Alistair Cooke, Baron Lexden
Encyclopedia
- For the English cricketer, please see Alastair CookAlastair CookAlastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003...
Alistair Basil Cooke, Baron Lexden (born 1945) is a British historian, author and politician who sits as a Conservative
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...
life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
.
He has been official historian of the Conservative Party since 2009; Consultant and Editor in Chief, Conservative Research Department
Conservative Research Department
The Conservative Research Department is part of the central organisation of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. It operates alongside other departments of Conservative Campaign Headquarters at 30 Millbank, London SW1....
since 2004 and official historian and archivist of the Carlton Club
Carlton Club
The Carlton Club is a gentlemen's club in London which describes itself as the "oldest, most elite, and most important of all Conservative clubs." Membership of the club is by nomination and election only.-History:...
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 Framlingham CollegeFramlingham College
Framlingham College is an independent, coeducational boarding and day school in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school, Brandeston Hall and Little Bears Nursery it serves pupils from 2 1/2 to eighteen years of age.-History of Framlingham...
, Suffolk and Peterhouse, Cambridge, from which he graduated MA in 1970. He was a Lecturer and Tutor in Modern History at Queen’s University, Belfast. from 1971–77 and was awarded a PhD from that institution in 1979.
Conservative Party
Cooke worked as a desk officer within the Conservative Research Department from 1977-83. During this period he served as political advisor to Airey NeaveAirey Neave
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave DSO, OBE, MC was a British soldier, barrister and politician.During World War II, Neave was one of the few servicemen to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle...
, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and his department, the Northern Ireland Office. The post is currently held by Shaun Woodward...
, 1977–79. He joined the Conservative Political Centre in 1983 as Assistant Director, becoming Deputy Director two years later and Director between 1988-97. He was appointed OBE in 1988. He was a founder, in 1997, and member since 2005 of the Conservative Party Archive Trust. He was Chairman of Trustees of the pressure group Friends of the Union between 1995–2003 and has been Senior Trustee of the T. E. Utley
T. E. Utley
Thomas Edwin 'Peter' Utley CBE was an English High Tory journalist.Utley, blind since his childhood, went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he achieved a double first in History. During the Second World War, he was a Times leader writer and then worked for the Observer and the Sunday Times...
Memorial Fund since 2000.
House of Lords
Cooke was made a life peer as Baron Lexden, of LexdenLexden
Lexden is a suburb of Colchester, Essex, England. It was formerly a village, and has previously been called Lessendon, Lassendene and Læxadyne. Lexden is mentioned in the Domesday Book....
in the County of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and of Strangford
Strangford
Strangford is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 people at the 2001 Census.On the other side of the lough is Portaferry and there is a ferry service between the two villages...
in the County of Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, in December 2010 on the recommendation of Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
. He will sit in the House of Lords as a Conservative.
Alistair Lexden's website highlights his work in the Lords, including speeches, videos, letters and articles for the Conservative Party's Blue Blog.
Other Activities
With the Conservative return to opposition in 1997, Cooke worked as General Secretary of the Independent Schools CouncilIndependent Schools Council
The Independent Schools Council is a non-profit organisation that represents 1,234 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector...
from 1997–2004. He has also been a Governor of The John Lyon School Harrow from 1999–2005 and Patron of the Northern Ireland Schools Debating Competition since 2001.
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.