Anthony Stephen King (17 November 1934 – 12 January 2017) was a Canadian-British professor of government,
psephologist and commentator. He taught at the Department of Government at the
University of Essex for many years.
Early life
King was born in Canada
on 17 November 1934,
the son of Marjorie and Harold King.
He gained a
B.A. in History and Economics at
Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to:
*Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
*Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
**Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950)
**Queen's University of Belfast ...
, Ontario.
In the 1950s, he moved to UK as a
Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
to study
Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the
University of Oxford, after which he gained a
D.Phil.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
with thesis titled "Some aspects of the history of the Liberal Party in Britain, 1906–1914".
Career
He initially taught at
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
, before transferring to Essex, from which he never officially retired.
From 1969, he was Professor of Government at Essex, where he also led a Wednesday brainstorming class of selected bright students from the Department of Government.
King taught the course ''GV100 – Introduction to Politics''. He also taught at
Princeton and the
University of Wisconsin–Madison, in the United States.
He regularly appeared on election results programming and analysed their implications. For each UK General Election from 1983 to 2005, he was BBC television's analyst on their election night programming.
On a monthly basis, he analysed political opinion polls on voting intentions for ''
The Daily Telegraph''.
He also wrote many books on politics and was co-editor of the ''Britain at the Polls'' series of essays and, in 2008, ''The British Constitution''.
King was co-author with
David Butler of two
Nuffield College
Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...
election studies (those for 1964 and 1966) and author of ''Britain Says Yes: the 1975 Referendum on the Common Market'' and ''Running Scared: Why America's Politicians Campaign Too Much and Govern Too Little''.
He was also co-author with
Ivor Crewe of the semi-official ''SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party''
and ''The Blunders of our Governments''.
He edited ''The New American Political System'',
''New Labour Triumphs: Britain at the Polls 1997'',
''Britain at the Polls 2001''
and ''Britain at the Polls 2005''.
King was a member of the
Committee on Standards in Public Life and the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords (the
Wakeham Commission {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
''A House for the Future'', known as the Wakeham Report, published in 2000, was the report of a Royal Commission headed by Lord Wakeham, concerning reform of the House of Lords.
Recommendations of the report
In it ...
). In 2010, he was elected as a Fellow of the
British Academy.
He also served as an associate at the
Institute for Government, a non-partisan charity that aims to improve the effectiveness of central Government in the UK.
During the latter part of his life, his research focused on: the changing British constitution; the
British prime ministership;
American politics
The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that Separation of powers, share powers. These are: the United States Congress, U.S. Congre ...
and government and the history of democracy.
King was also a member of the
Academia Europaea, a foreign honorary member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an honorary life
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Personal life
King married twice.
His first wife Vera Korte, whom he married in 1965, died in 1971.
He married his second wife Jan Reece in 1980.
King died on 12 January 2017 at the age of 82.
Publications
* ''British Members of Parliament: A Self-portrait'' (1974)
* "The View from Europe" with David Sanders in
Charles O. Jones
Charles O. Jones (born 1931) is non-resident Senior Fellow at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He is a graduate of the University of South Dakota and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has been a fellow of t ...
, ed., ''The Reagan Legacy: Promise and Performance'' (1988)
* "Margaret Thatcher as a Political Leader" in
Robert Skidelsky, ed. ''Thatcherism''. (1988)
* ''Britain at the Polls 1992'' (editor)
* ''The New American Political System''. (editor) (1990)
* ''SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party'' with
Ivor Crewe (co-winner of the 1996
W.J.M. Mackenzie
William James Millar Mackenzie CBE FBA (1909–1996), also known as Bill Mackenzie, was professor of government at the University of Manchester and professor of politics at the University of Glasgow. He was appointed Commander of the Order of th ...
Prize awarded by the
Political Studies Association for the best book in the field of political science) (1995)
* ''Running Scared: Why America's Politicians Campaign Too Much and Govern Too Little'' (1997)
* ''New Labour Triumphs: Britain at the Polls'' (editor) (1998)
* ''The British general election of 1966'' with
David Butler. (1999)
* ''Does the United Kingdom Still Have a Constitution?'' (2001)
* ''Leaders' Personalities and the Outcomes of Democratic Elections''. (editor) (2002)
* ''The British Constitution''. (2007)
* ''The Founding Fathers v. the People: Paradoxes of American Democracy''. (2012)
* ''The Blunders of Our Governments'' with
Ivor Crewe. (2014)
* ''Who Governs Britain?'' (2015)
References
Sources
Staff Profile: Anthony King – Department of Government – University of Essex*''Who's Who 2007''
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Anthony
1934 births
2017 deaths
Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford
Canadian Rhodes Scholars
Psephologists
British political scientists
Canadian expatriate academics in the United Kingdom
Canadian political scientists
Academics of the University of Essex
Fellows of the British Academy
Members of Academia Europaea
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford