Minor characters in the House of Cards trilogy
Encyclopedia
This article is about characters in the House of Cards trilogy other than Francis Urquhart
. The trilogy consists of three separate four part serials, House of Cards
, To Play the King
and The Final Cut, all based on identically-titled novels by Michael Dobbs
.
) is the wife of Francis Urquhart
. She appears to have a great deal of power over her husband, and often identifies his powers and abilities or persuades him to use a given situation to his advantage. When Francis is overlooked for a Cabinet
promotion by Prime Minister
Henry Collingridge, it is Elizabeth who encourages him to plot to remove Collingridge and take office himself. She condones his affair with Mattie Storin so that he may gain her trust and use his position to feed information to her, thereby influencing her articles.
It is implied in the first instalment of the trilogy that murdering Roger O'Neill, a colleague who Francis had been using to his advantage, is initially her idea. Unlike her husband, who clearly feels remorse after killing, she is cold and callous and does not seem to have a problem with arranging murders to suit their purposes. However she appears to truly love her husband, and kills him to spare him the disgrace and agony of exposure, resignation, trial, life imprisonment, and eternal historical damnation.
In the TV version of The Final Cut
, she has Francis murdered to secure their positive legacies and her pension. Before he dies, she, her right eye spattered with his blood, lovingly holds him in her arms and assures him: 'Francis; my dear. It was the only way, my darling. You do understand?' Likewise, Urquhart's love for Elizabeth is shown by his last word, a gurgled, death-like 'Elizabeth'.
In the first book, she is called Miranda.
) is initially one of Francis Urquhart's closest friends and aides. In the first series, he is a Junior Whip to Urquhart as Chief Whip
, in the second series, he is Chief Whip and later Chairman of the Conservative Party
. Stamper did not appear in the House of Cards
novel on which the BBC
series was based, though the series' author, Michael Dobbs
, introduced him in its sequel, To Play the King
.
In the first instalment of the House of Cards trilogy, Stamper is loyal to Urquhart. By To Play the King, however, he is embittered and feels that his loyalty and efforts are unappreciated. As a result, Stamper decides to release a tape incriminating Urquhart in the murder of Mattie Storin and Roger O'Neill to the police. When Urquhart becomes aware of these plans, he has Corder murder Stamper and Sarah Harding, one of his own personal aides to whom Stamper had given a copy of the tape, with car bombs. Stamper appeared to have unfortunate delusions of grandeur; his plan was to force Urqhuart's resignation and replace him as Prime Minister, albeit with a deal of sadness at having to do it. He stated that all he ever wished to do was to serve Urquhart, and it is clear from both House of Cards and parts of To Play the King that he would have been loyal to him until the end. However it is Urquhart's cruel acts of throwing Stamper's loyalty back into his face that drove him to try and ruin his old master.
) is a journalist for the fictional Chronicle, who becomes romantically involved with Francis Urquhart. She is killed at the end of House of Cards by Urquhart, who throws her off the fictitious roof garden of the House of Commons
. She knew about his illegal actions and he did not believe that she would keep quiet about them.
In the series, she displays evidence of instability, most alarmingly her preference for calling Urquhart 'daddy' in moments of intimacy. This apparent Electra complex
could be linked to her father's death when she was very young, an event revealed in To Play the King when Urquhart explains her 'sad' story to Sarah Harding when she is ordered to ask him by some homeless thugs. Aside from this kink, she is portrayed as a headstrong, talented, beautiful young woman who is determined to understand the way the Westminster Bubble
works and even states that this is more important to her than getting 'scoop headlines'. The name for this character chosen by Michael Dobbs was based on Matthew Storin, a male journalist, who was a colleague of Dobbs at The Boston Globe in the 1970s and later became editor of the Globe (1993-2001).
. He is a canny political operator but past his prime. His young protégé Michael Samuels is Environment Secretary and on the 'liberal' wing of the Conservative Party
. Billsborough becomes Urquhart's unwitting pawn when Urquhart tells Collingridge, and hints to Mattie and the press, that it is Billsborough who is betraying him (it is in fact Urquhart), whereupon Collingridge sacks him. Samuels is a frontrunner and ultimately Urquhart's chief rival for the Conservative leadership when Collingridge resigns.
) serves as Francis Urquhart's bodyguard and is responsible for most of the assassinations carried out on Urquhart's behalf. He appears to feel no compassion for the people he kills, among them Urquhart himself.
It is implied in To Play The King that Corder is having an affair with Mrs Urquhart.
Corder is responsible for the assassinations of Tim Stamper and Sarah Harding, two people who had originally been the Prime Minister's most loyal supporters but who had decided to expose him after a tape implicating him in the murders of Mattie Storin and Roger O'Neill surfaced. Stamper wants him removed so he can replace him, while Harding is genuinely shocked by the news, thinking that her boss and lover Urquhart could never commit such an evil action. Corder has their cars rigged with bombs, killing them both.
At the unveiling of Margaret Thatcher
's statue, Corder has Urquhart and Evanghelos Passolides killed by a sniper on a balcony above Parliament Square
, just after honouring the memorial with singing "God Save the King". Passolides was investigating the deaths of his brothers, Georgios and Euripides, whom Urquhart murdered on his tour of duty in Cyprus
in 1956.
) is appointed Francis Urquhart's media adviser in To Play The King
. A former Cambridge academic and journalist ("Did you write in The Economist
," F.U. Asks, "That 'Francis Urquhart is like the shark: he has to keep moving forwards to stay alive'?"), she then went onto to work for a polling company before becoming the Prime Minister's 'slave', his political adviser.
After being made partially aware of Urquhart's involvement with Mattie Storin, she becomes Urquhart's lover, despite being married, and then starts to become obsessed with him.
As Urquhart wins his tussle against the king, Sarah becomes more aware of some of the dubious aspects of Urquhart's administration and Stamper makes her aware of his involvement in Mattie Storin's death. She is killed in an arranged car bomb on the day after the election on her way to meet one of the king's advisers in order, it is implied, to hand over a tape which implicates Urquhart in Storin's death.
In the novel, her character is very different and her name is Sally Quinn.
) is Urquhart's antagonist in To Play The King. Having recently succeeded his mother as monarch, he is determined to play a more active role in government but his initial attempts are thwarted by Urquhart.
As their relationship deteriorates, the King starts to raise issues against government policy, causing the government to lose popularity. As Urquhart faces re-election, the king organises a nationwide tour to highlight the issue of homelessness. He is humiliated in a dirty trick and Urquhart wins re-election, much to the king's displeasure.
After his re-election, Urquhart demands his abdication
. Although the king cautions Urquhart that he will continue to fight his policies, he does not feature in the later series.
In the novel it is the king who decides to abdicate against Urquhart's wishes and plans.
), known as the pit bull, is proprietor and editor-in-chief of The Clarion, a UK tabloid newspaper, who features in To Play The King and The Final Cut.
It is evident that Sir Bruce gained his knighthood with vigorous support for the Government's policies ("The pit bull has bitten quite a few legs in the cause," says Stamper) but his support wavers when the king raises issues of compassion, and then when Makepeace makes his bid for the leadership. In the former Urqhuart blackmails him with compromising photographs, while in the latter he tries (and fails) to bribe him with an implied offer of a peerage.
He does not feature at all in any of the novels.
and Foreign Secretary
, then Prime Minister
. He and Urqhuart frequently clashed over Europe and various domestic policies.
Following a major dispute with Urqhuart over Urquhart's proposal of a single language for Europe, Makepeace was fired from the Cabinet. He was offered the post of Secretary of State for Education (a traditional 'dumping ground' post) but declined it. Enraged he promptly issued a press statement announcing that he had decided to resign from the Cabinet. He subsequently resigned from the government and sat as an independent MP on the Opposition benches.
Despite being an independent MP, Makepeace announced he would be challenging the Prime Minister for the leadership of the Conservative Party. He failed to win the first ballot but managed to force a second one. Urqhuart was killed before the second ballot thus enabling him to win the election unopposed.
In the book, Makepeace does not challenge Urquhart for the leadership but instead leads a popular movement to undermine the prime minister and his leadership. He is present when Urquhart is shot, but does not win the Premiership after being tainted by his association with Passolides. The Premiership goes to Maxwell Stanbrook, the Environment Secretary.
) is the successor to Margaret Thatcher
in House of Cards
.
Collingridge is portrayed as being a decent man and a passive indecisive leader who relies heavily on the support of his most trusted cronies and Cabinet
Ministers Francis Urquhart and Lord 'Teddy' Billsborough. At the start of the novel (and TV adaptation) he has just led to his party to victory in a general election (albeit with a very reduced majority).
In his first reshuffle he makes the decision not to make any changes to the government, arguing that a massive shake-up could be misconstrued as panic. This enrages Urquhart, who longs for revenge after being passed over for a promotion to the Cabinet.
Collingridge's brief time in office proves difficult for him thanks to Urquhart, who embarrasses his boss by leaking delicate information to the press and one of the Labour Party
backbencher
s, Stephen Kendrick. A fabricated scandal concerning Collingridge's alcoholic brother forces him to resign after about a year in office.
He is succeeded by Urquhart, whom, in a final twist of irony, Collingridge offers to support.
) is a minor character in the first instalment. He serves as Foreign Secretary
under Henry Collingridge. In House of Cards, Urquhart describes Woolton as a "'a lout, a lecher, a racist, an anti-Semite, and a bully'", but adds that he is 'more intelligent than he seems'.
Woolton makes two unsuccessful bids for the leadership of the Conservative Party - in the first contest, he loses to Collingridge. In the second, Urquhart anonymously blackmails Woolton into withdrawing by sending him a tape of him having sex with Penny Guy, Roger O'Neill's assistant and mistress. He vows that he will be back, but is absent from the later sequels.
) is a lesser member of Urquhart's Cabinet
(mentioned at one stage as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
) in The Final Cut
. He is something of a 'character', cheerfully upper-class with a slightly eccentric sense of humour, notable for wearing colourful waistcoats and bow ties, and a fondness for the fairer sex. Urquhart promotes him to Foreign Secretary
: Geoffrey is an Urquhart loyalist and in any case lacks the credibility to be a rival, and his popular image as a cute buffoon (though he is actually clever) humiliates his predecessor, also earning him a reputation as Urquhart's 'glove-puppet' (as Tom Makepeace calls him in his statement of resignation) and the consequent nickname of Sooty
by both the Opposition and other Members of the Cabinet
and Parliamentary Party.
The Booza-Pitt of the book is similar to the TV version in many respects. However, he is Transport Secretary to start with and later Home Secretary, and has an affair with his Party constituency Chairman's wife. His political career survives under Urquhart's successor, Maxwell Stanbrook.
) is a backbencher
whose ability and intelligence prompts Urquhart to make her his Parliamentary Private Secretary
even though he knows she is having an affair with his rival Tom Makepeace. Her sexual and professional relationship with Makepeace gives her the role of double agent: telling many genuine, and sometimes damaging, facts about Makepeace to Urquhart, while at the same time relating the cold, evil traits and weaknesses of Urquhart to Makepeace.
In the end she tries to help Makepeace destroy Urquhart, by fraudulently acquiring a paper documenting Lieutenant Francis Urquhart's killing of Evanghelos Passolides' two brothers in Cyprus
in 1956 but Makepeace rejects her help as he already has the documents and spurns Claire's advances declaring her to be 'pure poison' as she is too closely associated with the discredited Urquhart.
Claire is less duplicitous in the novel and, after Urquhart's death, is made a minister.
Francis Urquhart
Francis Ewan Urquhart is a fictional character created by Michael Dobbs. A Conservative politician, he appeared in a trilogy of novels: House of Cards in 1989, To Play the King in 1992 and The Final Cut in 1995...
. The trilogy consists of three separate four part serials, House of Cards
House of Cards
House of Cards is a 1990 political thriller television drama serial by the BBC in four parts, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was televised from 18 November to 9 December 1990, to critical and popular acclaim...
, To Play the King
To Play the King
To Play The King is a 1993 BBC television serial, the second part of the House of Cards trilogy. Directed by Paul Seed, the serial was based on the Michael Dobbs novel of the same name and adapted for television by Andrew Davies...
and The Final Cut, all based on identically-titled novels by Michael Dobbs
Michael Dobbs
Michael Dobbs, Baron Dobbs is a British Conservative politician and best-selling author.-Background:Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, the son of nurseryman Eric and Eileen Dobbs. He was educated at Hertford Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford University....
.
Elizabeth Urquhart
Elizabeth Urquhart (Diane FletcherDiane Fletcher
Diane Fletcher is an English actress.Fletcher was born in Derbyshire. She played Nancy in Fairly Secret Army, and has appeared in other popular British television shows such as Coronation Street as Angela Hawthorne,...
) is the wife of Francis Urquhart
Francis Urquhart
Francis Ewan Urquhart is a fictional character created by Michael Dobbs. A Conservative politician, he appeared in a trilogy of novels: House of Cards in 1989, To Play the King in 1992 and The Final Cut in 1995...
. She appears to have a great deal of power over her husband, and often identifies his powers and abilities or persuades him to use a given situation to his advantage. When Francis is overlooked for a Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
promotion by 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...
Henry Collingridge, it is Elizabeth who encourages him to plot to remove Collingridge and take office himself. She condones his affair with Mattie Storin so that he may gain her trust and use his position to feed information to her, thereby influencing her articles.
It is implied in the first instalment of the trilogy that murdering Roger O'Neill, a colleague who Francis had been using to his advantage, is initially her idea. Unlike her husband, who clearly feels remorse after killing, she is cold and callous and does not seem to have a problem with arranging murders to suit their purposes. However she appears to truly love her husband, and kills him to spare him the disgrace and agony of exposure, resignation, trial, life imprisonment, and eternal historical damnation.
In the TV version of The Final Cut
The Final Cut (TV serial)
The Final Cut is a 1995 BBC television serial, the third part of the House of Cards trilogy. Directed by Mike Vardy, the serial, based on Michael Dobbs's 1995 novel of the same name, was adapted for television by Andrew Davies...
, she has Francis murdered to secure their positive legacies and her pension. Before he dies, she, her right eye spattered with his blood, lovingly holds him in her arms and assures him: 'Francis; my dear. It was the only way, my darling. You do understand?' Likewise, Urquhart's love for Elizabeth is shown by his last word, a gurgled, death-like 'Elizabeth'.
In the first book, she is called Miranda.
Tim Stamper, MP
Tim Stamper (Colin JeavonsColin Jeavons
Colin Jeavons is a Welsh television actor.-Career:Jeavons is best known as Inspector Lestrade in the Granada television serials The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, or the part of the undertaker, Shadrack, in the television situation comedy written by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall from...
) is initially one of Francis Urquhart's closest friends and aides. In the first series, he is a Junior Whip to Urquhart as Chief Whip
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...
, in the second series, he is Chief Whip and later Chairman of the Conservative Party
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of the Conservative Party is responsible for running the party machine, overseeing Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in power, the Chairman is usually a member of the Cabinet being given a sinecure position such as Minister without Portfolio...
. Stamper did not appear in the House of Cards
House of Cards
House of Cards is a 1990 political thriller television drama serial by the BBC in four parts, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was televised from 18 November to 9 December 1990, to critical and popular acclaim...
novel on which the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series was based, though the series' author, Michael Dobbs
Michael Dobbs
Michael Dobbs, Baron Dobbs is a British Conservative politician and best-selling author.-Background:Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, the son of nurseryman Eric and Eileen Dobbs. He was educated at Hertford Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford University....
, introduced him in its sequel, To Play the King
To Play the King
To Play The King is a 1993 BBC television serial, the second part of the House of Cards trilogy. Directed by Paul Seed, the serial was based on the Michael Dobbs novel of the same name and adapted for television by Andrew Davies...
.
In the first instalment of the House of Cards trilogy, Stamper is loyal to Urquhart. By To Play the King, however, he is embittered and feels that his loyalty and efforts are unappreciated. As a result, Stamper decides to release a tape incriminating Urquhart in the murder of Mattie Storin and Roger O'Neill to the police. When Urquhart becomes aware of these plans, he has Corder murder Stamper and Sarah Harding, one of his own personal aides to whom Stamper had given a copy of the tape, with car bombs. Stamper appeared to have unfortunate delusions of grandeur; his plan was to force Urqhuart's resignation and replace him as Prime Minister, albeit with a deal of sadness at having to do it. He stated that all he ever wished to do was to serve Urquhart, and it is clear from both House of Cards and parts of To Play the King that he would have been loyal to him until the end. However it is Urquhart's cruel acts of throwing Stamper's loyalty back into his face that drove him to try and ruin his old master.
Mattie Storin
Mattie Storin (Susannah HarkerSusannah Harker
Susannah Harker is an English film, television, and theatre actor. She is the daughter of English actress Polly Adams and actor Richard Owens, and the great-niece of Gordon Adams. She was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in House of Cards...
) is a journalist for the fictional Chronicle, who becomes romantically involved with Francis Urquhart. She is killed at the end of House of Cards by Urquhart, who throws her off the fictitious roof garden 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...
. She knew about his illegal actions and he did not believe that she would keep quiet about them.
In the series, she displays evidence of instability, most alarmingly her preference for calling Urquhart 'daddy' in moments of intimacy. This apparent Electra complex
Electra complex
In Neo-Freudian psychology, the Electra complex, as proposed by Carl Gustav Jung, is a girl’s psychosexual competition with mother for possession of father. In the course of her psychosexual development, the complex is the girl’s phallic stage formation of a discrete sexual identity; a boy’s...
could be linked to her father's death when she was very young, an event revealed in To Play the King when Urquhart explains her 'sad' story to Sarah Harding when she is ordered to ask him by some homeless thugs. Aside from this kink, she is portrayed as a headstrong, talented, beautiful young woman who is determined to understand the way the Westminster Bubble
Westminster Bubble
The Westminster Bubble is a term used to describe United Kingdom Members of Parliament, Peers, lobbyists, researchers, secretaries, civil servants, lobby correspondents and leader writers for newspapers who appear to live their life isolated from life outside Parliament and is so named because...
works and even states that this is more important to her than getting 'scoop headlines'. The name for this character chosen by Michael Dobbs was based on Matthew Storin, a male journalist, who was a colleague of Dobbs at The Boston Globe in the 1970s and later became editor of the Globe (1993-2001).
Lord Billsborough and Michael Samuels, MP
Teddy Billsborough is Chairman of the Conservative PartyChairman of the Conservative Party
In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of the Conservative Party is responsible for running the party machine, overseeing Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in power, the Chairman is usually a member of the Cabinet being given a sinecure position such as Minister without Portfolio...
. He is a canny political operator but past his prime. His young protégé Michael Samuels is Environment Secretary and on the 'liberal' wing of 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...
. Billsborough becomes Urquhart's unwitting pawn when Urquhart tells Collingridge, and hints to Mattie and the press, that it is Billsborough who is betraying him (it is in fact Urquhart), whereupon Collingridge sacks him. Samuels is a frontrunner and ultimately Urquhart's chief rival for the Conservative leadership when Collingridge resigns.
Corder
Corder (Nick BrimbleNick Brimble
Nick Brimble , is an English actor known for his performance as Little John in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and his appearances on various television shows....
) serves as Francis Urquhart's bodyguard and is responsible for most of the assassinations carried out on Urquhart's behalf. He appears to feel no compassion for the people he kills, among them Urquhart himself.
It is implied in To Play The King that Corder is having an affair with Mrs Urquhart.
Corder is responsible for the assassinations of Tim Stamper and Sarah Harding, two people who had originally been the Prime Minister's most loyal supporters but who had decided to expose him after a tape implicating him in the murders of Mattie Storin and Roger O'Neill surfaced. Stamper wants him removed so he can replace him, while Harding is genuinely shocked by the news, thinking that her boss and lover Urquhart could never commit such an evil action. Corder has their cars rigged with bombs, killing them both.
At the unveiling of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's statue, Corder has Urquhart and Evanghelos Passolides killed by a sniper on a balcony above Parliament Square
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...
, just after honouring the memorial with singing "God Save the King". Passolides was investigating the deaths of his brothers, Georgios and Euripides, whom Urquhart murdered on his tour of duty in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
in 1956.
Sarah Harding
Sarah Harding (Kitty AldridgeKitty Aldridge
Kitty Aldridge is a British actress and writer.-Biography:After training as an actress at the Drama Centre London, Aldridge worked in film, theatre and television as an actress. She released her first novel Pop in 2001, and her second Cryers Hill was published on 1 March 2007. Aldridge is married...
) is appointed Francis Urquhart's media adviser in To Play The King
To Play the King
To Play The King is a 1993 BBC television serial, the second part of the House of Cards trilogy. Directed by Paul Seed, the serial was based on the Michael Dobbs novel of the same name and adapted for television by Andrew Davies...
. A former Cambridge academic and journalist ("Did you write in The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
," F.U. Asks, "That 'Francis Urquhart is like the shark: he has to keep moving forwards to stay alive'?"), she then went onto to work for a polling company before becoming the Prime Minister's 'slave', his political adviser.
After being made partially aware of Urquhart's involvement with Mattie Storin, she becomes Urquhart's lover, despite being married, and then starts to become obsessed with him.
As Urquhart wins his tussle against the king, Sarah becomes more aware of some of the dubious aspects of Urquhart's administration and Stamper makes her aware of his involvement in Mattie Storin's death. She is killed in an arranged car bomb on the day after the election on her way to meet one of the king's advisers in order, it is implied, to hand over a tape which implicates Urquhart in Storin's death.
In the novel, her character is very different and her name is Sally Quinn.
The King
The king (Michael KitchenMichael Kitchen
Michael Kitchen is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as DCS Foyle in the British TV series Foyle's War.-Early life:...
) is Urquhart's antagonist in To Play The King. Having recently succeeded his mother as monarch, he is determined to play a more active role in government but his initial attempts are thwarted by Urquhart.
As their relationship deteriorates, the King starts to raise issues against government policy, causing the government to lose popularity. As Urquhart faces re-election, the king organises a nationwide tour to highlight the issue of homelessness. He is humiliated in a dirty trick and Urquhart wins re-election, much to the king's displeasure.
After his re-election, Urquhart demands his abdication
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
. Although the king cautions Urquhart that he will continue to fight his policies, he does not feature in the later series.
In the novel it is the king who decides to abdicate against Urquhart's wishes and plans.
Sir Bruce Bullerby
Sir Bruce Bullerby (David RyallDavid Ryall
David Ryall is an English actor who has appeared on British television since the 1970s. He has had leading roles in Lytton's Diary and Goodnight Sweetheart, as well as memorable roles in Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective and Andrew Davies's adaptation of To Play the King and The Final Cut, the...
), known as the pit bull, is proprietor and editor-in-chief of The Clarion, a UK tabloid newspaper, who features in To Play The King and The Final Cut.
It is evident that Sir Bruce gained his knighthood with vigorous support for the Government's policies ("The pit bull has bitten quite a few legs in the cause," says Stamper) but his support wavers when the king raises issues of compassion, and then when Makepeace makes his bid for the leadership. In the former Urqhuart blackmails him with compromising photographs, while in the latter he tries (and fails) to bribe him with an implied offer of a peerage.
He does not feature at all in any of the novels.
Tom Makepeace, MP
Tom Makepeace (Paul Freeman) served under Francis Urquhart in the dual role of Deputy Prime MinisterDeputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
and Foreign Secretary
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
, then 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...
. He and Urqhuart frequently clashed over Europe and various domestic policies.
Following a major dispute with Urqhuart over Urquhart's proposal of a single language for Europe, Makepeace was fired from the Cabinet. He was offered the post of Secretary of State for Education (a traditional 'dumping ground' post) but declined it. Enraged he promptly issued a press statement announcing that he had decided to resign from the Cabinet. He subsequently resigned from the government and sat as an independent MP on the Opposition benches.
Despite being an independent MP, Makepeace announced he would be challenging the Prime Minister for the leadership of the Conservative Party. He failed to win the first ballot but managed to force a second one. Urqhuart was killed before the second ballot thus enabling him to win the election unopposed.
In the book, Makepeace does not challenge Urquhart for the leadership but instead leads a popular movement to undermine the prime minister and his leadership. He is present when Urquhart is shot, but does not win the Premiership after being tainted by his association with Passolides. The Premiership goes to Maxwell Stanbrook, the Environment Secretary.
Henry Collingridge, MP
Henry 'Hal' Collingridge (David LyonDavid Lyon (actor)
David Lyon is a British stage, television, and film actor.Since 1976, Lyon has performed regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company. With them he has appeared in plays which include: Much Ado About Nothing, King John, Henry VI, The Winter's Tale, Troilus and Cressida, The Taming of the Shrew,...
) is the successor to Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
in House of Cards
House of Cards
House of Cards is a 1990 political thriller television drama serial by the BBC in four parts, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was televised from 18 November to 9 December 1990, to critical and popular acclaim...
.
Collingridge is portrayed as being a decent man and a passive indecisive leader who relies heavily on the support of his most trusted cronies and Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
Ministers Francis Urquhart and Lord 'Teddy' Billsborough. At the start of the novel (and TV adaptation) he has just led to his party to victory in a general election (albeit with a very reduced majority).
In his first reshuffle he makes the decision not to make any changes to the government, arguing that a massive shake-up could be misconstrued as panic. This enrages Urquhart, who longs for revenge after being passed over for a promotion to the Cabinet.
Collingridge's brief time in office proves difficult for him thanks to Urquhart, who embarrasses his boss by leaking delicate information to the press and one of the Labour Party
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...
backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
s, Stephen Kendrick. A fabricated scandal concerning Collingridge's alcoholic brother forces him to resign after about a year in office.
He is succeeded by Urquhart, whom, in a final twist of irony, Collingridge offers to support.
Patrick Woolton, MP
Patrick Woolton (Malcolm TierneyMalcolm Tierney
Malcolm Tierney is an English actor who has appeared in many film and television roles.His roles include the part of Tommy McArdle in Brookside between 1983 and 1987, Charlie Gimbert in Lovejoy, Geoffrey Ellsworth-Symthe in A Bit of a Do, Patrick Woolton in House of Cards and Chief Const. Raymond...
) is a minor character in the first instalment. He serves as Foreign Secretary
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
under Henry Collingridge. In House of Cards, Urquhart describes Woolton as a "'a lout, a lecher, a racist, an anti-Semite, and a bully'", but adds that he is 'more intelligent than he seems'.
Woolton makes two unsuccessful bids for the leadership of the Conservative Party - in the first contest, he loses to Collingridge. In the second, Urquhart anonymously blackmails Woolton into withdrawing by sending him a tape of him having sex with Penny Guy, Roger O'Neill's assistant and mistress. He vows that he will be back, but is absent from the later sequels.
Geoffrey Booza-Pitt, MP
Geoffrey Booza-Pitt (Nickolas GraceNickolas Grace
Nickolas Grace is a British actor known for his roles on television, including Anthony Blanche in the acclaimed ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1980s series Robin of Sherwood...
) is a lesser member of Urquhart's Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
(mentioned at one stage as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...
) in The Final Cut
The Final Cut (TV serial)
The Final Cut is a 1995 BBC television serial, the third part of the House of Cards trilogy. Directed by Mike Vardy, the serial, based on Michael Dobbs's 1995 novel of the same name, was adapted for television by Andrew Davies...
. He is something of a 'character', cheerfully upper-class with a slightly eccentric sense of humour, notable for wearing colourful waistcoats and bow ties, and a fondness for the fairer sex. Urquhart promotes him to Foreign Secretary
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
: Geoffrey is an Urquhart loyalist and in any case lacks the credibility to be a rival, and his popular image as a cute buffoon (though he is actually clever) humiliates his predecessor, also earning him a reputation as Urquhart's 'glove-puppet' (as Tom Makepeace calls him in his statement of resignation) and the consequent nickname of Sooty
Sooty
Sooty is a British glove puppet bear and TV character popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The children's television show which bears his name has continued in various forms since the 1950s and, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the...
by both the Opposition and other Members of the Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
and Parliamentary Party.
The Booza-Pitt of the book is similar to the TV version in many respects. However, he is Transport Secretary to start with and later Home Secretary, and has an affair with his Party constituency Chairman's wife. His political career survives under Urquhart's successor, Maxwell Stanbrook.
Claire Carlsen, MP
Claire Carlsen (Isla BlairIsla Blair
Isla Blair is an India-born actress of British descent. She made her first stage appearance in 1963 as Philia in the London debut of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and her first credited film appearance in the 1965 horror film Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.- Biography :Isla Blair...
) is a backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
whose ability and intelligence prompts Urquhart to make her his Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
even though he knows she is having an affair with his rival Tom Makepeace. Her sexual and professional relationship with Makepeace gives her the role of double agent: telling many genuine, and sometimes damaging, facts about Makepeace to Urquhart, while at the same time relating the cold, evil traits and weaknesses of Urquhart to Makepeace.
In the end she tries to help Makepeace destroy Urquhart, by fraudulently acquiring a paper documenting Lieutenant Francis Urquhart's killing of Evanghelos Passolides' two brothers in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
in 1956 but Makepeace rejects her help as he already has the documents and spurns Claire's advances declaring her to be 'pure poison' as she is too closely associated with the discredited Urquhart.
Claire is less duplicitous in the novel and, after Urquhart's death, is made a minister.