Matthew Parris (born August 7, 1949 in Johannesburg) is a journalist and former Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... , City motto: Unity in Development Province Gauteng Mayor Amos Masondo Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Conservative Party is one of the two largest political parties in the United Kingdom and the most successful party in political history based on election victories. ... The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ...

Parris is the eldest of six children and grew up in several countries where his British father was working as an electrical engineer (South Africa, Cyprus, Rhodesia, Swaziland and Jamaica). His mother was an actress. At the age of 19 in East Africa, he was witness to rape when he and a girl were tied up by a knifeman. He drove across the continent in a Morris Oxford. After obtaining a first class degree in law from Clare College, Cambridge, he studied international relations at Yale University. He was offered a job as a spy, but worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for two years. In 1976 he left this secure career because he did not like its formality, and because he wanted to become a Member of Parliament. He first applied to become an apprentice London Transport bus fitter, but was rejected and joined the Conservative Research Department. He moved on to become correspondence secretary to Margaret Thatcher. He was awarded an RSPCA medal (presented by Margaret Thatcher) for jumping into the Thames and rescuing a dog. National motto: Sit Nomine Digna (Latin: May she be worthy of the name} Official language English Capital Salisbury Political system Parliamentary system Form of government Republic - Last President John Wrathall - Prime Minister Ian Smith Area  - Total  - % water 390 580 km² 1% Population  - 1978 est. ... The Oxford name was used by the Morris Motor Company on a number of models, beginning with the 1913 Bullnose Oxford, and ending with the 1961–1971 Oxford VI. This page covers the post-war Oxford MO through the Oxford VI. // Oxford MO After World War II, the Oxford MO... Full name Clare College Motto - Named after Elizabeth de Clare Previous names University Hall (1326), Clare Hall (1338), Clare College (1856) Established 1326 Sister College Oriel College St Hughs College Master Prof. ... The University of Cambridge (often called Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Yale redirects here. ... The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, seen from St. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... The Conservative Research Department (CRD) is an integral part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ... The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. ... Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames...

He served as the Conservative MP for the rural parliamentary constituency of West Derbyshire from 1979 until 1986. Competing prospective candidates for the seat included Peter Lilley and Michael Howard, later Conservative leader. The start of his career was overshadowed by a letter which he had written to a council tenant on behalf of Margaret Thatcher, which became featured in Labour Party election publications. His career within the Conservative government was hampered by his occasional support for gay rights and a self confessed lack of ruthlessness. He was not promoted from being a back bench MP and left politics to pursue a career in journalism. The Conservative Party is one of the two largest political parties in the United Kingdom and the most successful party in political history based on election victories. ... West Derbyshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Right Honourable Peter Bruce Lilley (born August 23, 1943, Hayes, Kent) is a British MP. He currently represents the constituency of Hitchin and Harpenden and, prior to boundary changes, represented St Albans which was its predecessor seat. ... The Rt. ... De Beauvoir Estate, De Beauvoir Town, East London The council house is a form of public housing found in the United Kingdom. ... The Labour Party has, since the early twentieth century, been the principal left wing political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also... A backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislature who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition. ... Journalism is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ...

Parris is also a radio and television presenter and pundit. As an MP he took part in a documentary requiring him to live for a week on the social security payments awarded by the Conservative government for which he was an MP. The experiment came to an embarrassing end when he ran out of money for the electricity meter. He left Parliament specifically to take over as host of ITV's Weekend World. This ran for two years. Parris was criticised for being too nice, and being unable to ask 'killer' questions. He has also appeared on Have I Got News For You. A television presenter is a British term for a person who introduces or hosts television programmes. ... For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... ITVs Logo 2006—present Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales, the channel has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of the broadcasting licences for... Have I Got News for You (sometimes abbreviated to HIGNFY) is a long-running UK television topical panel game. ...

His success has been as a parliamentary reporter, due to his knowledge and understanding of politicians and ability to express this well. He worked as parliamentary sketch writer for The Times newspaper from 1988 to 2001. His writing has largely concerned current events rather than a historical account of his own time in politics. He has weekly columns in The Times and The Spectator magazine. The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... The Spectator is a conservative British political magazine, established 1828, published weekly. ...

In 2004 Parris became Writer of the Year in Granada Television's What the Papers Say Awards. In part, the reward was for reporting on elections in Iraq and Afghanistan. His previous accolades include Columnist of the Year in the 1991 and 1993 British Press Awards, and in the What the Papers Say Awards 1992. In 1990 he received the London Press Club's Edgar Wallace Outstanding Reporter of the Year Award. Current ITV Granada logo A Granada TV logo from the black and white era. ... What The Papers Say, is one of the longest running programmes on British television. ... [[2005 News of the World 2004 The Independent 2003 Daily Mail 2002 The Mirror 2001 Daily Mail 2000 The Sunday Telegraph 1999 The Guardian 1998 Daily Mail 1997 The Daily Telegraph 1996 Daily Mail 1995 Daily Mail 1994 The Daily Telegraph]] ... Edgar Wallace pictured on a 1929 cover of Time Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (April 1, 1875–February 10, 1932) was a prolific British crime writer, journalist and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and countless articles in newspapers and journals. ...

He has written books on politics and travel. He has made several expeditions abroad, including to Mount Kilimanjaro in 1967 and 1989, Zaire 1973, the Sahara in 1978 and to Peru and Bolivia. In 1990 he published Inca-Kola, about his travels in Peru. In 1991, a compilation of his pieces in The Times appeared, entitled So Far, So Good. Since then there have been further compilations. Scorn, a book he has edited of quotations about curses, jibes and general invective, was published in October 1994. Kilimanjaro is a mountain in northeastern Tanzania. ...

He spent the Antarctic winter of 2000 on the French possession of Grande Terre (or "Desolation Island", part of the Kerguelen Archipelago in the Indian Ocean) with a few dozen over-winterers. One of them was fatally shot in a tragic accident, an event he writes movingly about. Greek ἀνταρκτικός, opposite the arctic) is a continent surrounding the Earths South Pole. ... The Kerguelen Archipelago is in the southern Indian Ocean at 49°20 S, 70°20 E. The main island Kerguelen, originally called Desolation Island, is 6,675 km2 and it is surrounded by another 300 smaller outcrops, forming an archipelago of 7,215 km². The climate is cold, very windy... The Kerguelen Archipelago is in the southern Indian Ocean at 49°20 S, 70°20 E. The main island Kerguelen, originally called Desolation Island, is 6,675 km2 and it is surrounded by another 300 smaller outcrops, forming an archipelago of 7,215 km². The climate is cold, very windy...

Parris announced he was gay in one of his weekly newspaper columns. He has stated that he was once beaten up on Clapham Common, which he had habitually visited late at night when an MP. This left him with a quiet determination to fight for gay rights. In a live interview on Newsnight during the Ron Davies scandal of 1998, he famously told interviewer Jeremy Paxman that there were two gay members of the then current Labour Cabinet, one being Peter Mandelson. He has stated that there are between thirty and sixty unannounced gay members of the UK parliament. In modern society, gay is a word which can be used as either a noun or adjective. ... Clapham Common Clapham Common is a triangular area of grassland of about 200 acres (0. ... The Right Honourable Ron Davies (born August 6, 1946) is a Welsh politician, former Member of Parliament and former member of the Welsh Assembly. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Jeremy Paxman hosting BBC Newsnight Jeremy Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is a BBC journalist, news presenter and author. ... The Rt Hon. ...

Parris has also been a keen marathon runner, taking part in the London event several times, with a fastest time of 2:32:57. Modern day marathon runners The marathon is a long-distance road running event of 42. ... Crowds turn out on the Victoria Embankment to watch the London Marathon 2005 Fun runners surge out of the Blackfriars Bridge underpass onto the Victoria Embankment; four hours down and two miles to go The London Marathon is a marathon race that has been held each year in London since...

Bibliography

• Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics (Viking, 2002) ISBN 0670894400
• The King's English (Oxford Language Classics Series) Henry Fowler, Frank Fowler, Matthew Parris (introduction) (Oxford University Press, 2002) ISBN 0198605072
• Off Message: New Labour, New Sketches (Robson Books, 2001) ISBN 1861054793
• I Wish I Hadn't Said That: The Experts Speak - and Get It Wrong! Matthew Parris (foreword), Christopher Cerf, Victor Navasky (HarperCollins, 2000) ISBN 0006531490
• Against the Law: The Classic Account of a Homosexual in 1950s Britain Peter Wildeblood, Matthew Parris (introduction) (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999) ISBN 0297643827
• The Great Unfrocked: Two Thousand Years of Church Scandal (Robson, 1998) ISBN 1861051298
• Scorn with Extra Bile Matthew Parris (editor) (Penguin Books, 1998) ISBN 0140277803
• I Couldn't Possibly Comment: More Sketches from the Commons (Robson Books, 1997) ISBN 186105095X
• Read My Lips: A Treasury of Things Politicians Wish They Hadn't Said (Parkwest Publications, 1997) ISBN 1861050437
• Great Parliamentary Scandals: Four Centuries of Calumny, Smear and Innuendo (Robson Books, 1995) ISBN 0860519570
• Scorn with Added Vitriol (Hamish Hamilton, 1995) ISBN 0241135877
• Scorn: A Bucketful of Discourtesy, Disparagement, Invective, Ridicule, Impudence, Contumely, Derision, Hate, Affront, Disdain, Bile, Taunts, Curses and Jibes (Hamish Hamilton, 1994) ISBN 024113384X
• Look Behind You!: Sketches and Follies from the Commons (Robson, 1993) ISBN 0860518744
• So Far So Good...: Selected Pieces (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1991) ISBN 0297812157
• Inca Kola: A Traveller's Tale of Peru (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1990) ISBN 0297810758
• Coping with the Soviet Union Peter Blaker, Julian Critchley, Matthew Parris (Conservative Political Centre Bookshop, 1977) ISBN 0850705991

Christopher Cerf (born August 19, 1941) is an author, composer-lyricist, and record and television producer. ... Victor Navasky (born July 5, 1932, New York) was editor of The Nation 1978-95, and its publisher and editorial director since January 1995. ...

External links

• Times Online - Matthew Parris column archives
• Times Online - Matthew Parris: the Kerguelen columns articles from his trip to the Kerguelen Islands
• audio interview
• Matthew Parris from the Open Directory Project