Paul Channon
Encyclopedia
Henry Paul Guinness Channon, Baron Kelvedon, PC
(9 October 1935 – 27 January 2007), was Conservative
MP
for Southend West
for 38 years, from 1959 until 1997. He served in various ministerial offices, and was a Cabinet minister for 3½ years, as President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry from January 1986 to June 1987, and then as Secretary of State for Transport
to July 1989.
, the politician and diarist, and Lady Honor Channon, eldest daughter of Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh
. It is not unreasonable to suppose that he was named after Prince Paul of Yugoslavia
, his father's dearest friend. His family were well connected: he received a toy panda from King Edward VIII in the run up to the abdication, and was friends with the Duke of Kent
, who was born on the same day, from childhood. He was evacuated to live with the Astor family
during the Second World War.
in Hemel Hempstead
in Hertfordshire
and Eton College
in Eton
, Berkshire
. Playwright Terence Rattigan
, an intimate companion of his father, dedicated his play The Winslow Boy
(1946) to him.
Channon did National Service
in the Royal Horse Guards
(the Blues) from 1955 to 1956, serving in Cyprus during the 1956 Cyprus emergency
. In London, he was a member of the set around Princess Margaret. He then attended Christ Church
at the University of Oxford
from 1956. He was president of Oxford University Conservative Association
.
. Guinness became MP for the new seat of Southend
in 1918. When Guinness succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Iveagh in 1927, the seat was won by his wife, Gwendolen Guinness, Countess of Iveagh
, who remained MP for Southend until she retired in 1935. She, in turn, was replaced by her son-in-law, Henry "Chips" Channon, who kept the seat until it was divided in 1950, and who then represented one of the seats that replaced it, Southend West, until his death in October 1958.
Channon won the nomination to his father's seat ahead of 129 other applicants and in spite of a campaign in Lord Beaverbrook's Daily Express
against the apparent nepotism
. His grandmother, Lady Iveagh, the former MP, congratulated the voters of Southend for "backing a colt when you know the stable he was trained in".
until Teddy Taylor
was elected in 1964 (Taylor was later MP for the neighbouring constituency of Southend East
).
to Richard Wood
, (later Lord Holderness), the Minister of Power, from 1959 to 1960, and then to R. A. Butler from 1961 to 1964 (while Butler was Home Secretary
, First Secretary of State
and then Foreign Secretary). Channon's father had once held the same position. Channon was elected to the executive of the 1922 Committee
in 1965. He was one of few Conservative MPs to support the 1965 bill that ended capital punishment
, and also opposed the unilateral declaration of independence by Ian Smith
's Rhodesia
.
In opposition, Conservative leader Edward Heath
appointed Channon as a spokesman on public building and works in 1965, and then on arts in 1967. He served as a junior minister in the government led by Heath from 1970 to 1974, as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in 1970, then as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the new Department of the Environment
from 1970 to 1972, briefly as Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office
for six months in 1972, and then Minister of Housing and Construction from 1972 to 1974. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
William Whitelaw met IRA leader Sean MacStiofain and other Republicans at Channon's house in Chelsea
on 7 July 1972. The talks ended in failure, and the IRA bombed Belfast repeatedly on Bloody Friday
just 2 weeks later. After the February 1974 general election
, Channon joined Heath's shadow cabinet
as environment spokesman. His services were dispensed with by Margaret Thatcher when she became leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975.
Channon joined the Conservative delegation to the Council of Europe
and Western European Union
in 1976, and considered standing in the first UK elections to the European Parliament
in 1979, but failed to win the nomination for the North-East Essex seat.
He became Minister of State at the Civil Service Department when the Conservatives returned to power in 1979, and joined the Privy Council
in 1980. After the department was abolished in 1981, he became Minister of the Arts. The call from 10 Downing Street
came while he was swimming in the sea near his villa on the island of Mustique
. He became Minister of State for Trade at the Department of Trade and Industry following the 1983 general election
. He took charge of the department for two short periods, after Cecil Parkinson
resigned following the Sara Keays
affair in 1983, and while his successor, Norman Tebbit
, recovered from his injuries sustained in the Brighton bombing in 1984. Channon became President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 24 January 1986, after Leon Brittan resigned following the Westland affair
.
Channon's time as Trade and Industry Secretary was marred in several ways. A major issue of the day was a takeover by the Guinness
group using an inflated stock value via third parties - the Guinness share-trading fraud
during its takeover of Distillers
. As a member of the Guinness family
, Channon had to stand aside from any investigation into the affair as he would have been accused of a conflict of interest
. In addition, proposed sales of troubled nationalised carmarkers British Leyland to General Motors
and of Austin Rover to Ford also fell through. Leyland Trucks
was later sold to DAF
. He blocked a proposed merger of Tate and Lyle with British Sugar and a takeover bid for Plessey
by GEC. Channon was later alleged to have been involved in the government's secret supply of weapons of mass destruction to Iraq.
In 1986, his 22 year old daughter, Olivia Gwendolen, died from the effects of drink and drugs during a party in the Christ Church, Oxford
rooms of Count Gottfried von Bismarck
. The coroner
recorded a verdict of misadventure
. Sebastian Guinness was jailed for simple, previous, possession of class A narcotics and Rosie Johnston was jailed for possession and supply of heroin following Olivia's death.
on 13 June 1987. His tenure as Transport Secretary was blighted by several major transport disasters: 31 died in the King's Cross fire
on 18 November 1987; 35 were killed when three trains crashed near Britain's busiest railway station in the Clapham Junction rail crash
on 12 December 1988; 270 died when Pan Am Flight 103
was brought down by a bomb over Scottish town of Lockerbie in the Lockerbie Disaster on 21 December 1988; and 44 died when a British Midland
plane crashed beside the M1 motorway
in the Kegworth air disaster
on 8 January 1989. He was roughly treated in the House of Commons by Labour's transport spokesman, John Prescott
, who pilloried him for underinvestment in the rail network, and for taking a family holiday to Mustique
shortly after the Lockerbie disaster.
However, it was an unlucky coincidence which led to Channon's sacking in July 1989 as Transport Secretary. British investigative journalist, Paul Foot
, in a 1994 article for The London Review of Books, described what happened: "The American investigative columnist, Jack Anderson, has had some scoops in his time but none more significant than his revelation - in January 1990 - that in mid-March 1989, three months after Lockerbie, George Bush
rang Margaret Thatcher
to warn her to 'cool it' on the subject. On what seems to have been the very same day [in March 1989], perhaps a few hours earlier, Thatcher's Secretary of State for Transport, Paul Channon, was the guest of five prominent political correspondents at a lunch at the Garrick Club
. It was agreed that anything said at the lunch was 'on strict lobby terms' - that is, for the journalists only, not their readers. Channon then announced that the Dumfries and Galloway Police
- the smallest police force in Britain - had concluded a brilliant criminal investigation into the Lockerbie crash. They had found who was responsible and arrests were expected before long. So sensational was the revelation that at least one of the five journalists broke ranks; and the news that the Lockerbie villains would soon be behind bars in Scotland
was divulged to the public. Channon, still playing the lobby game, promptly denied that he was the source of the story. Denounced by the Daily Mirror's front page as a 'liar', he did not sue or complain. A few months later he was quietly sacked. Thatcher, of course, could not blame her loyal minister for his indiscretion, which coincided so unluckily with her instructions from the White House
."
Channon was replaced by Cecil Parkinson
on 24 July 1989.
, but he withdrew from the election to replace Bernard Weatherill
in 1992. He later served as chairman of the House of Commons Finance and Services Committee and chairman of the Transport Select Committee.
He retired from Parliament at the 1997 general election
and was created a life peer
as Baron Kelvedon, of Ongar in the County of Essex, named after the family's house at Kelvedon Hall.
Outside politics, he was a member of the board of directors of Guinness, and served with the Guinness Trust
.
. He died at his home in Brentwood, Essex
in January 2007.
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Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(9 October 1935 – 27 January 2007), was Conservative
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...
MP
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,...
for Southend West
Southend West (UK Parliament constituency)
Southend West is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
for 38 years, from 1959 until 1997. He served in various ministerial offices, and was a Cabinet minister for 3½ years, as President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry from January 1986 to June 1987, and then as Secretary of State for Transport
Secretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
to July 1989.
Early life
Paul Channon was the only child of Sir Henry "Chips" ChannonHenry Channon
Sir Henry "Chips" Channon was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. Channon moved to England in 1920 and became strongly anti-American, feeling that American cultural and economic views threatened traditional European and British civilisation. He wrote extensively...
, the politician and diarist, and Lady Honor Channon, eldest daughter of Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh
Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh
Rupert Edward Cecil Lee Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh KG CB CMG VD ADC FRS, , was an Anglo-Irish businessman, politician, oarsman and philanthropist. Born in London, he was the eldest son of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh...
. It is not unreasonable to suppose that he was named after Prince Paul of Yugoslavia
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, also known as Paul Karađorđević , was Regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the minority of King Peter II. Peter was the eldest son of his first cousin Alexander I...
, his father's dearest friend. His family were well connected: he received a toy panda from King Edward VIII in the run up to the abdication, and was friends with the Duke of Kent
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
The Duke of Kent graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 29 July 1955 as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Scots Greys, the beginning of a military career that would last over 20 years. He was promoted to captain on 29 July 1961. The Duke of Kent saw service in Hong Kong from 1962–63...
, who was born on the same day, from childhood. He was evacuated to live with the Astor family
Astor family
The Astor family is a Anglo-American business family of German descent notable for their prominence in business, society, and politics.-Founding family members:...
during the Second World War.
Education
Channon was educated at two independent schools: at Lockers Park SchoolLockers Park School
Lockers Park School is a day and boarding preparatory school for 140 boys, situated in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Each year it sends boys to the main public schools in the UK, including Harrow, Eton, Radley, Bradfield and Rugby. Its current headmaster is David Farquharson.-History:Lockers Park...
in Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
in Eton
Eton, Berkshire
Eton is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The parish also includes the large village of Eton Wick, 2 miles west of the town, and has a population of 4,980. Eton was in Buckinghamshire until...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. Playwright Terence Rattigan
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...
, an intimate companion of his father, dedicated his play The Winslow Boy
The Winslow Boy
thumb|1st edition cover The Winslow Boy is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an actual incident in the Edwardian era, which took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne.-Performance History:...
(1946) to him.
Channon did National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in the Royal Horse Guards
Royal Horse Guards
The Royal Horse Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.Founded August 1650 in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell as the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the regiment became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment during the reign of...
(the Blues) from 1955 to 1956, serving in Cyprus during the 1956 Cyprus emergency
Modern history of Cyprus
This article covers the modern history of Cyprus, from 1878 to the present.-Cyprus as a Protectorate:In 1878 as a result of the Cyprus Convention, the United Kingdom received as a protectorate, the island of Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire in exchange for United Kingdoms military support to the...
. In London, he was a member of the set around Princess Margaret. He then attended Christ Church
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
from 1956. He was president of Oxford University Conservative Association
Oxford University Conservative Association
The Oxford University Conservative Association, or OUCA is a student political organisation founded in 1924 whose members are drawn from the University of Oxford...
.
Life and career
While a second year undergraduate at Oxford, Channon was elected at the by-election for Southend West in January 1959 at the age of 23. The seat had connections with his family since 1912, when his grandfather, Rupert Guinness, became MP for South East EssexSouth East Essex (UK Parliament constituency)
South East Essex was a parliamentary constituency in Essex in the East of England...
. Guinness became MP for the new seat of Southend
Southend (UK Parliament constituency)
Southend was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Southend-on-Sea in Essex. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
in 1918. When Guinness succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Iveagh in 1927, the seat was won by his wife, Gwendolen Guinness, Countess of Iveagh
Gwendolen Guinness, Countess of Iveagh
Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness, Countess of Iveagh , was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom, and, by marriage, a member of the Anglo-Irish Guinness brewing dynasty....
, who remained MP for Southend until she retired in 1935. She, in turn, was replaced by her son-in-law, Henry "Chips" Channon, who kept the seat until it was divided in 1950, and who then represented one of the seats that replaced it, Southend West, until his death in October 1958.
Channon won the nomination to his father's seat ahead of 129 other applicants and in spite of a campaign in Lord Beaverbrook's 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...
against the apparent nepotism
Nepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
. His grandmother, Lady Iveagh, the former MP, congratulated the voters of Southend for "backing a colt when you know the stable he was trained in".
Member of Parliament
He left university to sit in Parliament, and remained the youngest MPBaby of the House
Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament.-Australia:In Australia the term is rarely used...
until Teddy Taylor
Teddy Taylor
Sir Edward MacMillan Taylor, usually known as Teddy Taylor , is a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart and from 1980 to 2005 for Rochford and Southend East.He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative...
was elected in 1964 (Taylor was later MP for the neighbouring constituency of Southend East
Southend East (UK Parliament constituency)
Southend East was a parliamentary constituency in Essex. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
).
In government
Channon was Parliamentary Private SecretaryParliamentary 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...
to Richard Wood
Richard Wood, Baron Holderness
Richard Frederick Wood, Baron Holderness PC, DL was a British Conservative politician who held numerous ministerial positions from 1955 to 1974...
, (later Lord Holderness), the Minister of Power, from 1959 to 1960, and then to R. A. Butler from 1961 to 1964 (while Butler was Home Secretary
Home 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...
, First Secretary of State
First Secretary of State
First Secretary of State is an occasionally used title within the Government of the United Kingdom, principally regarded as purely honorific. The title, which implies seniority over all other Secretaries of State, has no specific powers or authority attached to it beyond that of any other Secretary...
and then Foreign Secretary). Channon's father had once held the same position. Channon was elected to the executive of the 1922 Committee
1922 Committee
In British politics, the 1922 Committee is a committee of Conservative Members of Parliament. Voting membership is limited to backbench MPs although frontbench Conservative MPs have an open invitation to attend meetings. While the party was in opposition, frontbench MPs other than the party leader...
in 1965. He was one of few Conservative MPs to support the 1965 bill that ended capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
, and also opposed the unilateral declaration of independence by Ian Smith
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
's Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
.
In opposition, Conservative leader Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
appointed Channon as a spokesman on public building and works in 1965, and then on arts in 1967. He served as a junior minister in the government led by Heath from 1970 to 1974, as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in 1970, then as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the new Department of the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
from 1970 to 1972, briefly as Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and is based in Northern Ireland at Stormont House.-Role:...
for six months in 1972, and then Minister of Housing and Construction from 1972 to 1974. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
William Whitelaw met IRA leader Sean MacStiofain and other Republicans at Channon's house in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
on 7 July 1972. The talks ended in failure, and the IRA bombed Belfast repeatedly on Bloody Friday
Bloody Friday
Bloody Friday can refer to various events in history that occurred on a Friday:*Bloody Friday , also known as the Battle of George Square.*Bloody Friday...
just 2 weeks later. After the February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, Channon joined Heath's shadow cabinet
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
as environment spokesman. His services were dispensed with by Margaret Thatcher when she became leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975.
Channon joined the Conservative delegation to the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
and Western European Union
Western European Union
The Western European Union was an international organisation tasked with implementing the Modified Treaty of Brussels , an amended version of the original 1948 Treaty of Brussels...
in 1976, and considered standing in the first UK elections to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in 1979, but failed to win the nomination for the North-East Essex seat.
He became Minister of State at the Civil Service Department when the Conservatives returned to power in 1979, and joined the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
in 1980. After the department was abolished in 1981, he became Minister of the Arts. The call from 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
came while he was swimming in the sea near his villa on the island of Mustique
Mustique
Mustique is a small private island in the West Indies. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines....
. He became Minister of State for Trade at the Department of Trade and Industry following the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
. He took charge of the department for two short periods, after Cecil Parkinson
Cecil Parkinson
Cecil Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC , is a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet Minister.-Early life:...
resigned following the Sara Keays
Sara Keays
Sara Keays is the former mistress and personal secretary of British Conservative politician Cecil Parkinson. Keays' public revelation of her pregnancy and of their twelve-year long affair, when she realised that Parkinson would neither marry her nor help her become an MP, led to his resignation as...
affair in 1983, and while his successor, Norman 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...
, recovered from his injuries sustained in the Brighton bombing in 1984. Channon became President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 24 January 1986, after Leon Brittan resigned following the Westland affair
Westland affair
The Westland affair was a political scandal for the British Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1986. The argument was a result of differences of opinion within the government as to the future of the United Kingdom helicopter industry. The struggling Westland company, Britain's last...
.
Channon's time as Trade and Industry Secretary was marred in several ways. A major issue of the day was a takeover by the Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
group using an inflated stock value via third parties - the Guinness share-trading fraud
Guinness share-trading fraud
The Guinness share-trading fraud was a famous British business scandal of the 1980s. It involved an attempt to manipulate the stock market on a massive scale to inflate the price of Guinness shares and thereby assist a £2.7 billion take-over bid for the Scottish drinks company Distillers...
during its takeover of Distillers
Distillers
Distillers may refer to:*The Distillers, an American punk rock band*Distillers Company, former Scotch whisky and pharmaceutical company...
. As a member of the Guinness family
Guinness family
The Guinness family is an extensive aristocratic Irish Protestant family noted for their accomplishments in brewing, banking, politics and religious ministry...
, Channon had to stand aside from any investigation into the affair as he would have been accused of a conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
. In addition, proposed sales of troubled nationalised carmarkers British Leyland to General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
and of Austin Rover to Ford also fell through. Leyland Trucks
Leyland Trucks
Leyland Trucks is the UK's leading medium & heavy duty truck manufacturer and is based in the town of Leyland, Lancashire. It emerged from the bankruptcy of DAF NV as the result of a management buy-out in 1993, and was acquired by PACCAR in 1998, of which it is now a subsidiary...
was later sold to DAF
DAF
-Science, nature and technology:* Decay accelerating factor, a protein involved in the complement system* Delayed auditory feedback, a device used to delay a person's voice to their own ear, which reduces stuttering and cluttering...
. He blocked a proposed merger of Tate and Lyle with British Sugar and a takeover bid for Plessey
Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after the second world war by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies...
by GEC. Channon was later alleged to have been involved in the government's secret supply of weapons of mass destruction to Iraq.
In 1986, his 22 year old daughter, Olivia Gwendolen, died from the effects of drink and drugs during a party in the Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
rooms of Count Gottfried von Bismarck
Gottfried von Bismarck
Count Gottfried Alexander Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen was a German nobleman best known for his flamboyance and parties.-Family:...
. The coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
recorded a verdict of misadventure
Misadventure
Misadventure can refer to:* Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures, a 2005 video game* The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, a 1964 Walt Disney film* The Misadventures of P.B...
. Sebastian Guinness was jailed for simple, previous, possession of class A narcotics and Rosie Johnston was jailed for possession and supply of heroin following Olivia's death.
Transport Secretary
Channon was appointed Secretary of State for TransportSecretary of State for Transport
The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. The role has had a high turnover as new appointments are blamed for the failures of decades of their predecessors...
on 13 June 1987. His tenure as Transport Secretary was blighted by several major transport disasters: 31 died in the King's Cross fire
King's Cross fire
The King's Cross St. Pancras tube station fire was a fatal fire on the London Underground. It broke out at approximately 19:30 on 18 November 1987, and killed 31 people....
on 18 November 1987; 35 were killed when three trains crashed near Britain's busiest railway station in the Clapham Junction rail crash
Clapham Junction rail crash
The Clapham Junction rail crash was a serious railway accident involving two collisions between three commuter trains at 08:10 on the morning of Monday, 12 December 1988....
on 12 December 1988; 270 died when Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
was brought down by a bomb over Scottish town of Lockerbie in the Lockerbie Disaster on 21 December 1988; and 44 died when a British Midland
British midland
British midland may refer to:*British Midland Airways Limited, also referred to as bmi and formerly as British Midland*The English Midlands, the central region of Great Britain...
plane crashed beside the M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
in the Kegworth air disaster
Kegworth air disaster
The Kegworth Air Disaster occurred on 8 January 1989, when British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737–400, crashed onto the embankment of the M1 motorway near Kegworth, Leicestershire, in England. The aircraft was attempting to conduct an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport...
on 8 January 1989. He was roughly treated in the House of Commons by Labour's transport spokesman, John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
, who pilloried him for underinvestment in the rail network, and for taking a family holiday to Mustique
Mustique
Mustique is a small private island in the West Indies. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines....
shortly after the Lockerbie disaster.
However, it was an unlucky coincidence which led to Channon's sacking in July 1989 as Transport Secretary. British investigative journalist, Paul Foot
Paul Foot
Paul Mackintosh Foot was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party...
, in a 1994 article for The London Review of Books, described what happened: "The American investigative columnist, Jack Anderson, has had some scoops in his time but none more significant than his revelation - in January 1990 - that in mid-March 1989, three months after Lockerbie, George Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
rang Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
to warn her to 'cool it' on the subject. On what seems to have been the very same day [in March 1989], perhaps a few hours earlier, Thatcher's Secretary of State for Transport, Paul Channon, was the guest of five prominent political correspondents at a lunch at the Garrick Club
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in London.-History:The Garrick Club was founded at a meeting in the Committee Room at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Wednesday 17 August 1831...
. It was agreed that anything said at the lunch was 'on strict lobby terms' - that is, for the journalists only, not their readers. Channon then announced that the Dumfries and Galloway Police
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for the council area of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.The police force was formed in 1948 as an amalgamation of the police forces of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, and preceded the creation of...
- the smallest police force in Britain - had concluded a brilliant criminal investigation into the Lockerbie crash. They had found who was responsible and arrests were expected before long. So sensational was the revelation that at least one of the five journalists broke ranks; and the news that the Lockerbie villains would soon be behind bars in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
was divulged to the public. Channon, still playing the lobby game, promptly denied that he was the source of the story. Denounced by the Daily Mirror's front page as a 'liar', he did not sue or complain. A few months later he was quietly sacked. Thatcher, of course, could not blame her loyal minister for his indiscretion, which coincided so unluckily with her instructions from the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
."
Channon was replaced by Cecil Parkinson
Cecil Parkinson
Cecil Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC , is a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet Minister.-Early life:...
on 24 July 1989.
Backbenches and retirement
Channon harboured hopes of becoming the fourth member of his family to become Speaker of the House of CommonsSpeaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
, but he withdrew from the election to replace Bernard Weatherill
Bernard Weatherill
Bruce Bernard Weatherill, Baron Weatherill, PC, DL, KStJ was a British Conservative Party politician who became Speaker of the House of Commons.-Tailor:...
in 1992. He later served as chairman of the House of Commons Finance and Services Committee and chairman of the Transport Select Committee.
He retired from Parliament at 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...
and was created a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Kelvedon, of Ongar in the County of Essex, named after the family's house at Kelvedon Hall.
Outside politics, he was a member of the board of directors of Guinness, and served with the Guinness Trust
Guinness Trust
The Guinness Trust is the oldest member of the Guinness Partnership, a group of housing associations. It is a UK registered charity providing affordable housing....
.
Personal life
In 1963, he married Ingrid Guinness (née Wyndham), the former wife of his cousin Jonathan Guinness. He inherited three stepchildren, and they had three children together: Henry, Georgia, and Olivia.Death
In later years, he suffered from Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. He died at his home in Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway....
in January 2007.
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