Sir Reg becomes Lord Reg.
Arise Lord Reginald of Empey! It's hardly an earth shattering surprise, but the news has been confirmed that Sir Reg will be elevated to a peerage. Let this be the first blog to congratulate him on reaching Westminster at long last. O'Neill points out that he will sit as a Conservative and no doubt he will be a useful addition to the Tory benches.
Although Unionist Lite is correct that Empey's stewardship of UCUNF wasn't sufficiently brave, I still think he deserves huge credit for taking radical steps to revitalise Northern Irish unionism. Two cheers for Lord Reg!
Thanks to the anonymous commenter below who points out that Alistair Cooke, who taught at Queen's University Belfast, will also become a Conservative Lord.
Thanks to the anonymous commenter below who points out that Alistair Cooke, who taught at Queen's University Belfast, will also become a Conservative Lord.
Comments
Alistair Cooke, OBE, is a political historian who has spent most of his career in the central organisation of the Conservative Party. A graduate of Peterhouse, Cambridge, he taught and researched modern British and Irish history at Queen's University, Belfast, before becoming political adviser to Airey Neave, Conservative Spokesman on Northern Ireland, from 1977 to 1979.
He was first Assistant, and then Deputy, Director of the Conservative Research Department from 1983 to 1997 and Director of the Conservative Political Centre, the Party's educational wing responsible for coordinating political discussion in constituencies, from 1988 to 1997.
Between 1997 and 2004 he was General Secretary of the Independent Schools Council. Since then he has worked as a consultant to the Conservative Research Department and editor of its written work. Alistair Cooke has written quite extensively (though by no means exclusively) about the history of the Conservative Party, and edited a vast amount of material - manifestos, policy documents, pamphlets and seven volumes in the Research Department's series of Campaign Guides - for the Party over the last twenty-five years.
Alistair Cooke launched his most recent book, A Gift from the Churchills: The Primrose League 1883-2004, at the Carlton Club at the end of July 2010. He published Tory Policy-Making: The Conservative Research Department 1929-2009 in November 2009. He is the author of A Party of Change: A Brief History of the Conservatives and Tory Heroine: Dorothy Brant and the Rise of Conservative Women, both of which were published in 2008. They followed a history of the Carlton Club (2007) which led to his appointment as the Club's official historian and archivist. He is historical consultant to the Conservative Party Archive. He is also President of the Northern Ireland Schools Debating Competition.
He has reviewed history books for The Daily Telegraph, for the Northern Ireland magazine Fortnight, and for academic journals. He is an obituarist for a number of national newspapers. His letters, usually on historical subjects, appear frequently in the national press.
Alistair Cooke lives in a large library in Pimlico, London surrounded by royal and political memorabilia.
Other Publications
As Author
* Tory Policy-Making: The Conservative Research Department 1929 - 2009
* (with Sir Charles Petrie) The Carlton Club 1832-2007
* (with John Vincent) The Governing Passion: Cabinet
* Government and Party Politics in Britain 1885-86
* (with others) Making Unionism Positive A Party of Change: A Brief History of the Conservatives
* Ulster: The Origins of the Problem
* Ulster: The Unionist Options
As Editor of Historical Studies
* (with Anthony Malcomson) The Ashbourne Papers 1869-1913
* The Conservative Party: Seven Historical Studies 1680 to the 1990s
* A Conservative Party Leader in Ulster: Sir Stafford Northcote's Diary of a Visit to the Province, October 1883
* The Conservative Research Department 1929-2004
* Ireland and Party Politics, 1885-87: An Unpublished Conservative
Memoir
The Conservative Party's Official Historian
30 Millbank, London, SW1P 4DP
Email: alistair.cooke@conservatives.com / Web: www.conservatives.com/history/
Alistair Cooke
Alistair Cooke, OBE, is a political historian who has spent most of his career in the central organisation of the Conservative Party. A graduate of Peterhouse, Cambridge, he taught and researched modern British and Irish history at Queen's University, Belfast, before becoming political adviser to Airey Neave, Conservative Spokesman on Northern Ireland, from 1977 to 1979.
He was first Assistant, and then Deputy, Director of the Conservative Research Department from 1983 to 1997 and Director of the Conservative Political Centre.
Between 1997 and 2004 he was General Secretary of the Independent Schools Council. Since then he has worked as a consultant to the Conservative Research Department and editor of its written work. Alistair Cooke has written quite extensively (though by no means exclusively) about the history of the Conservative Party, and edited a vast amount of material - manifestos, policy documents, pamphlets and seven volumes in the Research Department's series of Campaign Guides - for the Party over the last twenty-five years.
Alistair Cooke launched his most recent book, A Gift from the Churchills: The Primrose League 1883-2004, at the Carlton Club at the end of July 2010. He published Tory Policy-Making: The Conservative Research Department 1929-2009 in November 2009. He is the author of A Party of Change: A Brief History of the Conservatives and Tory Heroine: Dorothy Brant and the Rise of Conservative Women, both of which were published in 2008. He is historical consultant to the Conservative Party Archive. He is also President of the Northern Ireland Schools Debating Competition.
He has reviewed history books for The Daily Telegraph, for the Northern Ireland magazine Fortnight, and for academic journals. He is an obituarist for a number of national newspapers. His letters, usually on historical subjects, appear frequently in the national press.
Alistair Cooke lives in a large library in Pimlico, London surrounded by royal and political memorabilia.
alistair.cooke@conservatives.com / Web: www.conservatives.com/history/
Alistair Cooke