Sir Charles Graham Irving (6 May 1924 – 30 March 1995) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

Early life

Irving was born into a hotel-owning family in Cheltenham, its flagship being the Irving Hotel on the High Street, of which he became chairman in 1949. He was educated at Glengarth School, in Cheltenham, and

Lucton Lucton is a village near the town of Leominster in the county of Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to ...

, near

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, at both of which "he evinced no academic bent". When he left school during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he tried to join the Army but was turned down on the grounds of being "insufficiently robust". He served in the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

, but was "a good deal less than successful in those ranks, the highlight of his career being the accidental stabbing of a colleague in the hindquarters with a bayonet".

Political career

His political career began in 1947 when he was elected to Cheltenham Borough Council. The following year he was elected to Gloucestershire County Council. He was

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Cheltenham 1958–1960 and again 1971–1972. Having unsuccessfully contested

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and Kingswood in

February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) * A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The blaze began on ...

, he became an MP in October 1974 at his third attempt and represented Cheltenham until his retirement in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. During this time he was chairman of the Select Committee on Catering from 1979 until 1992 and a member of the All Party Mental Health Committee 1979–1992. Irving was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1990. Irving was not afraid to stand up to the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of the day,

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

, particularly over the decision to de-unionise

Government Communications Headquarters Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Un ...

(GCHQ) a body located within his Cheltenham constituency, but he was also a great admirer of Thatcher: from the day she was elected leader of the Conservative Party until she resigned as Prime Minister fifteen years later, Irving paid to have fresh flowers delivered to her.

Personal life

According to Michael McManus's book, ''Tory Pride and Prejudice: the Conservative Party and Homosexual Law Reform'', Irving was gay and he is reported to have offered a steady stream of advice to the Conservative Campaign for Homosexual Equality.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'' 1987 and 1992 editions, www.angeltowns.com

External links

* 1924 births 1995 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Gay politicians Knights Bachelor English LGBT politicians UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 People educated at Lucton School LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Politics of Cheltenham 20th-century English LGBT people British Home Guard soldiers Military personnel from Cheltenham {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1920s-stub