George Gardiner (politician)

Sir George Arthur Gardiner (3 March 1935 - 16 November 2002) was a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Born in Essex, George was the son of a gas board manager and was educated at the Harvey Grammar School, Folkestone and Balliol College, Oxford where he read PPE, in which he obtained a First class degree in 1958. He then worked as a journalist and in advertising after leaving university.

Political career

He was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Reigate from February 1974 and served until March 1997. He resigned from the Conservative Party after being deselected by his local Party association. He had survived one deselection attempt in June 1996, but an article where he compared Prime Minister John Major to a ventriloquist's dummy to the pro-European Chancellor Ken Clarke proved the last straw for his constituency party. After unsuccessfully challenging the decision in the courts, Sir George joined the Referendum Party with whom he contested the 1997 general election. He was therefore, briefly, the only person ever to have sat as a Referendum Party MP.

Gardiner was well known for his vehemently eurosceptic views and was allegedly one of the "bastards" that John Major referred to unwittingly on national television.

For many years Gardiner was a leading member of the Conservative Monday Club. In 1984 he was a member of the Club's National Executive Council, and was also Chairman of their Privatisation Policy Committee which produced, in September 1984, a Policy Paper entitled "Killing the Dinosaur of State Ownership". He was on the editorial board which prepared the Club's October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue of their newspaper, "Right Ahead", and contributed an article: "Why Margaret - Still?", in support of Margaret Thatcher. He continued writing for the Club, and in the October 1989 edition of "Right Ahead" contributed the leading front-page article entitled "Murders that should lie on the conscience of MPs", calling for the return of Capital Punishment. In January 1991, following the demise of his friend, David Storey, the Club's ousted chairman, Gardiner left the Club.

Sir George was always proudest of the role he played in the election of Margaret Thatcher as Conservative Party leader. Along with Thatcher, Norman Tebbit and Airey Neave he formed what was dubbed by Tribune newspaper "The Gang of Four" in her leadership race. As a former lobby journalist, George Gardiner acted as the press officer for the team.

When, in 1990, Margaret Thatcher was on the verge of resignation, Sir George led a last gasp deputation of loyal MPs to Number 10 to try to persuade her to fight on. She listened politely to their pleas, but her mind was already made up and she announced her departure from front-line politics the following day. Gardiner was rewarded with a knighthood in her resignation honours list.

In attempt to keep the Thatcherite torch burning, Sir George was instrumental in setting up Conservative Way Forward - with the express aim of providing a focal point for Thatcherites in the party organisation and to support those seen as ideologically sympathetic in government - figures like Michael Portillo (at the time) and John Redwood. Some credit the organisation with success in ensuring a shift to the right in the new prospective parliamentary candidates being selected within the party after 1992.

Later life

Sir George Gardiner died in 2002, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London. [http://www.brompton.org/Residents.htm]