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Douglas Hurd

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Hurd of Westwell
CHCBEPC
Hurd in 2013
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
26 October 1989 – 5 July 1995
Prime Minister
Preceded byJohn Major
Succeeded byMalcolm Rifkind
Home Secretary
In office
2 September 1985 – 26 October 1989
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byLeon Brittan
Succeeded byDavid Waddington
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
27 September 1984 – 2 September 1985
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byJim Prior
Succeeded byTom King
Minister of State for the Home Office[1]
In office
9 June 1983 – 27 September 1984
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byPatrick Mayhew
Succeeded byGiles Shaw
Minister of State for Europe
In office
4 May 1979 – 9 June 1983
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMalcolm Rifkind
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Life peerage
13 June 1997 – 9 June 2016
Member of Parliament
forWitney
Mid Oxfordshire(Feb 1974–1983)
In office
28 February 1974 – 8 April 1997
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byShaun Woodward
Political Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
1970–1974
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byMarcia Falkender
Succeeded byMarcia Falkender
Personal details
Born
Douglas Richard Hurd

(1930-03-08)8 March 1930(age 94)
Marlborough, Wiltshire,UK
Political partyConservative
Spouses
Tatiana Eyre
​
​
(m.1960;div.1982)​
Judy Smart
​
​
(m.1982; died 2008)​
Children5, includingNick
Parent(s)Anthony Hurd
Stephanie Frances Corner
RelativesSir Percy Hurd(grandfather)
EducationEton College
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
Signature

Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell,CH,CBE,PC(born 8 March 1930) is a BritishConservative Partypolitician who served in the governments ofMargaret ThatcherandJohn Majorfrom 1979 to 1995.[2][3]

A career diplomat and political secretary to Prime MinisterEdward Heath,Hurd first entered Parliament inFebruary 1974as MP for theMid Oxfordshireconstituency (Witneyfrom 1983). His first government post was asMinister for Europefrom 1979 to 1983 (being that office's inaugural holder) and he served in several Cabinet roles from 1984 onwards, includingSecretary of State for Northern Ireland(1984–85),Home Secretary(1985–89) andForeign Secretary(1989–95). He stood unsuccessfully for theConservative Party leadership in 1990,and retired from frontline politics during aCabinet reshufflein 1995.[4]

In 1997, Hurd was elevated to theHouse of Lordsand is one of the Conservative Party's most senior elder statesmen. He is apatronof theTory Reform Group.Heretiredfrom the Lords in 2016.

Early life

[edit]
Order of the British Empire ribbon

Hurd was born in 1930 in themarket townofMarlboroughinWiltshire.His fatherAnthony Hurd(laterLord Hurd) and grandfatherSir Percy Hurdwere alsoMembers of Parliament.Douglas attendedTwyford SchoolandEton College,where he was aKing's Scholarand won theNewcastle Scholarshipin 1947.[5]He was also captain of school (head boy).[6]

Following school Hurd didNational Service,which he did not particularly enjoy, at a time when theBerlin Blockademade aThird World Warseem far from unlikely. He began in July 1948 with a compulsory period in the ranks of theRoyal Regiment of Artilleryalongside young men of all social backgrounds. He later recorded that although living standards were no great shock after the spartan conditions at public school in those days, the petty dishonesty which he saw in the barrack room, and the waste of time which was so large a part of a conscript's experience, made him sceptical in later years of constituents' demands for a restoration of National Service.[7]He was selected for officer training, attendedMons Officer Cadet School,Aldershot; from November 1948, and was commissioned as asecond lieutenantin the5th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery(as it was then called) at the start of March 1949.[8]He was released from the Army in September 1949 to take up his place atCambridge University.[9]He trained for a few weeks each summer as a reserve officer until 1952.[10]

Hurd went up toTrinity College, Cambridge,in the autumn of 1949. He achieved an upper second (II:1) in his preliminary exams in summer 1950.[11]In March 1951 he was approached by an admiral to be recruited to British Intelligence. He attended a selection panel, but withdrew from the process because, he later wrote, he did not want a career which would have to be pursued in secret.[12]Hurd's brother Julian, who was on the officer training course at Aldershot at the time, committed suicide in June 1951.[13]In his third year, Hurd served as chairman of theCambridge University Conservative Associationfor Michaelmas (autumn) Term 1951 andpresidentof theCambridge Union Societyin Easter (summer) Term 1952. His special subject for study was theSecond French Republic.[14]He graduated in 1952 with a first-class degree (BA) inhistory.[15][16]

In 1952, Hurd joined theDiplomatic Service.He was posted toChina,the United States and Italy, before leaving the service in 1966 to enterpoliticsas a member of the Conservative Party.

Member of Parliament

[edit]

Hurd became private secretary (a political appointment, his salary paid by the Conservative Party) to Conservative Prime MinisterEdward Heath,and was first elected to Parliament in February 1974 to represent the constituency ofMid Oxfordshire.Following his election, he was made aCommander of the Order of the British Empirein theFebruary 1974 Dissolution Honours,gazetted on 2 April 1974.[17]At the1983 general electionthe seat was replaced byWitneyand he remained MP for that seat until his retirement from theHouse of Commonsin1997having served 23 years in Parliament. His immediate successor wasShaun Woodward,who defected toLabourin 1999, and moved in 2001 to a safe Labour seat, before serving asNorthern Ireland Secretary,a position Hurd once held. From 2001 to 2016, Hurd's former constituency was represented by the former Leader of theConservative Partyand former British prime minister,David Cameron.[18]

In government: 1979–1990

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Hurd was appointedMinister of Stateat theForeign & Commonwealth Officeupon the Conservative victory in the1979 general electionand remained in that post for the duration of the Parliament.[19]Following the 1983 election Thatcher moved Hurd to theHome Office,but just over a year later he was promoted toCabinetrank, succeedingJim PriorasSecretary of State for Northern Ireland.[19]In this position, his diplomatic skills paved the way for the signing of theAnglo-Irish Agreementon the future ofNorthern Ireland,which marked a turning point in British-Irish co-operation on thepolitical situation in the troubled region.A month before the agreement was signed, however, Hurd returned to the Home Office, this time asHome Secretary,following the demotion ofLeon Brittanto theDepartment of Trade and Industry.

Widely seen as a "safe pair of hands" and a solid, loyal member of the Cabinet, Hurd's tenure as Home Secretary was largely uncontroversial, although he was notably of the view thatHer Majesty's Prison Servicedid not work effectively and argued for morerehabilitationof offenders and alternative sentencing.[18]

Hurd brought in thePublic Order Act, 1986,which created the crime ofhate speechfor speech which is "threatening, abusive or insulting" and which is spoken in public, with intent or likely to "stir up" racial hatred.[20]

Candidature in the 1990 leadership election

[edit]

Hurd's Cabinet career progressed further during the turbulent final months ofMargaret Thatcher's prime ministership. On 26 October 1989, Hurd movedto the Foreign Office,succeedingJohn Major,whose rapid rise through the Cabinet saw him becomeChancellor of the Exchequerin the wake ofNigel Lawson's resignation.

In mid-November 1990, Hurd supported Margaret Thatcher's candidature as Conservative Party leader against challengerMichael Heseltine,but on her withdrawal from the second round ofthe conteston 22 November, Hurd decided to enter the race as a moderate centre-right candidate, drawing on his reputation as a successful 'law-and-order' Home Secretary. He was endorsed by former Prime Minister and Conservative Party LeaderEdward Heath.[21]He was seen as an outsider, lagging behind the more charismatic Heseltine and the eventual winner, John Major, who shared the moderate centre-right political ground with Hurd but had the added advantages of youth and political momentum. Hurd's Etonian education may have also been a disadvantage. Years later, Hurd expressed frustration that his privileged background counted against him in the leadership election, commenting in an interview that "I should have said I am standing for leadership of the Tory party and not for some demented Marxist outfit".[22]He came third, winning 56 of the 372 votes cast and, together with Heseltine, conceded defeat to allow Major, who had fallen just three votes short of an outright majority, to return unopposed and take over as prime minister on 27 November 1990. Hurd was gracious in defeat and, on the formation of Major's first Cabinet, was returned to his position as Foreign Secretary.[23][24]

Foreign Secretary

[edit]
Hurd withPresidentGeorge H. W. Bushin 1991

Hurd was widely regarded as astatesmanlikeBritish Foreign Secretary, his tenure having been particularly eventful.[19]He oversaw Britain's diplomatic responses to the end of theCold Warand thecollapse of the Soviet Unionin 1991, as well as the firstGulf Warto driveBa'athist Iraqitroops out ofKuwait.[19]Hurd cultivated good relations with the United States under PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush,and sought a more conciliatory approach to other members of theEuropean Community,repairing relationships damaged during the increasinglyEurosceptictone of Margaret Thatcher's final years. Hurd was a signatory of theMaastricht Treatyestablishing theEuropean Unionin 1992. Hurd welcomed areunified Germanyinto the European political community in 1990.[25]

One of the defining features of Hurd's tenure as Foreign Secretary was the British reaction to theYugoslav Wars.During theBosnian War,Hurd was seen as a leading voice among European politicians arguing against sending military aid to theBosniaksand for maintaining the armsembargo,in defiance of the line taken by US PresidentBill Clinton,and arguing that such a move would only create a 'level killing field' and prolong the conflict unduly. Hurd also resisted pressure to allowBosnianrefugees to enter into Britain arguing that to do so would reduce pressure on theRepublic of Bosnia and Herzegovinato sue for peace.[26]Hurd described his and British policy during that time as 'realist'.[27]

Shortly after his withdrawal from frontline politics, Hurd travelled toSerbia and Montenegroto meetSlobodan Miloševićon behalf of the British bankNatWest(see below), fuelling some speculation that Hurd had taken a pro-Serbian line. There has been criticism[28][29]of Hurd's policies in relation to the war. The Bosnian government even threatened to charge Hurd as an accomplice to theBosnian genocidebefore the War Tribunal atThe Hague,though this came to nothing. In 2010 Hurd told a reporter that he was troubled by his Bosnia policy but still doubted that intervention would have brought about an earlier end to the war.[30]

Hurd was involved ina public scandal concerning Britain's funding of a hydroelectric dam on the Pergau Riverin Malaysia, near theThai border.Building work began in 1991 with money from the British foreign aid budget. Concurrently, the Malaysian government bought around £1 billion's worth of British-made arms. The suggested linkage of arms deals to aid became the subject of a UK Government inquiry from March 1994. In November 1994, after an application forJudicial reviewbrought by theWorld Development Movement,theHigh Court of Justiceheld that the British Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd's actions wereultra vires[outside his legal powers and therefore unlawful] by allocating £234 million towards the funding of thedam,on the grounds that the legislation only empowered him to fund economically sound projects.[31]

In 1997, the administration of the UK's aid budget was removed from the Foreign Secretary's remit (previously theOverseas Development Administrationhad been under the supervision of theForeign and Commonwealth Office).[32]The new department, theDepartment for International Development(DfID), had its ownSecretary of statewho was a member of theCabinet.In 1995, during the Cabinet reshuffle widely seen as setting up the Conservative team which would contest the next election, Hurd retired from frontline politics after 11 years in the Cabinet and was replaced byMalcolm Rifkind.[32]

Retirement

[edit]
Insignia of a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour

After his retirement as foreign secretary, Hurd remained a key supporter of John Major, and kept a range of active political involvements as well as taking on some business appointments, most notably as a deputy chairman ofNatWestMarkets and a board director of NatWest Group, posts he held from October 1995–99.[citation needed]

Hurd left theHouse of Commonsat the 1997 general election, and on 13 June 1997 was createdBaron Hurd of Westwell,ofWestwellin theCounty of Oxfordshire,[33]which enabled him to continue sitting in Parliament as a member of theHouse of Lords.He retired from the Lords on 9 June 2016.[34]

In December 1997, Hurd was appointed chairman of British Invisibles (now renamedInternational Financial Services Londonor IFSL). He was chairman of the judging panel for the 1998Booker Prize for Fiction.He became a member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords in February 1999, and in September 1999 he was appointedHigh Steward of Westminster Abbey,reflecting his long active membership of theChurch of England.He later went on to chair the Hurd Commission which produced a review of the roles and functions of theArchbishop of Canterbury.[35]

Hurd is chairman of the advisory council at FIRST,[36]an international affairs organisation. Hurd was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empirein 1974 andMember of the Order of the Companions of Honourin the 1996 New Year Honours.[37]He was formerly aVisiting FellowofNuffield College, OxfordandChairmanof the German British Forum. On 17 July 2009, he received thehonorary degreeofDoctor of Letters(Hon DLitt) fromAston Universityat its Degree Congregation.[citation needed]

Hurd is a member of theTop Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation,established in October 2009.[38]

Personal life

[edit]

Hurd has married twice. In 1960, he married his first wife Tatiana, daughter of Major Arthur Eyre MBE, and their union produced three sons. The couple separated in 1976, and divorced in 1982. Tatiana Hurd cited her husband's career as the reason for their separation, saying, "Really, politics don't mix with marriage". In 1982 Hurd married Judy Smart, his former parliamentary secretary, who was 19 years his junior. They had two children, a boy and a girl.[39]Judy Hurd died ofleukaemiaon 22 November 2008 in anOxfordhospital, aged 58.[40]

Hurd's eldest son,Nick Hurd,was ConservativeMember of ParliamentforRuislip Northwood and Pinnerfrom May 2005 to December 2019. In 2010, he was appointed Minister for Civil Society[41]and married Lady Clare Kerr, daughter ofthe Marquess of Lothian.

Hurd's second son, Thomas, joined theDiplomatic service.His name appeared on a list of suspectedMI6operatives which was published on the Internet, along with the name of Douglas himself.The HonThomas was appointedOBEin 2006, and is married with five children. His wife, Catherine, known as Sian, died on 21 May 2011, after falling from the roof of the building where they lived on East 84th Street inNew York City.[42]

In 1988, Hurd set up the charityCrime Concern.[43]Crime Concern worked to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime, by working with young people, their families and adult offenders, offering opportunities through training and employment. Crime Concern merged with young people's charityRainerin 2008 to becomeCatch22.[44]Hurd is fluent inMandarin,French,andItalian.[45]

Literary works

[edit]

Hurd is a writer of political thrillers including:

  • The Smile on the Face of the Tiger(1969, withAndrew Osmond)
  • Scotch on the Rocks(1971, withAndrew Osmond)
  • Truth Game(1972)
  • A Vote to a Kill(1975)
  • Palace of Enchantments(1985, with Stephen Lamport)
  • The Shape of Ice(1998)
  • Image in the Water(2001)
  • 10 Minutes to Turn the Devil(2015), a collection of short stories.

His non-fiction works include:

  • The Arrow War(1967)
  • An End To Promises(1979)
  • The Search for Peace(1997)
  • Memoirs(2003)
  • Robert Peel, a Biography(2007)[46]
  • Choose your Weapons(2010)[47]
  • Disraeli: or, The Two Lives(2013, with Edward Young)[48]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^Times Guide House of Commons - 1983.Times Books. 1983. p. 241.ISBN072300255X.
  2. ^"Hon. Douglas Hurd".Hansard.Retrieved14 May2021.
  3. ^"Parliamentary career for Lord Hurd of Westwell - MPs and Lords".UK Parliament.Retrieved14 May2021.
  4. ^Douglas Hurd,Memoirs(2003).
  5. ^"Hurd of Westwell, Baron, (Douglas Richard Hurd) (born 8 March 1930)".WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO.2007.doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u21291.ISBN978-0-19-954088-4.Retrieved12 June2021.
  6. ^Hurd 2003, p52
  7. ^Hurd 2003, pp61-8
  8. ^Hurd 2003, p64
  9. ^Hurd 2003, p68
  10. ^Hurd 2003, p85
  11. ^Hurd 2003, p71
  12. ^Hurd 2003, p. 77
  13. ^Hurd 2003, p81
  14. ^Hurd 2003, p. 71
  15. ^[1]Archived26 September 2009 at theWayback Machine
  16. ^University education."You may have a first-class degree – but Lord Winston doesn't want you".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved15 January2016.
  17. ^"No. 46254".The London Gazette(Supplement). 2 April 1974. pp. 4395–4398.
  18. ^abHurd,Memoirs(2003).
  19. ^abcd"Douglas Hurd".Oxford Reference.Retrieved12 June2021.
  20. ^"Public Order Act 1986".www.legislation.gov.uk.1986.
  21. ^Campbell, John (2010).Pistols at Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political Rivalry from Pitt and Fox to Blair and Brown.London: Vintage. p. 340.ISBN978-1-84595-091-0.OCLC489636152.
  22. ^"'Ten years from now we will be in the EU and thinking again about joining the euro'".www.theguardian.com.29 June 2013.Retrieved17 July2022.[title missing]
  23. ^"1990: Tories choose Major for Number 10".BBC News.27 November 1990.
  24. ^Bogdanor, Vernon (18 January 2014)."The Spectator book review that brought down Macmillan's government".The Spectator.Archived fromthe originalon 19 November 2015.Retrieved18 November2015.
  25. ^Mark Stuart,Douglas Hurd: the public servant: an authorised biography(1998)
  26. ^Nick Cohen."Observer review: Unfinest Hour by Brendan Simms | Books".The Guardian.Retrieved15 January2016.
  27. ^"Bosnia Report – July – September 2000".Bosnia.org.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 24 July 2013.Retrieved15 January2016.
  28. ^"Srebrenica: the silence over Britain's guilt must be ended | Vernon Bogdanor".The Guardian.12 July 2012.Retrieved28 January2021.
  29. ^Mazower, Mark (11 April 2012)."How Britain got it wrong in Bosnia".www.standard.co.uk.Retrieved28 January2021.
  30. ^Flanagan, Julian (30 March 2010)."Douglas Hurd: 'I am not brilliant. Not a great original'".The Daily Telegraph.London.
  31. ^[2]Archived15 October 2009 at theWayback Machine
  32. ^ab"A rare survivor".POLITICO.3 January 1996.Retrieved12 June2021.
  33. ^"No. 54810".The London Gazette.18 June 1997. p. 7063.
  34. ^Lord Hurd of Westwell,parliament.uk, 12 June 2016
  35. ^[3]Archived13 December 2007 at theWayback Machine
  36. ^"The forum for decision makers. FIRST Magazine focuses on business strategy and government policy making".FIRST Magazine.Retrieved15 January2016.
  37. ^"No. 54255".The London Gazette(Supplement). 30 December 1995. p. 5.
  38. ^Borger, Julian (8 September 2009)."Nuclear-free world ultimate aim of new cross-party pressure group".The Guardian.London, UK.
  39. ^"The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions".Answers.Retrieved15 January2016.
  40. ^"Judy Hurd".Oxford Mail.3 December 2008.Retrieved14 June2018.
  41. ^"Nick Hurd – GOV.UK".Cabinetoffice.gov.uk.Retrieved15 January2016.
  42. ^Swaine, Jon (22 May 2011)."Lord Hurd's daughter-in-law plunges to death".The Daily Telegraph.ISSN0307-1235.Retrieved24 February2019.
  43. ^"Introduction to Preventative Work from Making A Difference".Enabler Publications.Retrieved15 January2016.
  44. ^"Transforming lives, transforming communities".Catch22.Retrieved15 January2016.
  45. ^"What does it take to be a great foreign secretary?".BBC News.14 May 2013.Retrieved15 January2016.
  46. ^Time remaining – days – hours – minutes – seconds (12 June 2008).Douglas Hurd – Robert Peel – Orion Publishing Group.Orion Publishing.ISBN9780753823842.Retrieved15 January2016.{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help)
  47. ^Time remaining – days – hours – minutes – seconds (28 March 2013).Douglas Hurd – Choose Your Weapons – Orion Publishing Group.Orion.ISBN9780297858515.Retrieved15 January2016.{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help)
  48. ^"ISBN Unavailable".Orionbooks.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 7 August 2014.Retrieved15 January2016.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Hurd, Douglas.Memoirs(Little, Brown, 2003)
  • Hurd, Douglas.The Search for Peace(Little, Brown, 1997)
  • Stuart, Mark.Douglas Hurd: the public servant: an authorised biographyMainstream Publishing Company, 1998.
  • Theakston, Kevin, ed.British Foreign Secretaries since 1974(Routledge, 2004).
[edit]
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Government offices
Preceded by Political Secretary to the Prime Minister
1970–1974 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of ParliamentforMid Oxfordshire
1974–1983 		Constituency abolished
Member of ParliamentforWitney
1983–1997 		Succeeded by
Political offices
New title Minister for Europe
1979–1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
1984–1985 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Home Secretary
1985–1989 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Foreign Secretary
1989–1995 		Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
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