He also failed to register his stays at the Htel Ritz Paris and at Al-Fayed's castle in Scotland in 1989.[100]. In 1994, The Guardian alleged that Hamilton had taken cash payments in exchange for asking questions in Parliament. Mostyn Neil Hamilton (born 9 March 1949) is a British former barrister and politician who has been leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) since 2020. Several have endured abuse and hate mail following publication of their names in the Young National Front paper Bulldog and other extremist papers. Tuesday December 3, 2019: On General Hospital today, Willow takes a pregnancy test, Sonny tries to find out what Jax is hiding, and Kendra dies after the accident. But his main address will continue to be the seven-bedroom Hullavington manor house. -. It was upheld first by the British public in 1997, who booted Hamilton out of his Tatton constituency despite his protestations of innocence, in favour of the white-suited broadcaster Martin Bell. [61], On 30 January 1984, a Panorama programme, "Maggie's Militant Tendency", was broadcast. Campbell-Savours claimed this was proof of BBC nobbling and announced that he was sending his evidence to Sir Michael Havers, the Attorney General. "[85] Features. Her points are telling, not just because she fails to understand that those jolly times in the Eighties were extremely damaging to the standing of all politicians, and the low level of trust the public now feels for them, but also because she admits to her longstanding tendency to boast about freebies and be excited by them. The programme made a number of allegations regarding Hamilton's past and more recent activities. [24], Hamilton has appeared on numerous topical television programmes including GMTV, Loose Women, This Week, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, This Morning and The Wright Stuff. Anne Spackman, "New Evidence emerges in BBC libel case". [63] In October 1986, Hamilton and his fellow MP Gerald Howarth (one of his closest friends), sued the BBC for libel along with Phil Pedley, a former chairman of the National Young Conservatives, who had appeared on the programme. [30] Their accuser, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, and in 2002 sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for making the false accusations.[31][32][33][34]. Mr W. Mason, Chief General Manager of the NRMA, and Mr. R.E. Not much. [53], In April 2019, Hamilton was the UKIP candidate in the by-election for Newport West. [27], Denmark rejected the Maastricht Treaty on 2 June 1992. Christine Hamilton. Neil is the fella who fires an inverted bullet . Their home in Nether Alderley, Cheshire was sold to the market for 1.25 million. On 3 July 1997, the enquiry found Hamilton guilty of taking "cash for questions". The episode was recorded one week after Hamilton lost his seat. April 28, 2021, 10:03 am. She appeared on the television talk show Loose Women, starring Nadia Sawalha. Simon Freeman and Henry Porter, "BBC to settle Tory libel case". He was discharged from bankruptcy in May 2004. [66], During the case, Hamilton said he saw himself as being "the Mike Yarwood of the Federation of Conservative Students"[67] and that he frequently did impressions of public figures such as Frankie Howerd, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Charles De Gaulle and Enoch Powell. in the first of many signings by the producers that prove you don't have to be celebrated to attract the culture's most captivating misnomer. ", "Welsh Election 2016: Labour just short as UKIP wins seats", "UKIP's Farage attacks Hamilton's leadership victory", "Nathan Gill 'very disappointed' and Farage criticism 'irrelevant' - Neil Hamilton", "'Farage throwing toys out of pram', says Neil Hamilton", "Ukip's leader in Wales withdraws himself from his party in the Welsh Assembly", "UKIP MEP Nathan Gill told to quit as successor is 'ready', "Nathan Gill leaves UKIP assembly group to sit as independent", "Neil Hamilton out as UKIP assembly leader", "UKIP Wales members elect Gareth Bennett as assembly leader", "Sexism row over Neil Hamilton's maiden assembly speech", "Neil Hamilton apology for Brexit 'suicide' remark", "Newport West byelection: Labour retains seat amid Brexit chaos", "The Welsh AM who claimed 9,000 to get to Cardiff Bay from his home in England", "Neil Hamilton Appointed Interim Leader of UKIP", "Neil Hamilton brands BBC excluding UKIP from main leaders' debates "outrageous", "Election results: Labour remains in power in Wales after winning working Senedd majority", "2021 NEC and Leadership Election - The Results! If there is any national award going for the most ludricous couple in Britain Neil and Christine Hamilton deserve to win it after their performance last night. [30], Prior to the 1997 general election, Hamilton determined to try to retain his parliamentary seat. Neil Hamilton was forced to resign as a Tory trade and industry minister after claims that he took money from Mohamed al-Fayed, the owner of Harrods, in return for asking questions in Parliament.He took his feud with al-Fayed to the High Court and lost a libel action in 1999. 20 years of Sacha Baron Cohen: all of his best political interviews . The Hamiltons: Directed by Will Yapp. [28] Like some other Conservative ministers, Hamilton had also opposed the treaty and was a member of the Eurosceptic "No Turning Back" group. It is quite something, this triumphalist perspective. Neil: I-I-I didn't see her when I grabbed the wheel -- Nikki: Neil, stop it! It had never occurred to Neil Hamilton to do other than observe the ministerial code of ethics. [6] Hamilton went on to study at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,[7] where he attained a postgraduate law degree.[1]. Christine Hamilton: Oh darling, for God's sake. So, instead, we pretend mass-acceptance and admiration of people we can despise from the beginning. But her inclusion in the roster of people too desperate for money and recognition to say no, says a great deal deal about our love-hate relationship with fame and riches, and how much we want to see the famous and rich brought low. I am receiving a much smaller subsidy from my friend al-Fayed, who acknowledges my genius and who is also hugely rich. [115] After Clifford died in prison in December 2017, he was described by Hamilton as a "monster". Attempts were made to manage and rig statements by Mr. David Mitchell. [citation needed] The Hamiltons appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006 with their show, Lunch with the Hamiltons, at the Pleasance Dome in 2006. They are filled with contempt for a man who can make these sort of accusations of a criminal offence against a member of staff, who, Mr Campbell-Savours knows damn well, is not guilty of it."[80]. She then studied sociology at the University of York and first met Neil Hamilton when they both attended a student political conference. SUMMARIZING THE EVIDENCE Continued 7. Neil Hamilton was an associate of al-Fayed's, who was clearly trying to build up a client-list of Tory MPs.Moreover, it is easy to imagine how Neil Hamilton would have justified the brown envelopes to himself. [81] Later that day, Hamilton announced that he was dropping the action against Pedley. He was at it again yesterday, turning muck into brass, bragging about what a large sum of money he'd got out of the publicist Max Clifford. Neil and Christine Hamilton pose on the set of GMTV. When he was made Parliamentary Wit of the Year by The Spectator magazine in 1989, he said he thought it had made him Twit of the Year.He dismissed Nelson Mandela's African National Congress as "a typical terrorist organisation" and he attacked the BBC for screening a Mandela pop concert at Wembley in 1988 before the ANC leader was released from prison.Although now classed as a bankrupt, while managing to keep two homes, Neil Hamilton still operates in London's leading social circles. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images. David Hencke, "MP drops Young Tory libel action". This event was recorded on film by Louis Theroux, who, at that time, was spending time with the Hamiltons for an episode of his documentary series When Louis Met.[111], In June 2003, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, the woman responsible for the unfounded accusation, was sentenced to three years in jail for perverting the course of justice. Hamilton was elected to the House of Commons in the 1983 general election. [2], Hamilton's father was a GP in Ringwood, Hampshire and she grew up in the New Forest area. [73] A BBC source stated: "Nearly all the defence witnesses have had a quiet word in their ears. Thanks to the rewind feature and internet access, the movie is pretty easy to understand. From September 1979, Hamilton practised as a barrister. The money, so far as the grasping couple are concerned, couldn't have come at a better time. These included his attending and giving a fraternal speech in 1972 to the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI) an Italian neo-fascist party led by one of Benito Mussolini's ex-ministers, Giorgio Almirante,[62] Hamilton's membership of the Eldon League, and his involvement with the Powellite faction of the Monday Club and the far-right activist, George Kennedy Young, the former Deputy Director of MI6 and Chairman of the Society for Individual Freedom. The pair posed naked on the cover of GQ, dressed as Adam and Eve, with only fig leaves covering their lack of modesty. Needlebow 3 yr. ago. Anthony Bevins, "Top Tory named in BBC Row". In August 2001, a mother-of-four from Grimsby, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, accused Neil and Christine Hamilton of sexual assault. [26] Hamilton has also been a dictionary corner guest on Countdown. [55] By 2021 he was UKIP's only representative at any level above local government. May 1997: Hamilton loses his parliamentary seat to BBC journalist Martin Bell in the wake of ``Cash for Questions'' sleaze allegations. "My staff are appalled and disgusted. The Campaign relating to Skoal Bandits", "The Attack on Sleaze: How apartheid regime set out to woo Tories", Select Committee on Standards and Privileges First Report iv. In 2011, he returned to politics and was elected to the National Executive Committee of UKIP. [86] In the Commons, Campbell-Savours stated: "Central Office set about an elaborate attempt to interfere directly with potential witnesses. Can you open your eyes, please? She's gonna be okay! [103] Other contributors to the fund included Simon Heffer, Norris McWhirter, Peter Clarke, Lord Bell, Gyles Brandreth and Gerald Howarth (Hamilton's co-plaintiff in the BBC action). Christine Hamilton's autobiography 2005. After all, Mr Hamilton's "enemies" have largely been his own actions and his own inability to extricate himself from the consequences. Neil and Christine Hamilton were once invited to Taiwan by British Airways, back in the days when Lord King was chairman. Neil Hamilton thanked him for his good wishes and his friendship, but went on to say that because of their friendship, he would have to stand aside from any disputes involving al-Fayed which came within the DTI's purview; other ministers would have to deal with them.That is not why al-Fayed cultivated politicians; he did not expect that when they became important and were in a position to exercise influence, they would promptly stand aside. Neil Hamilton's strategy is simply to deny everything. I await a transcript of the second tape."[87]. Neil and Christine Hamilton are very far from being the only people able to parlay notoriety into fame and money. A BBC internal memorandum to the Board of Management claimed some 17 witnesses had been intimidated into changing their testimony. The UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, criticised the move as an "unjust act of deep ingratitude". In a phone conversation, Hamilton gave an absolute assurance to Heseltine that there was no such relationship, but he had received two payments from Greer in 1988 and 1989, totalling 10,000. bobalmighty. Even so, there are two problems.The first is Neil Hamilton's vanity. This is the Christine Hamilton who defended her beloved husband with unswerving loyalty and devotion. Now the disgraced former MP is fighting for a seat in the Welsh assembly - and his wife is alongside.. The following year, he opposed the plan for Britain to join the European Communities. [78] Dale Campbell-Savours claimed he had evidence in the form of a letter from Pedley to the former Party Chairman, John Selwyn Gummer, demonstrating Conservative Central Office (CCO) had contacted witnesses. "To compare Christine Hamilton with Lady Macbeth is to insult Lady Macbeth" wrote John Sweeney for the Observer. [114] The same year, Clifford was jailed for sexual assaults on under-age girls. Hamilton was the only MS not to live in Wales. [24] On 21 November 1990, Hamilton and like-minded colleagues met Thatcher at Downing Street. ", "Court Threat to Proctor Over Shop Accounts", Value Added Tax information for VIXEN CONSULTANTS LIMITED trading as CHRISTINE HAMILTON, Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, OctoberNovember 2016 leadership (Nuttall), Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom, List of political parties in the United Kingdom, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Hamilton_(politician)&oldid=1140747454, Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies, UK Independence Party members of the Senedd, Short description is different from Wikidata, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2019, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from November 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 15:45. [98], Downey reported that he found the evidence against Hamilton in the case of Al-Fayed "compelling". "The second is Neil Hamilton's imprudence. The political class have plundered every resource from the working class yet they still feel aggrieved by the one thing they haven't yet stolen their opinions & critique. RM E0WT12 - Dec. 12, 1963 - Christine Keeler jailed for Nine months: Today at the Old Bailey, 21 year old Christine Keeler was jailed for nine months for Perjury and Conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice. At the the time the accusation was made, the Hamiltons were taking part in a television documentary, with Louis Theroux following them around has part of his When Louis Met series. [to the cameraman] Will, if you broadcast that, I shall come round personally and stab you. [89] On 3 December 1986, Pedley refused the offered settlement terms and asked for a hearing in open court. Hamilton was defeated at the 2021 Senedd election. But they are, however, two of the most transparent proponents of the tendency and the two people who best illustrate why it is that the tendency is so unhealthy. Because he held, in common with millions of others, a very low opinion of the couple, and believed (erroneously as it turned out) that no insult could drag their name deeper into the mire than it had been already. August 2001: The Hamiltons are arrested after an allegation of sexual abuse is made by Nadine Milroy-Sloan, who took her claims to the publicist Max Clifford. When it came to al-Fayed's supposed temptations, Neil Hamilton did have motive, means and opportunity. She attended Wentworth College, an independent boarding school for girls in Bournemouth [3] and a co-educational Grammar School in Christchurch, Dorset. [132] The trading name of Vixen Consultants is Christine Hamilton.[133]. He also taught constitutional law at Hatfield Polytechnic between September 1978 and July 1982. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1983 to 1997 and a UKIP Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales from 2016 to 2021. Hamilton said he had coloured himself black in 1982 to look like Idi Amin and dressed as Canon James Owen on a boat on the River Cam. Back in 2006, former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton and his "Battleaxe" wife Christine showed their support for England's World Cup campaign with their very own song. [27], Hamilton also interviewed successful women in business for the digital channel Simply Money, has presented programmes on Sky Digital's Destination Lunch, and stood in for Gloria Hunniford and Fern Britton on Open House and This Morning. TV Shows. The Hamiltons have been making some impressive investments of late, having just spent nearly pounds 1.2m on a new home in Wiltshire. When Martin Bell, the BBC war correspondent, announced he would stand as an independent candidate in Tatton, the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates for the area stood down in order to give Bell a clear run against Hamilton. She has been married to Neil Hamilton since 17 February 1978. CHCH-TV has been advised that two employees have tested positive for COVID-19. In 1972, after several years' membership, Hamilton was elected to the executive council of the Conservative Monday Club. At the 1970 Conservative Party conference, Hamilton called for mass privatisation. Hamilton also sent condolences to Portillo in 2001, when he failed to win that year's leadership election. [citation needed], In June 1990, Hamilton was recruited by the right-wing Monday Club activist Derek Laud to work for Strategy Network International, a firm specifically created to lobby against anti-apartheid movements and economic sanctions and for apartheid South Africa's 'transitional government' of Namibia set up in defiance of UN Resolution 435 on Namibian independence. The Financial Times reported, "A solicitor for Mr Hamilton and Mr Howarth said later that their linked libel action against Mr Philip Pedley would continue. Commenting on Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech about mass immigration, Hamilton said that Powell was wrong about predicting racial violence, but had been "proved right by events" in terms of social change that was "never desired by the majority of the British people". Hamilton and his wife were cross-examined by George Carman QC. With Louis Theroux, Neil Hamilton, Christine Hamilton, Gyles Brandreth. Technically, the first time Neil appears onscreen is during the movie's opening moments at the opera house in Ukraine. He argued there was no evidence that leaded petrol was damaging the environment, or health, and that jobs would be lost in his constituency if leaded petrol was banned. He also pointed out that one person present at the incident, Julian Lewis, was a Jew and that a "number of his relatives were killed by the Nazis during the war". Edwina Currie, a former health minister, gave evidence. I mean now an MP doesn't take a lump of sugar without declaring it, but in the Eighties, the climate was completely different, it was not regarded as wrong to accept hospitality. Press interest turned to Hamilton's past statements about the Berlin visit, over which Tory witnesses were alleged to have been pressured to say that they had not seen goose-stepping or Nazi-style salutes. Select from premium Email Recipient of the highest quality. He became leader of UKIP Wales in 2016. HIGNFY S30E04 - Jeremy Clarkson, Andy Hamilton & Mark Steel. September 1997: Mr Fayed alleges Hamilton accepted pounds 30,000 in brown envelopes. General election 1983: Neil Hamilton elected Conservative MP for Tatton. [69], In mid-trial and without cross-examining Hamilton, the BBC capitulated on 21 October 1986. In total, approximately 410,000 was raised. BA hated the thought of any passenger catching food poisoning on any of its flights, let alone in first class.The matter would have to be investigated. [9] Hamilton stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate in the February 1974 general election in Abertillery[10] and in the 1979 general election in Bradford North,[11] but failed on both occasions. But we, their viewers and tormentors, know that their life in the public eye is a self-imposed punishment, ensuring they will never move on. On entering the Commons, Hamilton was appointed as an officer of the backbench committee on Trade and Industry under the chairmanship of Michael Grylls. He also said that he made the fateful suggestion that she interview each cabinet member individually, believing they would lack the resolve to tell her to her face that she must go. "[14] Hamilton was also European and Parliamentary Affairs Director of the Institute of Directors during this time.[when? HIGNFY S31E05 - Alexander Armstrong, Fern Britton & Andy Hamilton. At Newman Media, Nate asks Audra what she thinks of mashups like country rock. [127] To Jeremy Corbyn, he suggested that "some of [his] IRA friends could be used to get rid of pensioners by shooting them"also in 1987. Go to Ascot, Covent Garden - packed with MPs. [21] Hamilton was obliged to concede he had been wrong to make no reference to the payment "when I went on those meetings with Ministers". The Observer commissioned ICM polls in the constituencies of the three Conservative candidates tainted by scandal and seeking re-election: Hamilton, Allan Stewart and Piers Merchant. "[23] Hamilton strongly encouraged Thatcher to persist. The Guardian greeted the Hamilton collapse with the headline "A Liar and a Cheat". The Guardian reported that "The spotlight had swivelled to Phil Pedley, the Tory defendant who remained adamant he would fight on alone, backed by independent funds and, he claims, a wide range of Conservative supporters. No sooner had the Hamiltons arrived in Hong Kong than Neil Hamilton phoned Lord King's office. What's on TV & Streaming Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Browse TV Shows by Genre TV News India TV Spotlight. bobalmighty. That is why al-Fayed decided to destroy him.There is a lot of competition, but throughout a chequered career, Neil Hamilton has always managed to be his own worst enemy. [121], Since then, the Hamiltons have appeared in pantomimes, television chat shows, and programmes such as The Weakest Link, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? There are 300+ professionals named "Christine Hamilton", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. ", "Parliament Debate on Recommendation to Strip Msi Leader of His Immunity", "The Hamilton Affair: The cost Right-wing donors united by their loathing of Fayed", Hamilton and Howarth v. British Broadcasting Corporation, "Timeline of Hamilton Cash for Questions Case", "Select Committee on Standards and Privileges First Report", "House of Commons Standards and Privileges First Report", "A clear response to the cash for questions MPs", "Appendix 33 continued: Appendix 1 Channel 4 and Fourth Estate Press Releases", "'I lacked candour but I am not corrupt'", "Hamilton's 'tragedy' was to help Al Fayed", "Dinner guests whose testimony will count", "Nadine Milroy Sloan, Christine and Neil Hamilton, false accusation", "Hamiltons toast end of PR king Max Clifford's reign with champagne", "Army veteran speaks of prison ordeal at hands of Hamiltons' rape claim liar Emily Checksfield after she is jailed for more lies", "Max Clifford jailed for eight years for sex assaults", "Max Clifford Was An Unscrupulous Monster, Says Neil Hamilton", "The weird and wonderful world of former Tory MP Neil Hamilton", "Neil Hamilton: disgraced MP to Z-list celebrity to political comeback", "London Kidneys-for-Cash Scandal Prompts Action to Ban Sale of Organs", "Sir Michael Grylls: Conservative MP exposed in cash-for-questions investigation" (obituary), "Neil & Christine Hamilton's World Cup Song - "England are Jolly Dee! Now they claim to have witnessed nothing. In November 1990, Michael Heseltine initiated a leadership challenge to Margaret Thatcher. Derek Laud was an ex-Monday Club activist and protg of Hamilton's friend Michael Brown, who offered Hamilton a fee of 8,000 per year. And how similarly corrupt our culture is, to believe it is worth showering this pair with wealth in order to watch their own powerlessness before Mammon. He was defeated by an independent candidate, Martin Bell, in the 1997 general election. The settlement is believed to be more than pounds 100,000. [88] Hamilton's admission had the effect of reaffirming the testimony of the two witnesses who alleged he had given a Nazi salute in Berlin and exposing those witnesses who had reversed their position. The corporation was directed to pay the men's legal costs. She is famous for being a Autobiographer. In return, the men were to ask questions on behalf of Al-Fayed in the House of Commons. On 21 December 1999, the jury unanimously decided in favour of Al-Fayed, declaring Hamilton corrupt. Christine, though, perhaps because she has less of a clue what it actually is that she's defending, is more open. [58] He was also top of the UKIP list for that region but was not appointed as an additional member either. [28], Along with her husband, she was arrested in May 2001 by police investigating an alleged rape that was found to be false. Following Hamilton's ejection from Tatton and the Conservative defeat in the 1997 election, the new party leader, William Hague, sought to distance the Conservative Party from the disgraced Hamilton and asked Hamilton to stay away from the party conference. Both Hamilton and Michael Brown had received a 6,000 honorarium and hospitality from Skoal Bandits. It is those false claims that have finally come to yield such splendid rewards. Hamilton said he supported the introduction of Skoal Bandits on libertarian grounds, and lobbied ministers (including Edwina Currie and David Mellor) to allow its introduction. [79] Tebbit confirmed one witness had been in touch with CCO. [84] The Independent revealed the existence of a taped conversation of a Tory witness being "shaken rigid" by Central Office's suggestion that the Berlin events had not happened and "no other witness would substantiate or give evidence about those alleged incidents" and the witness was told no other witness would back his account. [clarification needed] He was the only member in committee to oppose the Conservative government's bill to outlaw trafficking in human organs. Hamilton had given a categorical denial he had made a Nazi salute in Berlin to John Selwyn Gummer, the Party Chairman, in January 1984: But, writing in the Sunday Times, Hamilton admitted making "a little salute" in the Reichstag. David Davis, then a director of Tate and Lyle, persuaded that company to donate a sum to the cause. On 20 October 1994, The Guardian published an article which claimed that Hamilton and another minister, Tim Smith, had received money, in the form of cash in brown envelopes. [96] Hamilton argued the pictures were irrelevant. The Hamiltons were the subjects of an episode of Louis Theroux's 2001 documentary series When Louis Met.[15], Hamilton has described herself as a "media butterfly"[16] and has appeared on a variety of television shows since her husband's electoral defeat. Bell campaigned as an anti-sleaze candidate, and Christine Hamilton confronted him during a televised press conference on Knutsford Heath, which brought her to public prominence. Christine fronted her own BBC Choice chat show, interviewing other notorious curiosities from James Hewitt to Jonathan Aitken, and naturally giving them a silky soft ride. (January 1987). Movies. [9] Neil Hamilton's later failure in a libel case against the Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Al-Fayed,[10][11] would lead to her husband's bankruptcy. [117] At one point Hamilton quipped: "I've found it's much better making political jokes than being one. In the Hamilton/Fayed/brown envelopes case, the MO would appear to be characteristic of both parties. "[69] In a Sunday Times article, Hamilton denied there was any malicious intent behind the salute. The Hamiltons said they could not have been present at the alleged rape scene because they were hosting a dinner party and produced alibis including one from Derek Laud. On 31 July 1998, Hamilton's action was approved for a court listing. What could be wrong with that? "I am the most brilliant man of my generation," he would have said, "just as Benjamin Disraeli was of his. In 1960 he moved to Ammanford.