
against both P & O and the leader of the strike, requiring the release of his car. Gouriet later noted that, by good fortune, it turned out that Nundy's car was at the back of the ship and so all other cars had to be offloaded before his could be reached.
to put up a reward of £50,000 for information leading to the conviction of IRA
members. When refused, Ross McWhirter decided to do so himself; this decision led to his assassination by the IRA Balcombe Street gang
. Less than a week after, on 2 December 1975 the National Association for Freedom was launched at the Savoy Hotel
, with Gouriet as Campaign Director.
The Association paid the full legal costs of a group of six parents of children at state schools in Tameside
who intervened in a legal action by the Secretary of State for Education and Science
who sought to force the local authority to adopt a system of comprehensive education
.
Opposition to communism was one of the Association's key points and for his work Gouriet was awarded the Polish Gold Cross of Merit by the Polish government-in-exile in London. He was the sole British Guard of Honour at the unveiling of the memorial to the Katyn massacre
in Gunnersbury
, west London, in September 1976.
decided to boycott all telephone calls, mail and telegrams to and from South Africa
, in order to protest against apartheid. Gouriet, for the National Association For Freedom, applied for an injunction to prevent the boycott under the Post Office Act 1953 which made it illegal to impede the mail. Attorney General
Samuel Silkin
refused consent for what was called a 'relator action'; Gouriet went to court to challenge the refusal, and also issued a writ against the UPW in his own name anyway which was immediately turned down. He lost his challenge to Silkin's refusal in the High Court but immediately appealed; in the Court of Appeal
, Lord Denning granted a temporary injunction, summoned Silkin, and said that it was "very doubtful whether the Attorney General had directed himself properly".
When Silkin appeared in Court, he insisted that the Court of Appeal had no power to examine his reasons for refusing Gouriet consent, because this was the role of Parliament. After a four day hearing, Gouriet succeeded in establishing that an individual could challenge the Attorney General's refusal, in overturning the refusal in the immediate case, and in obtaining a permanent injunction. This court defeat was highly embarrassing and Silkin was jeered with shouts of "resign" when he came to Parliament to explain. Silkin appealed to the House of Lords
.
in which a branch of the Post Office Workers Union had "blacked" mail to a photographic laboratory at which there was a strike. Instead, the National Association for Freedom undertook an operation to liberate the post with the co-operation of the company and the police. At 1am on Saturday 9 July, Gouriet organised 25 volunteers who loaded about 100,000 processed films from Grunwick on to two articulated lorries, and drove them to a depot north of London. There they stuck postage stamp
s on them, before dividing the packages between a large number of cars and vans who drove all over the country to put them in different postboxes. In this way the Grunwick mail was delivered despite identifiable packaging, and what was called "Operation Pony Express" was judged a success.
In February 1978 Gouriet revealed that the legal costs had actually amounted to £90,857 and that it had only until the end of March to pay them. He appealed for help, saying that failure to pay "will spell the end of NAFF and probably any organised resistance to the advance of communo-socialism in Britain" as well as his own personal bankruptcy
. On 16 March Gouriet was able to announce that more than £90,000 had been raised.
for the BBC Four
documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory!
.
He became chairman of Stevens-Lefield Foods Ltd, a company specialising in pre-packed and pre-cooked meals, and also a Director of Park Air Travel Ltd. From 1991 he was a director and consultant to General Portfolio plc. An active member of the Referendum Party
, Gouriet was a Parliamentary candidate for the party in the 1997 general election
in West Derbyshire
; he polled 2,499 votes.
After the demise of the Referendum party, Gouriet joined the Democratic party
. He acted as campaign manager for the party's only candidate Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford
at the Kensington and Chelsea byelection
in November 1999. After an attempt to challenge the removal of hereditary peer
s in the House of Lords Act 1999
failed in 2000, Gouriet was again landed with a bill for substantial legal costs; he appealed to members of the House of Lords for help.
's policy of slaughter of animals on farms neighbouring outbreaks. He travelled throughout Britain campaigning against what he deemed to be unnecessary culling.
(twin brother of Ross McWhirter) co-founded Defenders of the Realm as an organisation campaigning against British membership of the European Union
. Gouriet remained chairman of the group until his death and was appealing for funds to mount a legal challenge to British membership by means of judicial review
. The Defenders claim that ancient documents including the Magna Carta
, Declaration of Rights
and the Coronation Act 1688 prohibit membership.
, Gouriet underwent open heart surgery
in Southampton
in 1993; he had a second heart attack in 2007. In a letter published by The Daily Telegraph
the following February, Gouriet praised the care he received from the NHS
. In 2008 his book "Hear Hear!", a collection of over 700 letters and articles which he had written to the British press over the last eleven years of Labour government, was printed by AuthorHouse
, a self-publishing
company. The book has a foreword by Lord Tebbit
. John Gouriet died during the evening of 4 September 2010.
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...
Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer, company director and political activist. He was best known as a founder of the National Association for Freedom (now The Freedom Association
The Freedom Association
The Freedom Association is a pressure group in the United Kingdom that describes itself as non-partisan, centre-right and libertarian, which has links to the Conservative Party. TFA was founded in 1975 as the National Association for Freedom and gained public prominence through its anti-trade...
), and for pioneering the use of legal action to oppose actions of 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...
s and campaigning groups which he believed interfered with personal liberty, during three years as the Association's director.
Early life
Gouriet was the only son of a Wing CommanderWing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
in the Royal Air Force
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...
from Watchet
Watchet
Watchet is a harbour town and civil parish in the English county of Somerset, with an approximate population of 4,400. It is situated west of Bridgwater, north-west of Taunton, and east of Minehead. The parish includes the hamlet of Beggearn Huish...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. Gouriet was educated at Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
in Girdlestoneites House, an independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
in Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, from where he won a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
in 1954.
Army career
Gouriet did well at Sandhurst and was commissioned as an officer in the ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
The 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was created as part of the reduction in the cavalry in the aftermath of World War I. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 15th The King's Hussars and the 19th Royal Hussars on 11 April 1922, becoming the...
with seniority from December 1955. He joined his regiment in Malaya on active service.
In the Army Gouriet became the second in command of a company of the Somaliland Scouts from 1959 until the Scouts were disbanded in late 1960. He was promoted to Captain in 1961, became Adjutant of the Trucial Oman Scouts from 1961 to 1963, and then served as General Staff Officer Grade III Intelligence 1965-66 to the Director of Operations in Borneo. After attending Staff College, Camberley where he earned a recommendation to return on the Teaching Staff as a Lieut Colonel, he became a Squadron Leader in 15/19 Hussars, a Chieftain tank regiment in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He finished his Army career as Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General at the Ministry of 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....
, responsible for Q Operations and Plans, in 1971 to 1972. and retired voluntarily on compassionate grounds
Entry into politics
Leaving the Army with the rank of Major in January 1973, Gouriet went to work as an assistant to Sir Walter Salomon at Rea Brothers merchant bank in the City of London. He later described how, shortly afterwards, on a grouseGrouse
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...
-shooting trip to Speyside
Strathspey, Scotland
Strathspey is the area around the strath of the River Spey, Scotland, in both the Moray council area and the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area of Highland....
with family and friends, he was discussing the political and economic state of Britain in 1973-1974, he told the assembled party over lunch in the heather that "It's no use complaining and then doing nothing!" That night he resolved to "take up the cudgels" himself. Gouriet then contacted Ralph Harris
Ralph Harris, Baron Harris of High Cross
Ralph Harris, Baron Harris of High Cross was a British economist. He was head of the Institute of Economic Affairs from 1957 to 1988...
of the free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs
Institute of Economic Affairs
The Institute of Economic Affairs , founded in 1955, styles itself the UK's pre-eminent free-market think-tank. Its mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social...
to discuss linking up sympathetic groups and forming a co-ordinated opposition; Harris introduced him to Ross McWhirter
Ross McWhirter
Alan Ross Mayfield McWhirter , known as Ross McWhirter, was, with his twin brother, Norris McWhirter, co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records and a contributor to Record Breakers...
. During 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...
conference of 1975, Gouriet and McWhirter placed a copy of a campaign broadsheet called "Majority" on every seat.
P & O legal action
The two had begun work on setting up their new organisation when they heard of an incident which gave them an opportunity to campaign. A P & O ferry crew had been sacked on arriving at SouthamptonSouthampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
and had responded by impounding all the cars on their ship, which had not been unloaded. Gouriet thought that this action was illegal and agreed with McWhirter to challenge it; they found one of the car owners (John Nundy) who was willing to be a test case and funded him to apply for an injunction to release his car. After a hearing reportedly lasting eight minutes, Nundy was granted an injunction by the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
against both P & O and the leader of the strike, requiring the release of his car. Gouriet later noted that, by good fortune, it turned out that Nundy's car was at the back of the ship and so all other cars had to be offloaded before his could be reached.
Launch of the National Association for Freedom
Gouriet then tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Home SecretaryHome Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
to put up a reward of £50,000 for information leading to the conviction of IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
members. When refused, Ross McWhirter decided to do so himself; this decision led to his assassination by the IRA Balcombe Street gang
Balcombe Street Siege
The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Metropolitan Police Service of London, England lasting from 6 December to 12 December 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA volunteers and the release of their two hostages...
. Less than a week after, on 2 December 1975 the National Association for Freedom was launched at the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
, with Gouriet as Campaign Director.
The Association paid the full legal costs of a group of six parents of children at state schools in Tameside
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
who intervened in a legal action by the Secretary of State for Education and Science
Secretary of State for Education and Skills
The Secretary of State for Education is the chief minister of the Department for Education in the United Kingdom government. The position was re-established on 12 May 2010, held by Michael Gove....
who sought to force the local authority to adopt a system of comprehensive education
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
.
Opposition to communism was one of the Association's key points and for his work Gouriet was awarded the Polish Gold Cross of Merit by the Polish government-in-exile in London. He was the sole British Guard of Honour at the unveiling of the memorial to the Katyn massacre
Katyn massacre
The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass execution of Polish nationals carried out by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs , the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The massacre was prompted by Lavrentiy Beria's proposal to execute all members of...
in Gunnersbury
Gunnersbury
Gunnersbury is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow, with its northern edge in the London Borough of Ealing, west London. It has an area of less than half a square kilometre and is within the west area of the Chiswick W4 postal district of London....
, west London, in September 1976.
South Africa
In early 1977 the Union of Post Office WorkersUnion of Communication Workers
The Union of Communication Workers was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. It was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers by the merger of the Postmen's Federation, Postal and Telegraph Clerks' Association and the...
decided to boycott all telephone calls, mail and telegrams to and from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, in order to protest against apartheid. Gouriet, for the National Association For Freedom, applied for an injunction to prevent the boycott under the Post Office Act 1953 which made it illegal to impede the mail. Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
Samuel Silkin
Samuel Silkin, Baron Silkin of Dulwich
Samuel Charles Silkin, Baron Silkin of Dulwich, PC, QC was a British Labour Party politician and cricketer....
refused consent for what was called a 'relator action'; Gouriet went to court to challenge the refusal, and also issued a writ against the UPW in his own name anyway which was immediately turned down. He lost his challenge to Silkin's refusal in the High Court but immediately appealed; in the Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
, Lord Denning granted a temporary injunction, summoned Silkin, and said that it was "very doubtful whether the Attorney General had directed himself properly".
When Silkin appeared in Court, he insisted that the Court of Appeal had no power to examine his reasons for refusing Gouriet consent, because this was the role of Parliament. After a four day hearing, Gouriet succeeded in establishing that an individual could challenge the Attorney General's refusal, in overturning the refusal in the immediate case, and in obtaining a permanent injunction. This court defeat was highly embarrassing and Silkin was jeered with shouts of "resign" when he came to Parliament to explain. Silkin appealed to the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
.
Grunwick
In the summer of 1977, Gouriet began considering whether to intervene in the Grunwick disputeGrunwick dispute
The Grunwick dispute was an industrial dispute involving trade union recognition at the Grunwick Film Processing Laboratories in Willesden, North London which led to a two-year strike between 1976–1978...
in which a branch of the Post Office Workers Union had "blacked" mail to a photographic laboratory at which there was a strike. Instead, the National Association for Freedom undertook an operation to liberate the post with the co-operation of the company and the police. At 1am on Saturday 9 July, Gouriet organised 25 volunteers who loaded about 100,000 processed films from Grunwick on to two articulated lorries, and drove them to a depot north of London. There they stuck postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s on them, before dividing the packages between a large number of cars and vans who drove all over the country to put them in different postboxes. In this way the Grunwick mail was delivered despite identifiable packaging, and what was called "Operation Pony Express" was judged a success.
Financial problems
Later that month Gouriet's campaign was dealt a blow when the House of Lords reversed the decision on the South African mail boycott, landing the association with costs then estimated at £30,000. This decision also prevented legal action in the Grunwick case and Gouriet denounced it as "a black day" in which "the law has been made a mockery". The Association launched an appeal for funds to pay its legal costs.In February 1978 Gouriet revealed that the legal costs had actually amounted to £90,857 and that it had only until the end of March to pay them. He appealed for help, saying that failure to pay "will spell the end of NAFF and probably any organised resistance to the advance of communo-socialism in Britain" as well as his own personal bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. On 16 March Gouriet was able to announce that more than £90,000 had been raised.
Subsequent life
Gouriet announced his resignation as director of the National Association for Freedom on 25 June 1978 after an internal disagreement over the role of the Association's management committee. In 2006 Gouriet was interviewed about the Freedom Association and the rise of ThatcherismThatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
for the BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory! is a 2006 BBC television documentary series on the history of the people and ideas that formed Thatcherism told through the eyes of those on the New Right.-Production:...
.
He became chairman of Stevens-Lefield Foods Ltd, a company specialising in pre-packed and pre-cooked meals, and also a Director of Park Air Travel Ltd. From 1991 he was a director and consultant to General Portfolio plc. An active member of 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:...
, Gouriet was a Parliamentary candidate for the party in 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...
in West Derbyshire
West Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)
West Derbyshire was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1885 until it was replaced by the Derbyshire Dales constituency in the 2010 General Election, it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system.It...
; he polled 2,499 votes.
After the demise of the Referendum party, Gouriet joined the Democratic party
Democratic Party (UK, 1998)
The Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom, founded in November 1998 by Malvern businessman Geoff Southall, who also funded the party. It was described as "right wing" or "hard right" in news reports, but claimed to occupy the centre-ground of British politics...
. He acted as campaign manager for the party's only candidate Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford
Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford
Charles Francis Topham de Vere Beauclerk, Earl of Burford is the eldest son and heir apparent of the Duke of St Albans. He is descended from Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, the natural son of Charles II and Nell Gwyn....
at the Kensington and Chelsea byelection
Kensington and Chelsea by-election, 1999
The Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea, Alan Clark, died of a brain tumour on September 5, 1999.This was the first safe Conservative seat to have a by-election in the Parliament. There was immediate speculation that Michael Portillo, the most high-profile casualty of the 1997 general...
in November 1999. After an attempt to challenge the removal of hereditary peer
Hereditary peer
Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...
s in the House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999
The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;...
failed in 2000, Gouriet was again landed with a bill for substantial legal costs; he appealed to members of the House of Lords for help.
Foot and Mouth
During the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001, Gouriet opposed the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and FoodMinistry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and from 1919 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries...
's policy of slaughter of animals on farms neighbouring outbreaks. He travelled throughout Britain campaigning against what he deemed to be unnecessary culling.
European Union
In 2002 Gouriet and Norris McWhirterNorris 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...
(twin brother of Ross McWhirter) co-founded Defenders of the Realm as an organisation campaigning against British membership of the European Union
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...
. Gouriet remained chairman of the group until his death and was appealing for funds to mount a legal challenge to British membership by means of judicial review
Judicial review
Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...
. The Defenders claim that ancient documents including the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
, Declaration of Rights
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 ,...
and the Coronation Act 1688 prohibit membership.
Health
After a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, Gouriet underwent open heart surgery
Cardiac surgery
Cardiovascular surgery is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. Frequently, it is done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease , correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease from various causes including endocarditis, rheumatic heart...
in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
in 1993; he had a second heart attack in 2007. In a letter published by The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
the following February, Gouriet praised the care he received from the NHS
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
. In 2008 his book "Hear Hear!", a collection of over 700 letters and articles which he had written to the British press over the last eleven years of Labour government, was printed by AuthorHouse
AuthorHouse
AuthorHouse, formerly known as 1stBooks, is a self-publishing company based in the United States. AuthorHouse uses print on demand business model and technology.-History:...
, a self-publishing
Self-publishing
Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design , formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR...
company. The book has a foreword by Lord 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...
. John Gouriet died during the evening of 4 September 2010.