Adam Fergusson (MEP)
Encyclopedia
Adam Dugdale Fergusson is a British
journalist, author and Conservative Party
politician who served one term in the European Parliament
. He has remained involved in the field of European Union
affairs since, as a Special Adviser to Conservative governments and as a business consultant. Among other books, he wrote When Money Dies, a classic account of hyperinflation
in the Weimar Republic
. It deals with not only the economic impacts that hyperinflation had upon society in the Weimar Republic, but also the way that society itself changed. Societal norms were broken down in the wake of hyperinflation, and Fergusson approaches this topic. First published in 1975, When Money Dies was hailed as a cult classic in the wake of the Financial crisis of 2007-2010, with copies changing hands on eBay
for up to $1000. As a result, When Money Dies was republished in July 2010, becoming an internet sensation after allegedly being commended by financier, Warren Buffett
.
and the younger brother of Sir Charles Fergusson, the present 9th Bt. of Kilkerran
. His sister, Alice, is married to Baron Renton of Mount Harry. He attended Eton
and Trinity College
, Cambridge
where he read History, graduating in 1955. He went into journalism on the Glasgow Herald
, working as a Leader-writer in 1957-58 and as Diplomatic Correspondent from 1959 to 1961.
as a feature-writer specialising on political, economic and environmental matters. He was at the Times for ten years, also using his time to write fiction, including Roman Go Home (1969) and The Lost Embassy (1972).
constituency, which had seemed safe for Labour; however, a collapse in the Labour vote saw him elected by 1,827 votes.
on political affairs. He supported calls for a boycott of the Moscow Olympics
, arguing that the invasion of Afghanistan
and the internal exile of Andrei Sakharov
showed the two sides of the Soviet Union
: "Aggression without, and oppression within". When Barbara Castle
criticised the expenses of the European Parliament
, he described her as "the single most damaging export the United Kingdom has on its hands today".
When in 1982 the European Union proposed that the electoral system for European Parliament elections be changed to the party list, Fergusson led the Conservative MEPs' opposition. He kept up constant pressure on the government of Poland
over its crackdown on Solidarity, and condemned not only the USSR over the shootdown of Korean Air Flight 007
, but the Greek
government which had failed to issue its own condemnation. He was a rapporteur in late 1983, bringing in a report which called for European co-operation on arms manufacture; and for a proposal to install an Empty Chair in the parliament, symbolically waiting for Eastern European countries to be liberated and join the European Community.
He was for twenty years from 1981 a vice president of the Pan-European Union.
was standing down. He found it sad that people could vote for an opponent (Stan Newens), who had opposed EEC entry, but on election day Newens won the seat by 13,000 votes.
from 1997). His polemic, "The Sack of Bath", was first published in 1973 and is a record of how, in the space of a few years, and in the name of modernisation and redevelopment, the city was robbed of its architectural "undergrowth"; and of how ugly new developments wrecked a unique part of the European heritage.
His novel "Scone", a political satire on the effects of devolution in Scotland, was published in 2005.
Remaining fully committed to the European ideal, Fergusson derided the Conservative Party's approach to the 1999 European Parliament elections in a joint letter which wished for a manifesto "more like that of the Pro-Euro Conservative Party
".
in London.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
journalist, author and Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician who served one term in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. He has remained involved in the field of European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
affairs since, as a Special Adviser to Conservative governments and as a business consultant. Among other books, he wrote When Money Dies, a classic account of hyperinflation
Hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or out of control. While the real values of the specific economic items generally stay the same in terms of relatively stable foreign currencies, in hyperinflationary conditions the general price level within a specific economy increases...
in the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. It deals with not only the economic impacts that hyperinflation had upon society in the Weimar Republic, but also the way that society itself changed. Societal norms were broken down in the wake of hyperinflation, and Fergusson approaches this topic. First published in 1975, When Money Dies was hailed as a cult classic in the wake of the Financial crisis of 2007-2010, with copies changing hands on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
for up to $1000. As a result, When Money Dies was republished in July 2010, becoming an internet sensation after allegedly being commended by financier, Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
.
Early career
Fergusson is the second son of Sir James Fergusson, 8th Bt. of KilkerranFergusson Baronets
The Fergusson Baronetcy, of Kilkerran in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 30 November 1703 for the prominent advocate John Fergusson. The second Baronet represented Sutherland in the House of Commons and served as a Lord of Session under the judicial...
and the younger brother of Sir Charles Fergusson, the present 9th Bt. of Kilkerran
Fergusson Baronets
The Fergusson Baronetcy, of Kilkerran in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 30 November 1703 for the prominent advocate John Fergusson. The second Baronet represented Sutherland in the House of Commons and served as a Lord of Session under the judicial...
. His sister, Alice, is married to Baron Renton of Mount Harry. He attended Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Trinity College
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
where he read History, graduating in 1955. He went into journalism on the Glasgow Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
, working as a Leader-writer in 1957-58 and as Diplomatic Correspondent from 1959 to 1961.
The Times
Leaving the Herald, Fergusson moved to The Statist, a journal for economists and businessmen. He was Foreign Editor of the Statist from 1964 until it ceased publication in 1967, afterwards joining The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
as a feature-writer specialising on political, economic and environmental matters. He was at the Times for ten years, also using his time to write fiction, including Roman Go Home (1969) and The Lost Embassy (1972).
Anti-devolution campaigning
In the late 1970s Fergusson became active in Conservative politics. As a firm opponent of devolution, he spoke at conferences trying to persuade the Conservatives to oppose the Scottish Assembly; after this campaign was successful, he was a member of the "Scotland Says No" campaign for the devolution referendum. At the 1979 elections to the European Parliament, Fergusson fought the Strathclyde WestStrathclyde West (European Parliament constituency)
Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...
constituency, which had seemed safe for Labour; however, a collapse in the Labour vote saw him elected by 1,827 votes.
European Parliament
For three years, Fergusson acted as spokesman for the European Democratic GroupEuropean Democrats
The European Democrats was a loose association of conservative political parties in Europe. It is a political group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe...
on political affairs. He supported calls for a boycott of the Moscow Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
, arguing that the invasion of Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
and the internal exile of Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
showed the two sides of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
: "Aggression without, and oppression within". When Barbara Castle
Barbara Castle
Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn , PC, GCOT was a British Labour Party politician....
criticised the expenses of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, he described her as "the single most damaging export the United Kingdom has on its hands today".
When in 1982 the European Union proposed that the electoral system for European Parliament elections be changed to the party list, Fergusson led the Conservative MEPs' opposition. He kept up constant pressure on the government of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
over its crackdown on Solidarity, and condemned not only the USSR over the shootdown of Korean Air Flight 007
Korean Air Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner that was shot down by Soviet interceptors on 1 September 1983, over the Sea of Japan, near Moneron Island just west of Sakhalin island...
, but the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
government which had failed to issue its own condemnation. He was a rapporteur in late 1983, bringing in a report which called for European co-operation on arms manufacture; and for a proposal to install an Empty Chair in the parliament, symbolically waiting for Eastern European countries to be liberated and join the European Community.
He was for twenty years from 1981 a vice president of the Pan-European Union.
1984 election campaign
At the 1984 election, Fergusson opted out of defending his seat in Strathclyde, and instead fought London Central where the sitting MEP Sir David NicolsonDavid Nicolson
Sir David Lancaster Nicolson, FCGI, FIMechE, FIProdE, FIMgt, FRSA was a British business executive and politician who played a key role in setting up British Airways and served for five years in the European Parliament....
was standing down. He found it sad that people could vote for an opponent (Stan Newens), who had opposed EEC entry, but on election day Newens won the seat by 13,000 votes.
Subsequent career
Fergusson was Special Adviser on European Affairs to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1985 to 1989. He then set up as a consultant on European affairs. Fergusson also continued journalism, and contributed to the rebuilding of the City of Bath (he was honorary Vice-President of the Bath Preservation TrustBath Preservation Trust
The Bath Preservation Trust is an independent charity based in Bath, Somerset, England which exists to safeguard the historic character of the city of Bath, the only complete city in the UK that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and to champion its sustainable future. The Trust is funded entirely...
from 1997). His polemic, "The Sack of Bath", was first published in 1973 and is a record of how, in the space of a few years, and in the name of modernisation and redevelopment, the city was robbed of its architectural "undergrowth"; and of how ugly new developments wrecked a unique part of the European heritage.
His novel "Scone", a political satire on the effects of devolution in Scotland, was published in 2005.
Remaining fully committed to the European ideal, Fergusson derided the Conservative Party's approach to the 1999 European Parliament elections in a joint letter which wished for a manifesto "more like that of the Pro-Euro Conservative Party
Pro-Euro Conservative Party
The Pro-Euro Conservative Party was a British political party announced by John Stevens and Brendan Donnelly in February 1999, formed to contest the 1999 European Parliament Elections. The founders were Members of the European Parliament who had resigned from the UK Conservative Party in protest at...
".
Personal life
He was married for 44 years to Penelope Hughes (d.2009), with whom he had four children, James, Petra, Lucy and Marcus, and eleven grandchildren. He livesin London.