Alistair Basil Cooke, Baron Lexden, (born 20 April 1945) is a British historian, author and politician who sits as a Conservative

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 ...

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 ...

. Lord Lexden has been official historian of the Conservative Party since 2009; Consultant and Editor in Chief,

Conservative Research Department The Conservative Research Department (CRD) is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters in Westminster. The CRD has been describ ...

since 2004 and official historian and archivist of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only. History The ...

since 2007.

Early life and academic career

Cooke was born on 20 April 1945, second son of Dr Basil Cooke and Nancy Irene Cooke (née Neal). He was educated at the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Framlingham College, Suffolk. He went on to study at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, from which he graduated

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA Cantab) in 1970. He was a lecturer and tutor in modern history at The Queen's University of Belfast from 1971 to 1977 and was awarded a PhD from that institution in 1979.

Conservative Party

Cooke worked as a desk officer within the

from 1977 to 1983. During this period he served as political adviser to

Airey Neave Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, (;) (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979. During World War II he was the first British prisoner-of-war ...

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), British Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and their department, th ...

, 1977–79. He joined the

Conservative Political Centre 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 in ...

in 1983 as Assistant Director, becoming Deputy Director two years later and Director between 1988 and 1997. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

1988 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1988 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

. He was a founder, in 1997, and member since 2005 of the

Conservative Party Archive Trust The Conservative Party Archive (CPA) is the official place of deposit for the historic records of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. Based at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England, it was established as a centre for people. Overv ...

. He was Chairman of Trustees of the pressure group

Friends of the Union ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

between 1995 and 2003 and has been Senior Trustee of the T. E. Utley Memorial Fund since 2000.

House of Lords

Cooke was made a

as Baron Lexden, of Lexden in the County of Essex and of

Strangford Strangford (from Old Norse ''Strangr fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough, on the Lecale peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 at the 2001 Census. On the ...

in the County of

Down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...

, on 23 December 2010 on the recommendation of Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. He sits in the

as a Conservative. Lord Lexden's website highlights his work in the Lords, including speeches, videos, letters and articles for numerous publications, including ''

ConservativeHome ConservativeHome is a British right-wing blog which supports, but is independent of, the Conservative Party. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about bot ...

'' and '' The House'' magazine. Lexden is a frequent contributor to many national newspapers, offering a historical context to modern political life.

Other activities

With the Conservative return to opposition in 1997, Cooke worked as General Secretary of the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busin ...

from 1997 to 2004 and later became President of the Independent Schools Association. He has also been a Governor of

The John Lyon School ("May the fortune of the house stand") , established = 1876 , closed = , type = Public School Independent Day School , religion = , president = , head_l ...

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

from 1999 to 2005 and Patron of the

Northern Ireland Schools Debating Competition The Northern Ireland Schools Debating Competition is an annual competition involving schools from across Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1993 by Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle CBE during her time as Chairman of the Belfast Civic Trust. The final of the ...

since 2001. He is a frequent contributor ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' Letters and Obituary pages. Lexden is an occasional television guest presenter. In 2019, he presented a BBC TV programme called Prime Properties about former Prime Minister

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

Publications

*''Lord Carlingford's Journal'' (1971) (joint editor) * ''The Governing Passion; Cabinet Government and Party Politics in Britain 1885–86'' (1974) (joint author) *''The Ashbourne Papers 1869–1913'' (1974) (editor) *''The Conservative Party's Campaign Guides'' (7 vols, 1987–2005) (editor) *''The Conservative Party: Seven Historical Studies'', (1997) (editor) * ''The Conservative Research Department 1929–2004'' (2004) (editor) * ''The Carlton Club 1832–2007'' (2007) (joint author) * ''Tory Heroine: Dorothy Brant and the Rise of Conservative Women'' (2008) * ''A Party of Change: a Brief History of the Conservatives'' (2008) * ''Between the Thin Blue Lines'' (2008)(contributor) * ''Tory Policy-Making: the Conservative Research Department 1929–2009'' (2009) (joint author) * ''A Gift from the Churchills: The Primrose League 1883–2004'' (2010) As well as pamphlets on Northern Ireland and constitutional issues and articles in historical journals and educational publications.

References

*Who's Who 2011

External links

Alistair Lexden's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lexden, Alistair Cooke, Baron Living people 1945 births Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge People educated at Framlingham College Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Conservative Party (UK) officials Conservative Party (UK) life peers History of the Conservative Party (UK) Officers of the Order of the British Empire Life peers created by Elizabeth II