Stephen David Wyatt Milligan (12 May 1948 – 7 February 1994) 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 in ...
politician and journalist. He held a number of senior journalistic posts until his election to serve as
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 o ...
(MP) for
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, ...
in 1992. Milligan was
Parliamentary Private Secretary to
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...
,
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...
for
Defence
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense indus ...
, and was regarded as a "rising star" of the Conservative Party. He remained in office until he died at his home in
Hammersmith, London, apparently self-strangled during an act of
autoerotic asphyxiation
Erotic asphyxiation (variously called asphyxiophilia, hypoxyphilia or breath control play) is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal. The term autoerotic asphyxiation is used when the act is done ...
.
Early life
Milligan was born in
Godalming, Surrey, on 12 May 1948, the son of David Milligan, a company secretary at
House of Fraser, and Ruth Seymour, a ballet teacher.
He was educated at
Bradfield College
Bradfield College, formally St Andrew's College, Bradfield, is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils aged 11–18, located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire. It is note ...
, and
Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied
Philosophy, Politics and Economics. At Oxford, he became president of both 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 ...
and 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 ...
.
He was a contemporary of journalist
Libby Purves
Elizabeth Mary Purves, (born 2 February 1950) is a British radio presenter, journalist and author.
Early life and career
Born in London, a diplomat's daughter, Purves was raised in her mother's Catholic faith and educated at convent school ...
, whom he once partnered to a College Ball.
Career
Journalism
Milligan joined ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'' in 1970, and was industrial editor and chief
EEC correspondent from 1972 to 1980. In 1976, he published a book, ''The New Barons'', on British trade unions in the 1970s. Still working for ''The Economist'', he took a position as presenter of ''
The World Tonight
''The World Tonight'' is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10 pm news. It is produced by BBC News and features news, analysis and comment on domes ...
'' on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
from 1980 until 1983. He later became foreign editor and Washington correspondent at ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' from 1984 until 1987, before rejoining the BBC in 1988 as a European correspondent.
''Sunday Times'' editor
Andrew Neil
Andrew Ferguson Neil (born 21 May 1949) is a Scottish former journalist and broadcaster who is chairman of ''The Spectator'' and presenter of '' The Andrew Neil Show'' on Channel 4. He was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1983 to 1994. He f ...
described Milligan: "He possessed an enquiring, original intelligence, a wide knowledge of foreign and domestic affairs and he was great fun to work with, his infectious laugh filling our editorial meetings, where he played a major role in defining the paper's policy positions".
Politics
Milligan left the
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 ...
upon the formation of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
in 1981. However, he rejoined the Conservatives and in 1990 was selected as the
prospective parliamentary candidate for
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, ...
. He became secretary of the Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council in 1991 and was a member of the moderate
Bow Group
The Bow Group is a UK-based think tank promoting conservative opinion. Founded in 1951, it is the oldest group of its kind, counting many senior Conservative Party MPs and peers among its members. It represents a forum for political debate with i ...
. At the
1992 general election, Milligan was elected as
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 o ...
for Eastleigh with a majority of 17,702. Seen as a 'rising star' in the party and noted for his Commons interventions on
foreign policy, he was appointed
Parliamentary Private Secretary to
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...
,
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...
for
Defence
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense indus ...
. His last contribution in Parliament was in a debate on the Energy Conservation Bill on 4 February 1994.
Death
Milligan was found dead in his house at 64 Black Lion Lane, Hammersmith, London, by his secretary Vera Taggart on 7 February 1994. Milligan had failed to appear in the House of Commons as expected, and so Taggart went to look for him.
Milligan's corpse was found naked except for a pair of
stockings and
suspenders, with an electrical flex tied around his neck, his head covered and an orange in his mouth.
The coroner concluded that he had died in the early hours of 7 February.
The pathology report into Milligan's death discounted the possibility of murder, lending weight to the belief that he died as a result of suicide or, more likely, died accidentally from
autoerotic asphyxiation
Erotic asphyxiation (variously called asphyxiophilia, hypoxyphilia or breath control play) is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal. The term autoerotic asphyxiation is used when the act is done ...
. No drugs or alcohol were found in his blood, and no substances were found to have contributed to his death.
It was ruled a
death by misadventure
In the United Kingdom, death by misadventure is the recorded manner of death for an accidental death, caused by a risk taken voluntarily.
Misadventure in English law, as recorded by coroners and on death certificates and associated documents, ...
.
Aftermath
Milligan's death was one of the scandals which contributed to the collapse of
John Major's "
Back to Basics" policy initiative, which was seen as emphasizing
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
values.
In an interview after Milligan's death, likely under the presumption it was a suicide, Major said that Milligan "must have been pretty unhappy, pretty miserable".
This characterisation was criticised by Milligan's cousin, Judge Tim Milligan, who wrote that "with respect to the Prime Minister, Stephen was neither miserable or unhappy. On the contrary, he was thoroughly fulfilled and happy in his work in Westminster and his Eastleigh constituency, which gave him the chance to be of service to others as he always wished."
Milligan left an estate worth , leaving to
Oxfam and to
St Peter's Church, Hammersmith. His death triggered a
by-election for his Eastleigh seat, which was held on 9 June. The by-election was won by the
Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
candidate
David Chidgey, who would hold the seat until the 2005 general election.
The Conservative candidate, Stephen Allison, came third in the by-election.
Following Milligan's death,
Hat Trick Productions
Hat Trick Productions is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London.
History
Hat Trick Productions was founded in 1986 by Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville ...
, the producers of the BBC's satirical television programme ''
Have I Got News For You'', sent black bin bags, oranges and black stockings to journalists to publicise a new series of the show. The BBC subsequently apologised to Milligan's parents for the incident.
References
External links
Independent news report from newsmedianews.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milligan, Stephen
1948 births
1994 deaths
20th-century British journalists
20th-century English male writers
20th-century English non-fiction writers
Accidental deaths in London
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
BBC radio presenters
British male journalists
British radio people
Burials in Sussex
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Deaths by strangulation
The Economist people
English political writers
People educated at Bradfield College
People educated at Newland House School
People from Godalming
Presidents of the Oxford Union
Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association
Social Democratic Party (UK) people
The Sunday Times people
UK MPs 1992–1997
Political controversies in the United Kingdom
Political sex scandals in the United Kingdom
Deaths by autoerotic asphyxiation