Christopher Wighton Moncrieff

CBE 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 ...

(9 September 1931 – 22 November 2019) was a British

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

. He was the political editor of the Press Association from 1980 to 1994.

Early life

Moncrieff was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

in 1931 to Robert Wighton Moncrieff and Winifred Margaret (née Hydon). His father had studied chemistry at Manchester University, and worked in the textile industry, including as superintendent of textile research for

British Celanese British Celanese was a chemical company based in England. Formed in 1916, it survived as an independent company until 1957 when it became a subsidiary of Courtaulds. History The origins of the company lie with two brothers, Henri and Camille ...

.''The Author's and Writer's Who's Who'', ed. Edward Martell, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1971, p. 565. He wrote several books, including ''Man-Made Fibres: Wool Shrinkage and its Prevention'' and ''The Chemistry of Perfumery Materials''.

Education

Moncrieff was educated at the Moravian Girls' School, an independent school in the village of

Ockbrook Ockbrook is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is almost contiguous with the village of Borrowash, the two only separated by the A52. The civil parish is Ockbrook and Borrowash. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 Census was 7,335. ...

, near his home in

Chaddesden Chaddesden, also known locally as Chadd, is a large residential suburb of Derby, United Kingdom. Historically a separate village centred on Chaddesden Hall and the 14th century St Mary's Church, the area was significantly expanded by 20th-centu ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. He said that his parents decided to send him there as they didn't believe the local council school was good enough, and that although there were other boys at the school, he nevertheless found it "very embarrassing" to have attended it. After time at

Nottingham High School , motto_translation = Praise to the end , address = Waverley Mount , city = Nottingham , county = Nottinghamshire , postcode = NG7 4ED , country = England , coordinates = , type = Independent day school , established = , closed = , religious ...

, he finished his education at

Ellesmere College (''Striving for one's country'') , established = 1879 , song = ''Jerusalem'' , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding schoolDay School , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

, Shropshire.

Life and career

Having left school at age 16, Moncrieff trained as a journalist at the ''Harrogate Herald'' and, after

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the Intelligence Corps, worked for six years at the ''

Coventry Evening Telegraph The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet new ...

'' and the ''

Nottingham Evening Post The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The ''Post'' is published Monday to Saturday ...

''. In 1962 he joined the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

political staff of the Press Association, a leading

news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswir ...

, becoming a lobby correspondent in 1973 and then political editor in 1984. Once a legendary drinker of Guinness, Moncrieff was

teetotal Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

from 1983. The Rev Ian Paisley, who used to insist on smelling the breath of journalists he was about to be interviewed by, once famously said to him "Moncrieff, is that the devil's buttermilk I smell on your breath?"Colin Brown
"Chris Moncrieff: So good they put his byline on the bar"
''The Independent'', 29 October 2007. Margaret Thatcher, a great admirer, made him a

in the 1990 New Year Honours. He officially retired in 1994, but continued to write political commentary for the Press Association and regularly appeared on political programmes on radio and television. In November 2010 he was awarded a Diamond Jubilee Award for Political Journalism by the UK

Political Studies Association The Political Studies Association (PSA) is a learned society in the United Kingdom which exists to develop and promote the study of politics. It is the leading association in its field in the United Kingdom, with an international membership includi ...

on the occasion of the PSA's 60th Anniversary. Presenting the award, ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'' journalist Sue Cameron told an anecdote of spying Moncrieff in the lobby at Westminster: "Looking for a story, Chris?" she enquired. "No," came the reply, "I've got the story. I'm just looking for somebody to say it."

Sir Bernard Ingham Sir Bernard Ingham (born 21 June 1932) is a British journalist and former civil servant. He was Margaret Thatcher's chief press secretary throughout her time as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. He was knighted in Thatche ...

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 from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's former press secretary, said of Moncrieff: "He is the nearest approach to the 24-hour journalist I have ever known". Sir

Nicholas Winterton Sir Nicholas Raymond Winterton (born 31 March 1938) is a retired British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Macclesfield from 1971 until he retired from the House of Commons at the 2010 general election. H ...

MP said: "To me, the best journalist in this place is the oldest journalist, Chris Moncrieff. You tell him something; he reports it; he does not dress it up; he actually reports....Chris Moncrieff is the straightest man you could ever come across.""Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons Minutes of Evidence"
Parliamentary business, ''Hansard'', House of Commons, 29 March 2006. The refurbished press gallery bar at the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

was renamed Moncrieff's in his honour. Moncrieff was interviewed by National Life Stories (C467/20) in 2016 for the "Oral History of the British Press" collection held by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

."Moncrieff, Chris (1 of 12). Oral History of the British Press"
National Life Stories Collection, The British Library Board, 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2017. He died in hospital after a short illness on 22 November 2019 at the age of 88.

Family life

He was married to actress Maggie (née Ferguson) from 1961 until her death in 2016. He had four children, Joanna, Sarah, Kate and Angus.

Bibliography

* ''Living On a Deadline'', Virgin Books Ltd, 2001. * ''Wine, Women and Westminster'', JR Books, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moncrieff, Chris 1931 births 2019 deaths British male journalists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Chaddesden