November 2003
The Rt Hon. Michael Howard, QC MP, was named today as the winner of the Zurich/Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Award. This and six other awards were presented by the Rt. Hon. Dr John Reid MP, Secretary of State for Health, the guest of honour at the awards presentation luncheon held at Claridge’s Hotel, London.
Grandees from the media, parliament and business world were welcomed by awards’ sponsor Sandy Leitch, chief executive officer of financial services giant Zurich UK. In delivering the judges choices and reasons for them, Boris Johnson, editor of the Spectator said of the award recipients:
Parliamentarian of the Year: The Rt Hon. Michael Howard QC MP
"The judges wish it to be clearly understood that this award was decided before there was the faintest whiff of a coup in the upper reaches of the Tory party. There cannot be the slightest suggestion of greasing, or jobbery, or sucking-up. Michael Howard receives this year’s most prestigious award for the simple reason that he has proved himself a master at the Despatch Box. His most important contribution, it is generally agreed, was his reply to Gordon Brown’s budget."
The Zurich Award 2003: Iain Macleod MP
"With their lust for innovation and progress, a new category has been created - the Zurich Award, named in honour of our sponsors – which is intended to signal the appreciation, by current parliamentarians, for the most notable parliamentary performers over the last 175 years. We are told that strong support was entered in favour of Lord Tebbit and Hugh Gaitskell. The winner, however, was Iain Macleod, a former chancellor of the exchequer and editor of this magazine. Congratulations are due to George Osborne, who nominated Macleod, and who therefore receives £1,000 for a charity donation in his constituency."
Commenting on the Zurich Award, Sandy Leitch said; "It is very fitting that the Zurich Award for the most inspirational parliamentarian from the past 175 years should go to a man known for both his oratorical flair and political steel. In choosing Iain Macleod the House has recognised a lifetime’s commitment to democratic values that span the ideology of all parties."
"I am delighted to make this award to Iain Macleod’s family and award £1000 to a charity of their choice in his constituency, Enfield West and also £1000 to a constituency charity of George Osborne’s choice, as one of the nominators."
Speech of the Year: The Rt Hon Robin Cook MP
"It is with a sense of awful predictability that the judges once again recognise the achievements of this year’s honorand. He has won so many gongs at these ceremonies that it may be necessary, if Zurich are willing, to present him with some kind of permanent trophy. Robin Cook made a principled resignation and a brilliant speech. Mr Cook was also a distinguished Leader of the Commons, who did not hesitate to point out the deficiencies in the government’s programme of reform of the Upper House."
Awards were also presented to:
Peer of the Year: The Rt Hon Lord Strathclyde PC
Backbencher of the Year: Ann Clwyd MP
Minister to Watch: Christopher Leslie Esq MP
Survivor of the Year: Crispin Blunt Esq MP
The judges of the 20th Parliamentary Awards were: Simon Hoggart and Michael White of the Guardian, Frank Johnson and George Jones of the Daily Telegraph, Trevor Kavanagh of the Sun, Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail, Anne McElvoy of the Evening Standard, Ben McIntyre of the Times, Peter Oborne of the Spectator and Alan Watkins of the Independent.
-Ends-
For press information contact:
Zurich
Christine Wood
07789 178 478
The Spectator
Kimberly Fortier
07770 308 453
Notes to Editors:
Peer of the Year, The Rt Hon. The Lord Strathclyde
Not since the dying days of the Callaghan government have the Tory peers inflicted such sustained damage on the government's programme, with a total of 70 defeats at the time of going to press. Strathclyde is their commander-in-chief, and by all accounts a doughty campaigner. The judges were especially impressed by his command of all manner of technical subjects, his charm and his willingness to dispense large whiskies to those who called round to see him in his room. He is the last best hope of the hereditary peers, and it is only an accident of birth that has prevented him from being - in the view of at least one judge - a candidate for the leadership of the party.
Backbencher of the Year, Ann Clwyd, MP
Few MPs, apart from the Speaker, have the power to bring the House of Commons to silence. Such was the achievement of Ann Clwyd, who has spoken so passionately about the fate of the Kurds, and from such direct and personal experience, that it was sometimes hard to tell whether her voice was choking from emotion or from the dust of Iraq. Some judges said that her arguments may have been emotive tosh, but they were none the less forceful for that. Above all, she didn't bother herself with arguments about the Weapons of Mass Destruction. She left the Prime Minister to make that mistake. Ann Clwyd made the best possible case for removing Saddam Hussein, that it would relieve the Iraqis of a brutal tyrant; and for that she deserves thanks.
Minister to Watch, Christopher Leslie, MP
This man was so young at the time of his stunning election to Shipley in 1997 that he was forced to abandon a university course halfway through. His early appearances in the Commons were punctuated by Tory calls that he was 'past his bedtime', and that he should 'go home to mother'. He has since put such critics to shame; he is a fluent and accomplished minister in the Department of Constitutional Affairs, and yet with the intellectual humility to recognise some of the absurdities in the government's programme of reform. It is said that the Prime Minister took a personal interest and pleasure in his re-election in 2001, and marked him down as a potential successor but one. If he can survive that, he can survive anything.
Survivor of the Year, Crispin Blunt, MP
Many of us were brought up with tales of heroism in the first world war. Officers would tuck their swagger sticks under their arms, blow their whistles and leap over the top. The others would suddenly discover something fascinating at the bottom of the trench, or that they had lost a contact lens, or that they had an urgent need to tie their shoelaces. Such was the fate of this man, who found himself in no-man's-land in May, and coming under a great deal of fire, after calling for a change in the Tory leadership. As befits a man from a distinguished military family, he acted bravely, and it is the hope of the judges that this award should not be politically posthumous.
Rt Hon Robin Cook MP is a previous Parliamentarian award winner, receiving Debater of the Year in 1988 and Parliamentarian of the Year in 1991.
Rt Hon Michael Howard QC MP received the Debater of the Year award in 1995.
Zurich Financial Services is an insurance-based financial services provider with an international network that focuses its activities on its key markets of North America, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Founded in 1872, Zurich is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. It has offices in more than 50 countries and employs about 64,000 people.
The Spectator (1828) Ltd is the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language. Edited by Boris Johnson, The Spectator covers politics, literature and the arts on a weekly basis. Witty, irreverent and damned accurate on the political front – it’s been known to make cabinet ministers tremble with fury, fear and laughter.
