Jeremy Thorpe: A Dazzlingly Talented Man: A Dazzingly Talented Man - Hardcover

Dalling, Philip

9780857043368: Jeremy Thorpe: A Dazzlingly Talented Man: A Dazzingly Talented Man

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0857043366 ISBN 13: 9780857043368

Publisher: Halsgrove, 2018

This is a unique grass-roots portrait of one of the most charismatic politicians of the twentieth century. Television dramatisation of the events which led to the downfall of the flamboyant Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe has restored his name to the media headlines from which it was rarely absent in his political prime. Despite being acquitted on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder during a sensational trial at the Old Bailey in 1979, Thorpe was subsequently excluded from all political and public life - a fate described by one political commentator as "infamous and unfair." The consequences of an alleged homosexual affair (at a time when such acts were illegal) have coloured and distorted perceptions of a man described as a stylish, progressive and popular politician, with a deep lifetime commitment to classic liberal principles. His leadership of the Liberals laid the foundation for the revival of a party which was on the verge of extinction when he first entered political life. Philip Dalling explores the life of a man respected and admired by friend and opponent alike, whose name is still revered in the West Country constituency of North Devon (which he placed firmly on the political map), and whose name still resonates in national politics to this day. Philip Dalling's career in journalism and communications has included spells in regional newspapers, in the steel industry, as a Government Information Officer and, for 22 years, as Director of Public Affairs at The University of Nottingham. Born in Derby and a keen follower of Derbyshire cricket and football, he has in recent years worked as a freelance writer based in North Devon, where his family roots can be traced back to the seventeenth century. He lives in Chittlehampton, the parish where Jeremy Thorpe established his constituency home.

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