David Mellor
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- For the industrial designer, see David Mellor (cutler).
David John Mellor QC (born 12 March 1949) is a British Conservative "politician" and barrister, broadcaster, journalist and football pundit.
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[edit] Political career
Educated at Swanage Grammar School, he attended Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was Chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association and also a contestant on University Challenge. After briefly working for Jeffrey Archer, then a Member of Parliament (MP), while studying for his bar exams, Mellor became a barrister in 1972, and a Queens Counsel in 1987. After contesting West Bromwich East in the general election in October 1974, he became the MP for Putney in the 1979 general election.
Mellor served a prolonged spell in as junior minister in several departments including the Home Office.
In 1982, as Deputy Energy Secretary to Nigel Lawson, Mellor was reputedly involved in the destruction of the UK’s wave energy programme by government intervention, to clear the way for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's nuclear programme. Infamously, the scientific civil servant, the late Clive Grove-Palmer, Head of the UK’s wave energy programme, was kept out of a conference to discuss the programme’s future, possibly because he would have been too competent at defending the new technology which the government had resolved, in advance, to abandon. Mellor’s conference duly ended the programme. Wave energy was regarded as a particular threat because it was designed for huge power stations out at sea, demanding major investment, feeding the national grid and replacing both conventional and nuclear sources.[citation needed]
Visiting the West Bank in the summer of 1988 as a Minister, Mellor harangued an Israeli colonel in front of the television cameras over the IDF's treatment of Palestinian youths; this was before his links to Palestinians had become known to the public.[citation needed] Mellor was briefly Arts Minister in 1990 before entering John Major's new Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (November 1990).[citation needed]
When announcing the Committee on Privacy and Related Matters under David Calcutt in the House of Commons in 1989, Mellor claimed that some sections of the popular press were "drinking in the Last-Chance Saloon" and called for curbs on the "sacred cow" of press freedom.[1] The press was coming under heavy criticism at this time, but his comments would rebound on him later.
After the 1992 general election he was made Secretary of State for the newly created Department for National Heritage (during which period he was vernacularly known as 'Minister for Fun', after comments which he made to the waiting press on leaving 10 Downing Street on his appointment).
He was made a Privy Councillor in 1990 by Margaret Thatcher.
[edit] Scandal
In July 1992, Mellor was involved in a kiss-and-tell scandal in which actress Antonia de Sancha sold her story of Mellor's extra-marital affair with her for £30,000. Their conversation had been recorded without his consent, but it turned out that it was not illegal to bug your own property, as de Sancha's landlord had done. The publicist Max Clifford included an unfounded, and almost certainly untrue fact in the story that Mellor had asked her to make love to him whilst he was dressed in his Chelsea F.C. kit, a story which found its way on to the front page of The Sun newspaper. Another allegation was that Antonia de Sancha had sucked one or more of his toes.
He survived in office after this, though it allowed Fleet Street and the tabloids to round on Mellor. The satirical programme Spitting Image portrayed Mellor as having halitosis, with a green plume emanating from the puppet's mouth. Evidence emerged that he had enjoyed a free holiday in August 1990 as the guest of Mona Bauwens, a daughter of the Palestine Liberation Organization official Jaweed al-Ghussein, and another paid for by the ruler of Abu Dhabi. It was this that led to his resignation rather than the earlier affair. Eventually Mellor was reportedly told after three weeks of revelations that he was becoming an embarrassment to John Major in a phone call from Sir Marcus Fox - chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee. Mellor resigned on 24 September 1992, causing The Sun to jeer "From Toe Job to No Job" on its front page.
Mellor later suggested that he was hounded out of office, but tabloid editors quickly rejected this. Bill Hagerty, editor of The People said: "This is the first time in ages that David Mellor has done the decent thing".[2]
He contested the 1997 general election, but was defeated by Labour's Tony Colman. However, the election night was more memorable for Mellor's showdown with Referendum Party founder Sir James Goldsmith — Mellor was taunted by Goldsmith and a crowd of other candidates (who gave him a slow hand clap and shouted "Out! Out! Out!") during his speech. Mellor retorted:
| “ | ... and Sir James... you have nothing to be smug about... I think we have shown tonight that the Referendum Party is dead in the water, and you can get back off to Mexico in the knowledge that your attempt to buy the British political system has failed. | ” |
[edit] After Parliament
He was chairman of the incoming Labour government's "Football Task Force" in August 1997 until its dissolution in 1999. He has also pursued a journalism career, and has written for the Evening Standard, The Guardian and The People, usually on sport or the arts. He regularly presented football-related programmes on BBC Radio 5 until 2001, as well as classical music programmes on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 3. He currently presents If You Like That, You'll Like This and The New CD Show on Classic FM.
[edit] Private life
Mellor married Judith on 20 July 1974. He and his wife divorced in 1995.
Mellor currently lives with his partner, Penelope, Viscountess Cobham, in the Dockmaster's House, a 19th-century listed building at the gateway to the St Katharine Docks, east London. On 30 May 2006 it was reported that Mellor has spoken out against the proposed construction of a 17-storey block of flats in the St Katharine Docks. Mellor said: "There is no design involved. It would look tawdry down the wrong end of a beach in Torremolinos. This isn't a case of just not wanting it in my backyard. This area is historically significant with listed buildings and it's next to the Tower of London, which is a world heritage site".[3]
Mr. Mellor also slated a much younger professional in Hull City's Dean Windass, claiming the man to be passed it despite being eighteen years younger than Mellor. Mellor caused uproar amonst the Hull City fans. Mellor was recommended a good lie down before ombing his hair.
[edit] References
- ^ "Closing time at the Last-Chance Saloon?", Social Issues Research Centre, 2000. Retrieved on 4 May 2007.
- ^ "1992: Mellor resigns over sex scandal", [24 September 1992] BBC website. Retrieved on 4 May 2007.
- ^ Anil Dawar "'Build a tower block? Not in our dockyard'", Telegraph 30 May 2006. Retrieved on 4 May 2007.
[edit] External links
- Profile at Speakers International
- David Mellor (Rt. Hon. David Mellor QC) - Broadcaster, Journalist and Former MP (agent's site)
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hugh Jenkins |
Member of Parliament for Putney 1979–1997 |
Succeeded by Tony Colman |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Richard Luce |
Minister for the Arts 1990 |
Succeeded by Tim Renton |
| Preceded by Norman Lamont |
Chief Secretary to the Treasury 1990–1992 |
Succeeded by Michael Portillo |
| Preceded by Tim Renton Minister for the Arts |
Secretary of State for National Heritage 1992 |
Succeeded by Peter Brooke |
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