Woodrow Wyatt
Encyclopedia
Woodrow Lyle Wyatt, Baron Wyatt of Weeford (4 July 1918 – 7 December 1997), was a British
politician
, published author, journalist and broadcaster, close to the Queen Mother
, Margaret Thatcher
and Rupert Murdoch
. For the last 20 years of his life, he was chairman of the state betting organisation The Tote
.
, Wyatt was educated at Eastbourne College
and Worcester College, Oxford. He served throughout the Second World War with the Suffolk Regiment
and rose to the rank of Major. Wyatt was mentioned in despatches from Normandy
.
as the Labour
MP for Birmingham Aston
, and served until 1955. Wyatt was briefly a junior minister in Clement Attlee
's final administration in 1951 but thereafter was never in office. During his period out of parliament, Wyatt was a reporter for the BBC's Panorama
current affairs programme, in which a November 1957 report of Wyatt's revealed ballot rigging in the then communist
-influenced Electrical Trades Union
(ETU).
He was seen by some as a maverick, and by others as a man of firm convictions which made him temperamentally unsuited to 'toeing the party line'. He returned to Parliament in 1959
as member for Bosworth
, Leicestershire
. He rebelled in the 1964–1970 parliaments over steel nationalisation
.
as Chairman of the Horserace Totalisator Board
from 1976–1997. At first he was an active chairman, rooting out corruption, but later grew complacent and the Tote stagnated.
In the mid-1980s he played a key role as Murdoch's fixer in brokering negotiations with the electricians' union, aiding News International
to move to Wapping
.
He set up a newspaper and printing business with his third wife, which soon failed.
. During this period his News of the World
column, 'The Voice of Reason', was regularly attacked by Thatcher's political opponents, who in latter years dubbed it 'The Voice of Alzheimers'. His caustic, candid and mischievously indiscreet diaries were published posthumously in three volumes. He was knighted in 1983 and became a life peer
as Baron Wyatt of Weeford, of Weeford
in the County of Staffordshire
in 1987.
Wyatt edited ten volumes of English Story (1940-50). His books include two autobiographies, Into the Dangerous World (1952) and Confessions of an Optimist (1985). The three volumes of his diaries (published posthumously as The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt by Macmillan, edited by Sarah Curtis) were: volume 1 1985-88 (1998) ISBN 0 333 74166 8; volume 2 'Thatcher's Fall and Major's Rise', 1989-92, (1999) ISBN 0 333 77405 1; volume 3 'From Major to Blair', 1992 until three months before his death in December 1997, (2000) ISBN 0 333 77406 X. Andrew Neil
in the New Statesman
wrote, "Wyatt has done the country a service in giving us the unalloyed truth about how this country's governing and social elite still operates", and the Daily Express
called the journals "The most explosive political memoirs of modern times". However, the historian Robert Rhodes James
"advised caution in believing them. 'Even if the diarist is not attempting to give a deliberately false version, a talented writer can easily over-dramatise...' There is plenty of internal evidence that Wyatt should be approached with a similar caution." Robert Blake, Baron Blake
, the Tory historian, called Wyatt a "notorious liar".
In 2000 the journalist Petronella Wyatt
, his daughter by his fourth marriage, published a book entitled Father, Dear Father: Life with Woodrow Wyatt (ISBN 0-09-929760-4) which is an "affectionate portrait of the last great English eccentric" and has many personal and historically significant anecdotes http://www.westminsterbookshop.co.uk/shop/product.php/6222/0/.
He arranged for cousins to take care of his first child when his wife made it clear she was not interested. When they divorced, he got custody of his son.
He was the cousin of England Test cricketer Bob Wyatt
. He claimed to be a descendent of the architectural Wyatt family
.
He died in Camden
aged 79.
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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, published author, journalist and broadcaster, close to the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
. For the last 20 years of his life, he was chairman of the state betting organisation The Tote
The Tote
The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board, is a British bookmaker with head offices in Wigan. It was owned from its formation in 1928 by the UK Government but was sold to Betfred in July 2011. Under the brand totesport the Tote has 514 high street betting shops, outlets on Britain's 60...
.
Early life
Born in Kingston upon ThamesKingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
, Wyatt was educated at Eastbourne College
Eastbourne College
Eastbourne College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, situated on the south coast of England, included in the Tatler list of top public schools. The College's current headmaster is Simon Davies. The College was founded by the Duke of Devonshire...
and Worcester College, Oxford. He served throughout the Second World War with the Suffolk Regiment
Suffolk Regiment
The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, before being amalgamated with the Royal Norfolk Regiment as the 1st East Anglian Regiment in 1959...
and rose to the rank of Major. Wyatt was mentioned in despatches from Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
.
Politics
He was elected to Parliament in 1945United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
as the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP for Birmingham Aston
Birmingham Aston (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham Aston was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1885 until 1918 the constituency was known as Aston Manor, before becoming a Birmingham division from 1918 to 1974...
, and served until 1955. Wyatt was briefly a junior minister in Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
's final administration in 1951 but thereafter was never in office. During his period out of parliament, Wyatt was a reporter for the BBC's Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
current affairs programme, in which a November 1957 report of Wyatt's revealed ballot rigging in the then communist
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
-influenced Electrical Trades Union
Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EETPU was a British trade union formed in 1968 as a union for electricians.-History:...
(ETU).
He was seen by some as a maverick, and by others as a man of firm convictions which made him temperamentally unsuited to 'toeing the party line'. He returned to Parliament in 1959
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
as member for Bosworth
Bosworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Bosworth is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
. He rebelled in the 1964–1970 parliaments over steel nationalisation
British Steel
British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
.
After politics
After ceasing to be an active politician, he was appointed by Roy JenkinsRoy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
as Chairman of the Horserace Totalisator Board
The Tote
The Tote, formerly the Horserace Totalisator Board, is a British bookmaker with head offices in Wigan. It was owned from its formation in 1928 by the UK Government but was sold to Betfred in July 2011. Under the brand totesport the Tote has 514 high street betting shops, outlets on Britain's 60...
from 1976–1997. At first he was an active chairman, rooting out corruption, but later grew complacent and the Tote stagnated.
In the mid-1980s he played a key role as Murdoch's fixer in brokering negotiations with the electricians' union, aiding News International
News International
News International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc....
to move to Wapping
Wapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
.
He set up a newspaper and printing business with his third wife, which soon failed.
Writing
Wyatt was a prolific journalist, with a diverse range of interests, and by the late 1970s he had crossed the political spectrum and became an admirer of Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. During this period his News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
column, 'The Voice of Reason', was regularly attacked by Thatcher's political opponents, who in latter years dubbed it 'The Voice of Alzheimers'. His caustic, candid and mischievously indiscreet diaries were published posthumously in three volumes. He was knighted in 1983 and became 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 Wyatt of Weeford, of Weeford
Weeford
Weeford is a village and civil parish located in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire in England. It has a population of 202.The name Weeford is believed to come from the Old English Wēohford or Wēoford, and to mean "Holy ford", or "ford by a heathen temple".The medieval church is dedicated to...
in the County of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
in 1987.
Wyatt edited ten volumes of English Story (1940-50). His books include two autobiographies, Into the Dangerous World (1952) and Confessions of an Optimist (1985). The three volumes of his diaries (published posthumously as The Journals of Woodrow Wyatt by Macmillan, edited by Sarah Curtis) were: volume 1 1985-88 (1998) ISBN 0 333 74166 8; volume 2 'Thatcher's Fall and Major's Rise', 1989-92, (1999) ISBN 0 333 77405 1; volume 3 'From Major to Blair', 1992 until three months before his death in December 1997, (2000) ISBN 0 333 77406 X. Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.He currently works for the BBC, presenting the live political programmes The Daily Politics and This Week...
in the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
wrote, "Wyatt has done the country a service in giving us the unalloyed truth about how this country's governing and social elite still operates", and the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
called the journals "The most explosive political memoirs of modern times". However, the historian Robert Rhodes James
Robert Rhodes James
Sir Robert Vidal Rhodes James was a British historian and Conservative Member of Parliament. He was born in India and began his education in private schools there, returning to England to attend Sedbergh School and then Worcester College, Oxford.He wrote his first book, a much-acclaimed biography...
"advised caution in believing them. 'Even if the diarist is not attempting to give a deliberately false version, a talented writer can easily over-dramatise...' There is plenty of internal evidence that Wyatt should be approached with a similar caution." Robert Blake, Baron Blake
Robert Blake, Baron Blake
Robert Norman William Blake, Baron Blake was an English historian. He is best known for his 1966 biography of Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, and for The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill, which grew out of his 1968 Ford lectures...
, the Tory historian, called Wyatt a "notorious liar".
In 2000 the journalist Petronella Wyatt
Petronella Wyatt
Petronella Wyatt , is a British journalist and author. She is the daughter of the former journalist and Labour politician, the late Woodrow Wyatt, and his fourth wife, the Hungarian Veronica Banszky Von Ambroz.-Biography:...
, his daughter by his fourth marriage, published a book entitled Father, Dear Father: Life with Woodrow Wyatt (ISBN 0-09-929760-4) which is an "affectionate portrait of the last great English eccentric" and has many personal and historically significant anecdotes http://www.westminsterbookshop.co.uk/shop/product.php/6222/0/.
Marriages, children, and death
Wyatt was married four times, to:- First (div): Susan Cox, no issue. She was a fellow student at Oxford.
- Second (div): Nora Robbins, no issue. She was his secretary
- Third (1957, dissolved 1966): Lady Moorea Hastings (b. 1928) daughter of the 16th Earl of HuntingdonFrancis Hastings, 16th Earl of HuntingdonFrancis John Clarence Westenra Plantagenet Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon , known as Viscount Hastings until 1939, was a British artist, academic and Labour politician.-Life:...
and a granddaughter of Luisa CasatiLuisa CasatiLuisa, Marquise Casati Stampa di Soncino was an eccentric Italian heiress, muse, and patroness of the arts in early 20th century Europe...
; one son: Hon. Pericles Plantagenet Wyatt. - Fourth (1966): Veronica (Verushka) Banszky von Ambroz, née Racz, a Hungarian and widow of a surgeon; one daughter: journalist Petronella WyattPetronella WyattPetronella Wyatt , is a British journalist and author. She is the daughter of the former journalist and Labour politician, the late Woodrow Wyatt, and his fourth wife, the Hungarian Veronica Banszky Von Ambroz.-Biography:...
(b. 1968).
He arranged for cousins to take care of his first child when his wife made it clear she was not interested. When they divorced, he got custody of his son.
He was the cousin of England Test cricketer Bob Wyatt
Bob Wyatt
Robert "Bob" Elliott Storey Wyatt was an English cricket player. He played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the English cricket team....
. He claimed to be a descendent of the architectural Wyatt family
Wyatt family
The Wyatt family included several of the major English architects across the 18th and 19th centuries.-The family:This is a summary tree to show the linkages...
.
He died in Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
aged 79.