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Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
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 ...
(MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 Mayhew received a
life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...
and was raised to 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 ...
as Baron Mayhew. He is most known for his central role in founding the Information Research Department (IRD), a secret wing of the
UK Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...
dedicated to Cold War propaganda.


Early life

Christopher Paget Mayhew was the son of Sir Basil Mayhew of Felthorpe Hall, Norwich. Mayhew attended Haileybury and
Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
, as an
exhibitioner An exhibition is a type of scholarship award or bursary. United Kingdom and Ireland At the universities of Dublin, Oxford, Cambridge and Sheffield, at some public schools, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a sma ...
. In 1934 he holidayed in Moscow. While he was at
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, he became President of the
Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...
. He was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1940, rising to the rank of
Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
.


Political career

Mayhew was elected to Parliament for the constituency of
South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton. The population of the Local Authority District was 124,012 as taken at the 2011 Census. History The district was formed on 1 April 19 ...
in the general election of 1945. In 1945, Mayhew became Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office, where he served under
Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–19 ...
. Mayhew lost his seat in 1950, but soon returned to
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
after the death of Bevin, when he won the by-election in 1951 for Bevin's seat of Woolwich East. During Labour's 13 years in opposition, from 1951 to 1964, Mayhew presented the Labour Party on television, both as a commentator on 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. ...
...
and as a presenter on Party Political Broadcasts. He introduced the first Labour broadcast, in 1951, in which he talked with Sir
Hartley Shawcross Hartley William Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, (4 February 1902 – 10 July 2003), known from 1945 to 1959 as Sir Hartley Shawcross, was an English barrister and Labour politician who served as the lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War ...
. Mayhew became known as one of the fiercest opponents of unilateral
nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear ...
in the Labour Party. He also served as Shadow
War Secretary The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...
from 1960 to 1961 and as a spokesman on foreign affairs from 1961 to 1964. When Labour took office in 1964, Mayhew was appointed as
Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy The Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy was a senior ministerial appointment of the British Government established in April 1964. The office holder was the ministerial head of the Navy Department of the Ministry of Defence, and reported to the ...
. However, in 1966, after the Wilson government decided to shift British airpower from carrier-based planes to land-based planes and cancel the
CVA-01 CVA-01 was a proposed United Kingdom aircraft carrier, designed during the 1960s. The ship was intended to be the first of a class that would replace all of the Royal Navy's carriers, most of which had been designed before or during the Second ...
aircraft carrier programme, Mayhew resigned along with the
First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...
, Sir
David Luce Admiral Sir John David Luce, (23 January 1906 – 6 January 1971) was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Second World War as a submarine commander before taking part in the Dieppe Raid and becoming Chief Staff Officer to the Naval Forces for ...
. Mayhew was a consistent advocate of
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
rights. In 1971, with fellow MP
Dennis Walters Sir Dennis Murray Walters (28 November 1928 – 1 October 2021) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Westbury from 1964 to 1992. Early life The son of Douglas L. Walters and Clara Walters ...
and publisher Claud Morris, he launched a bi-monthly journal, ''Middle East International'' (MEI). The journal was funded by a foundation set up in Geneva by former ambassador
Harold Beeley Sir Harold Beeley (15 February 1909 – 27 July 2001) was a British diplomat, historian, and Arabist. After beginning his career as a historian and lecturer, following World War II, Beeley joined the British diplomatic service and served in pos ...
calling itself the ''Aran Non-Arab Foundation '' (ANAF). Beeley was to become vice-chairman of MEI. After a disagreement with Morris, Mathew took over as publisher and remained Chairman of MEI until his death in 1997. MEI continued to be published for a further eight years. Over its thirty-four years MEI had a number of retired British diplomats serving as directors, including James Craig and
Anthony Nutting Sir Harold Anthony Nutting, 3rd Baronet (11 January 1920 – 23 February 1999) was a British diplomat and Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 1945 and 1956. He was a Minister of State for Foreign Affairs fro ...
. It was described by ''
The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' as the “authoritative voice of the pro-Arab lobby”. In 1973, Mayhew offered £5,000 to anyone who could produce evidence that Nasser had stated that he sought to "drive the Jews into the sea". Mayhew repeated the offer later in the House of Commons (Hansard, 18 October 1973) and broadened it to include any genocidal statement by any responsible Arab leader (''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 9 September 1974), while reserving for himself the right to be the arbiter of the authenticity of any purported statements as well as their meaning. Mayhew received several letters from claimants, each one producing one quotation or another from an Arab leader, all of which Mayhew deemed to be fabricated. One claimant, Warren Bergson, took Mayhew to court. The case came before the High Court in February 1976. Bergson was unable to offer evidence of Nasser's alleged statement and acknowledged that, after thorough research, he had been unable to find any statement by a responsible Arab leader that could be described as genocidal. Bergson's lawyer admitted that the full version of one statement Bergson had relied on was not genocidal in intent. Bergson offered an apology to Mayhew.


Move to Liberal Party

Mayhew had been feeling increasingly uneasy with Labour policies under
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
and in 1974 he moved to the Liberals, being the first Member of Parliament to
cross the floor In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...
to the Liberals in several decades. In the general election in October 1974, Mayhew contested Bath instead of Woolwich East in order not to split his former constituency party. He was defeated in Bath, which he also unsuccessfully contested in 1979. On 6 July 1981 Mayhew became a
life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
with the title Baron Mayhew, of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
in
Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...
, and became the Liberals' spokesman on defence in 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 ...
.


Other activities

Mayhew was also active as an advocate for the mentally ill and served as Chairman of MIND (
National Association for Mental Health Mind is a mental health charity in England and Wales. Founded in 1946 as the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH), it celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016. Mind offers information and advice to people with mental health problems an ...
) from 1992 to 1997. He wrote several books, including ''Publish It Not: The Middle East Cover-Up'' (co-written with Michael Adams, 1975) and his autobiography, ''Time To Explain'' (1987).


''Panorama'' experiment

In 1955 Mayhew took part in an experiment that was intended to form a '' Panorama'' special for BBC TV, but was never broadcast. Under the guidance of his friend
Humphry Osmond Humphry Fortescue Osmond (1 July 1917 – 6 February 2004) was an English psychiatrist who expatriated to Canada, then moved to work in the United States. He is known for inventing the word ''psychedelic'' and for his research into interesting a ...
, Mayhew ingested 400 mg of mescaline hydrochloride and allowed himself to be filmed for the duration of the trip. Samples of the audio were used in the psychedelic dance tracks "Mayhew Speaks Out" and "Christopher Mayhew Says" by the band
the Shamen The Shamen ( ) were a Scottish psychedelic band, formed in 1985 in Aberdeen, who became a chart-topping British electronic dance music act by the early 1990s. The founding members were Colin Angus, Derek McKenzie and Keith McKenzie. Peter St ...
. Part of the footage was included in the BBC documentary '' LSD – The Beyond Within'' (1986).


Personal life

In 1949, he married Cicely Ludlam, whom he met when she was one of few women in the diplomatic service, and they had two sons and two daughters.


Publications

* ''Dear Viewer'' (1953) * ''Man Seeking God'' (1955) * ''Commercial Television - What is to be done?'' (1959) * ''Coexistence plus. A positive approach to world peace'' (1962) * ''Britain’s role tomorrow'' (1967) * ''Publish it not. The Middle East cover up'' (1975) * ''The Disillusioned Voter’s Guide to Electoral Reform'' (1976) * ''Time to Explain: An Autobiography'' (1997) * ''A War of Words: A Cold War Witness'' (1998)


References


External links

*
Amazon entry
for ''Publish It Not: The Middle East Cover Up'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayhew, Christopher 1915 births 1997 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Information Research Department Intelligence Corps officers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Party (UK) life peers Members of the Fabian Society Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Presidents of the Oxford Union UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974