Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Ian Douglas Harvey RA (25 January 1914 – 10 January 1987) was a British businessman and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, who served as a

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 ...

and junior minister until his resignation in 1958. His promising political career ended in disgrace when he was caught having sex with a guardsman in St James's Park.

Early life

Harvey was born on 25 January 1914, the son of the Major Douglas Harvey and Dorothy Cundall, who were married in 1912. Dorothy was a noted badminton player, winning three doubles titles at the

All England Open Badminton Championships The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premie ...

. She remarried to Bert Bisgood in 1922 following the death of Major Douglas Harvey, who was killed in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

in 1917.

Early career

Ian Douglas Harvey was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

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 ...

, where he was President of the

Oxford University Conservative Association The Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) is a student Conservative association founded in 1924, whose members are drawn from the University of Oxford. Since October 2009, OUCA has been affiliated to Conservative Future and its su ...

in 1935, and the Oxford Carlton Club and the

Oxford Union Society 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 ...

in 1936. He graduated with a BA in 1937. During the

Second World War 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 served in the anti-aircraft arm of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, becoming the Adjutant of 123 Light Antiaircraft Regiment Royal Artillery in 1940 and the Brigade Major of 33 AA Brigade RA in 1943, before serving on the staff of HQ AA Command in 1944. After studying at the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which i ...

, he became brigade major of 100 AA Brigade in North-West Europe in 1945. After the War he served as lieutenant colonel commanding 566 LAA Regiment RA (City of London Rifles) from 1947 to 1950. He worked in public relations, was a member of the Advertising Association and the Institute of Public Relations, and published ''Talk of Propaganda'' (1947) and ''The Technique of Persuasion'' (1951). From 1949 to 1956 he was a director of W. S. Crawford, an advertising firm.HARVEY, Ian Douglas (b. 25 January 1914 – d. 10 January 1987). (2005). In ''Who Was Who 1897-2005''. In 1949, he married Clare Mayhew, daughter of Sir Basil Edward Mayhew, KBE. The couple went on to have two daughters.

Political career

Harvey first stood as a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Parliamentary candidate for the seat of

Spelthorne Spelthorne may refer to: * Borough of Spelthorne, a local government district in the county of Surrey, England * Spelthorne (UK Parliament constituency), Surrey constituency in the British House of Commons * Spelthorne College, was a single-cam ...

in Middlesex at the 1945 general election, but was defeated. From 1947 to 1952 he held a seat on Kensington Borough Council, and from 1949 to 1952 also represented Kensington South on the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

. He was a governor of

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public university, public research university, located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal Universit ...

. In the 1950 general election he stood for

Harrow East Harrow East is a constituency in Greater London created in 1945 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Bob Blackman, a Conservative. Constituency profile The censuses of 2001 and 2011 show the overwhelming ...

, winning the seat and holding it in the

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and 1955 general elections. From 1955 to 1957 he was secretary of the

1922 Committee The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The committee, consisting of all Conservative backbench member ...

. He was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Supply The Minister of Supply was the minister in the British Government responsible for the Ministry of Supply, which existed to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to the national armed forces. The position was campaigned for by many sceptics of the for ...

in 1956, becoming a

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of Minister (government), government minist ...

at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1958. He was a member of a House Select Committee that recommended "draconian punishments for practising homosexuals in the armed forces".

Resignation

In November 1958, Harvey and a 19-year-old guardsman, Anthony Walter Plant of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

, were found in the bushes in

St James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous c ...

and arrested; Harvey tried to escape, and attempted to give a false name on arrest. Both were charged with

gross indecency Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...

and breach of the park regulations; when tried on 10 December, the indecency charge was dropped and both were fined £5. Harvey paid Plant's fine as well as his own. Harvey subsequently resigned his ministerial post and his seat, forcing a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

early in 1959, in which he was succeeded by Conservative Anthony Courtney.

Later career

He returned to his earlier public relations work, acting as a director of Colman, Prentis and Varley from 1962 to 1963, and as Advertising Controller of

Yardley of London Yardley of London (usually referred to simply as Yardley or Yardleys) is a British personal care brand and one of the oldest firms in the world to specialise in cosmetics, fragrances and related toiletries, toiletry products. Established in 1770, ...

from 1963 to 1964, when he became that company's Advertising Director, a position he held until 1966. In 1971 he published his memoir ''To Fall Like Lucifer''. From 1972 onwards he was the Vice-President of the

Campaign for Homosexual Equality The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom with a stated aim from 1969 to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales. Active throughout the 1970s ...

, and from 1980 onwards Chairman of the Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality. He was the Chairman of Paddington Conservative Association from 1980 to 1983, and Westminster North Conservative Association in 1983. He contested the latter seat for the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corpor ...

in 1986, and chaired one of the ILEA's boards on tertiary education from 1985 until his death. A friend later recalled his last years: "I remember him, a sad old man living alone and forgotten in a small flat."

Publications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Ian 1914 births 1987 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Fettes College Gay politicians English LGBT politicians British LGBT rights activists LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom People associated with Birkbeck, University of London Royal Artillery officers UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 Members of London County Council Members of Kensington Metropolitan Borough Council Presidents of the Oxford Union Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 LGBT military personnel 20th-century LGBT people