Simon Kerslake

Simon Kerslake is a fictional character in the political novel "First Among Equals," by Jeffrey Archer. He is a British Conservative Party politician who served under Prime Ministers Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher.There is a certain amount of autobiographical influence in the chararcter, as he shares Archer's politics, sporting history and a financial scandal for which he is blameless but which threatens his political career.

Personal life

Simon is a devoted family man with a wife (a family doctor) and two sons. His desire to look after his family nearly costs him his political career in the British House of Commons: anxious to give his family the lifestyle he felt they desired, he makes some risky investments, accumulates a lot of debt and only narrowly avoids bankruptcy.

Political career

Kerslake is a centrist Conservative, hard-working and honourable (despite his poor business judgment).

With only a few political missteps, Kerslake rises steadily through the Conservative Party during his 30-year career. Boundary changes lead to the abolition of his constituency at the February 1974 general election but he finds another and returns to the Commons at the October 1974 general election. He is badly injured by an IRA bomb while serving as Minister of State for Northern Ireland. He serves in a number of other Cabinet posts, including Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Defence.

Simon's biggest rival is Charles Gurney Seymour, an aristocratic Conservative MP who does everything he can to stymie and sidetrack him. Simon narrowly survives each attempt to bring him down, and ultimately defeats him in a closely-fought contest to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party.

The novel culminates in an extremely close general election in 1991 (the novel was published in 1984). Labour Party leader Raymond Gould becomes Prime Minister in the original British edition of the novel, which ends with King Charles III inviting Gould to Buckingham Palace and asking him to form a government. However, in the U.S. edition, Gould is invited to Buckingham Palace. King Charles III then informs him that in fact, Kerslake is to become the Prime Minister.

Political Offices

* Shadow Housing Spokesman 1969 - 1970
* Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office 1970 - 1974
* Shadow Education Minister 1975 - 1979
* Minister of State for Northern Ireland 1979 - 1982
* Minister of State for Defence 1982 - 1985
* Secretary of State for Defence 1985 - 1987
* Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 1987 - 1988
* Shadow Foreign Secretary 1988 - 1989
* Shadow Home Secretary 1989
* Leader of the Opposition 1989 -

ee also

*Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds