Charles Hilary Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham (born 31 October 1956) is an English journalist and a former editor of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'' and ''
The Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings.
It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
''; he still writes for all three. He is known for his authorised biography
[Charles Moor]
"Radical, egotistical, romantic, innocent – the real Margaret Thatcher"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 19 April 2013 of
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 ...
, published in three volumes (2013, 2016 and 2019). Under the government of
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
, in July 2020 Moore was given a peerage and made a member of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
.
Early life
Moore was born in
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
. He is from a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
family. His mother Ann (nee Miles) was a county councillor for the Liberal Party in Sussex and his father
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
was a leader writer on the ''
News Chronicle
The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...
'', who unsuccessfully stood for the party at several general elections.
While at
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
in 1974 Moore wrote about his membership of the Liberals in the ''Eton Chronicle'' and also about his taste for
real ale
Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...
.
During this period he was already a friend of
Oliver Letwin
Sir Oliver Letwin (born 19 May 1956) is a British politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dorset from 1997 to 2019. Letwin was elected as a member of the Conservative Party, but sat as an independent after having the whip removed in S ...
. Moore remained a Liberal into his early twenties.
Moore went to
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, at the same time as Letwin. At Eton he had also known
Nicholas Coleridge
Sir Nicholas David Coleridge (born 4 March 1957) is a British former media executive, author, and cultural chair. He is chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum, chairman of the Prince of Wales' Campaign for Wool, chairman of the Gilbert Trus ...
, who was also at Trinity.
[Mark Brow]
"Lady Thatcher's authorised biography sparks excitement and scepticism"
''The Guardian'', 19 April 2013 He read English (2.1) and History (2.1) and graduated BA in 1979. By now an advocate of architectural conservation, he became an admirer of the work in this field of
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
Sir
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
.
[Keith Mille]
"Charles Moore: profile"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 15 June 2011
Early career
In 1979 he joined ''The Daily Telegraph'' as a political correspondent,
and, after a short period on the 'Peterborough' gossip column, was writing leaders within two years, by the age of 24.
In 1982 Moore wrote a pamphlet for the
Salisbury Group, titled ''The Old People of Lambeth'' (1982). In the aftermath of the
1981 Brixton riot
The 1981 Brixton riot, or Brixton uprising, was a series of clashes between mainly black youths and the Metropolitan Police in Brixton, London, between 10 and 12 April 1981.J. A. Cloake & M. R. Tudor. ''Multicultural Britain''. Oxford Unive ...
, (which Moore blamed on "poorly planned mass immigration"), Moore interviewed elderly white residents of
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...
on their experience of crime, the police, immigration and politics.
[Vron Ware, ''Beyond the Pale: White Women, Racism, and History'' (Verso, 2015), p. 5] Moore wrote: "The native population of Lambeth feels little natural sympathy with the West Indian arrivals. Without having any arrogant or dogmatic theory of racial superiority, the old people of Lambeth can see with their own eyes that they are surrounded by people more primitive than they, who lack their respect for law and privacy".
In the final paragraph, Moore wrote of the old people's loyalty to the Royal Family, their memories of the two world wars, their work ethic and their readiness to obey the law: "As one old man said simply, 'It's our country and our Queen. Why should we be afraid to go out?'"
In 1992 in an article questioning the success of the welfare policies intended to combat historical social problems, Moore supportively claimed there was a perception in America that some groups might be more able than others, which he then went on to support: "The Korean sets up the grocery store which the black then robs, that is the caricature that America recognises", and that there was a prejudice often voiced in conversation but hardly ever put into print "that there really is something different about blacks, or at least about young black men" and "If it is true, as it surely is that some races – the Jews are the obvious example – are highly enterprising and talented, it may also be true that some are the opposite."
In September 2003 Moore launched a new column, Beebwatch, that he claimed will "delve into the unconscious bias" of the corporation. "The BBC's mental assumptions are those of the fairly soft left, that American power is a bad thing, whereas the UN is good, that the Palestinians are in the right and Israel isn't, that the war in Iraq was wrong, that the European Union is a good thing and that people who criticise it are xenophobic," Moore said.
As editor
''The Spectator''
Two years after joining ''The Spectator'' as a political columnist, Moore became the magazine's editor in 1984, remaining there until 1990.
Moore employed a young journalist
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
at ''The Spectator,'' who went onto succeed Moore as Editor of the Spectator and then became
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...
,
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
and
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
Moore co-edited ''A Tory Seer: The Selected Journalism of
T. E. Utley
Thomas Edwin Utley (1 February 1921 – 21 June 1988), known as Peter Utley, was a British High Tory journalist and writer.
Early life
He was adopted by Miss Ann Utley and christened Thomas Edwin, although he was always known as Peter."T. E. ...
'', which was published in 1989.
Editor of the ''Sunday Telegraph''
Following ''The Spectator'', he edited ''The Sunday Telegraph'' from 1992 to 1995. Near the start of this period, around the time of the publication of the
Andrew Morton book ''Diana: Her True Story'', he appeared on ''
Newsnight
''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
'' to discuss the marital difficulties of the Prince and Princess of Wales. To the astonishment of the presenter,
Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and television presenter. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ne ...
, Moore said that because he wished to protect the monarchy: "I believe in the importance of concealment in these matters and, if you like, hypocrisy."
Editor of the ''Daily Telegraph''
Moore became editor of ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 1995. In 2001, his signed editorial "A Free Country"
[Charles Moor]
"A free country"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 16 July 2001 gained some notice elsewhere in the media.
[Euan Ferguso]
"Charles Moore, the reluctant revolutionary"
''The Observer'', 8 July 2001 In this article, he argued in favour of hunting, pornography, the right to employ whom we choose, the right to trial by jury and advocated the legalisation of cannabis.
He blamed a decline in "freedom" on the controls imposed during the Second World War and on Margaret Thatcher: "If you've been in office for a long time you always start to believe in having more power, and she undoubtedly got that disease."
False allegations against George Galloway
Owing to falling circulation, there had been speculation by 2003
about Moore's future prior to his resignation in the autumn of that year.
[Janine Gibso]
"Toodle-pip"
''The Guardian'', 2 October 2003 Moore had been editor when stories about
George Galloway
George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...
,
which led to a successful libel action from the politician, were published. The newspaper had falsely written that Galloway received payments from
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
's regime.
Later career
Since leaving the editorship of the ''Daily Telegraph'' in 2003, to spend more time writing Thatcher's authorised
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
,
Moore has penned regular columns at ''The Spectator'' and at the ''Daily Telegraph''.
Chairman of Policy Exchange (?-2011)
Moore was for a number of years chairman of
Policy Exchange
Policy Exchange is a British conservatism in the United Kingdom, conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". ''The Washing ...
, a London-based think-tank, before he stepped down in June 2011. In December 2007 he entered the debate over ''The Hijacking of British Islam'', a Policy Exchange report which the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
had found to rely on evidence that was clearly fabricated, On 17 December 2007, ''
in connection with its coverage of the report originally defended by Moore.
Policy Exchange did not bring its threatened legal action against the BBC but in September 2008, the
issued a writ in the High Court over the report's allegations. In March 2009, the report appeared to have been removed from the Policy Exchange website, and a correction notice was published. The case came to the High Court in December 2009 but was struck out by the Judge on the basis that the Mosque could not sue for defamation as it was not a corporate entity or legal person.
. He took his seat in the
. He made his maiden speech on 23rd February 2022.
'' programme three days later, Moore criticised the BBC for giving too much publicity to the Thatcher critics who were celebrating her death.
accused Moore of suffering from "a persecution complex". On 17 April, the day of Thatcher's funeral, Moore said that parts of the country showing enmity were considered "relatively less important".
Moore left his post as editor of ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 2003 to spend more time writing Thatcher's authorised
.
Always intended to be published after her death, the first volume, titled ''Not For Turning'', was published in 2013 shortly after her funeral.
(The US edition of this initial volume was retitled ''Margaret Thatcher, The Authorized Biography: From Grantham to the Falklands.'') Moore does not know exactly why he was chosen to write the biography, but believes it was probably because of his age, and because he was familiar with all the main characters of Thatcher's time in government, without being especially strongly linked to any one of them. He was selected by Thatcher, without his prior knowledge, out of a list of names which were presented to her.
The first volume of Moore's three-volume work received the £5,000
in 2014.
. The couple have two children.
Moore
as priests in 1992. His wife, a former English don at
, chose not to make such a move and remains an Anglican.
Moore is the founder-chairman of The Rectory Society which is dedicated to preserving past and present
.
.
Moore is a monarchist and says the monarchy "reaches parts politics cannot reach". He supported
...