Harvey Proctor
Encyclopedia
Harvey Proctor (born 16 January 1947) was a British
Conservative
Member of Parliament. He represented Basildon
from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay
from 1983 to 1987. Proctor became known for his right-wing views and for the manner in which scandal forced the end of his Parliamentary career.
in West Yorkshire
, going to the Scarborough High School for Boys and then the University of York
where he read History. He had joined the Young Conservatives at the age of 14 in 1961 and was Chairman of York University Conservative Association in 1967–1969. In the summer of 1967, whilst Chairman-elect of the Association, he was invited to produce a number of half hour political programmes for broadcast on offshore Radio 270
, which included interviews with MPs John Biggs-Davison
and Patrick Wall
.
's controversial speech
of April 1968, Proctor became an active member of the Conservative Monday Club
. He was the Club's Assistant Director from 1969 to 1971 and a member of its Executive Council from 1983 until he stood down as an MP in 1987. In April 1982 he made a bid for election as the Club's Chairman but was defeated. He was well known for his views opposing immigration, and for many years was Chairman of the Club's Immigration and Repatriation Committee (later renamed, under him, the Immigration and Race Relations Committee). He contributed an article to the Club's newspaper Right Ahead (October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue), entitled Blackpool Revisited calling for an examination of the immigration issue. However, Proctor was alive to the politics of the issue and in 1973 moved to purge members of the National Front from the Monday Club. As Secretary of the Monday Club Northern Ireland Policy Committee, he backed calls from Ulster Unionist MPs for Mrs Thatcher to implement her 1979 Conservative General Manifesto commitment to "establish one or more elected regional councils in Northern Ireland with a wide range of powers over local services" in place of the 1982-86 Northern Ireland Assembly, and opposed the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which earned him the admiration and support of the then Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jim (now Lord) Molyneaux and the then Ulster Unionist Chief Whip and MP for East Londonderry, Willie Ross.
Conservative MPs, was adopted as candidate for Hackney South and Shoreditch. He fought the seat at both the February
and October
general elections of 1974.
in 1978. The seat was not expected to be easy for the Conservatives to win, but Proctor was elected in the 1979 election
after a campaign in which he raised the need for restricting the number of "coloured" immigrants. He returned to this theme, also advocating payment for repatriation, during his first term in Parliament.
Proctor opposed the call to boycott the Moscow Olympics
in 1980 on libertarian grounds. He also opposed establishing the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1982, voted for the return of Capital punishment
and rebelled on votes over the EEC. Proctor supported the Freedom of Information
Act. In the 1983 election
Proctor's seat was divided, and he moved with the more Conservative-voting part to the new Billericay
seat.
newspaper published claims that Proctor had taken part in spanking
and cane beating of male prostitutes, aged between 17 and 21, in his London flat. Had this occurred 20 years later, Proctor would not have broken the law, but the age of consent for homosexuals was 21 in 1986, as opposed to 16 for heterosexuals. Proctor did not sue for libel when the allegations were made. In 1987, Proctor was charged with gross indecency and resigned his candidature. He was succeeded as MP by Teresa Gorman
at the General Election
the following month. At his trial in May 1987, Proctor pleaded guilty and was fined a total of £1,450.
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...
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...
Member of Parliament. He represented Basildon
Basildon (UK Parliament constituency)
Basildon was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay
Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)
Billericay was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.It returned Conservative MPs at every election except 1966....
from 1983 to 1987. Proctor became known for his right-wing views and for the manner in which scandal forced the end of his Parliamentary career.
Background
Proctor's father Albert was a master baker. Harvey Proctor himself was born in PontefractPontefract
Pontefract is an historic market town in West Yorkshire, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 , the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250...
in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, going to the Scarborough High School for Boys and then the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
where he read History. He had joined the Young Conservatives at the age of 14 in 1961 and was Chairman of York University Conservative Association in 1967–1969. In the summer of 1967, whilst Chairman-elect of the Association, he was invited to produce a number of half hour political programmes for broadcast on offshore Radio 270
Radio 270
Radio 270 was a pirate radio station serving Yorkshire and the North East of England from 1966 to 1967. It broadcast from a converted Dutch lugger called Oceaan 7 positioned in international waters off Scarborough, North Yorkshire.-Origins :...
, which included interviews with MPs John Biggs-Davison
John Biggs-Davison
Sir John Alec Biggs-Davison was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Chigwell from 1955 and then, after boundary changes in 1974, Epping Forest until his death. He was a leading figure in the Conservative Monday Club.-Early years:The son of Major John Norman Biggs-Davison,...
and Patrick Wall
Patrick Wall
Major Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall KBE , MC, VRD was a British senior commando in the Royal Marines during World War II and later a Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament for Haltemprice, East Yorkshire and subsequently for Beverley...
.
Right-wing affiliations
Having welcomed Enoch PowellEnoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
's controversial speech
Rivers of Blood speech
The "Rivers of Blood" speech was a speech criticising Commonwealth immigration, as well as proposed anti-discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom made on 20 April 1968 by Enoch Powell , the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West...
of April 1968, Proctor became an active member of the Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
. He was the Club's Assistant Director from 1969 to 1971 and a member of its Executive Council from 1983 until he stood down as an MP in 1987. In April 1982 he made a bid for election as the Club's Chairman but was defeated. He was well known for his views opposing immigration, and for many years was Chairman of the Club's Immigration and Repatriation Committee (later renamed, under him, the Immigration and Race Relations Committee). He contributed an article to the Club's newspaper Right Ahead (October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue), entitled Blackpool Revisited calling for an examination of the immigration issue. However, Proctor was alive to the politics of the issue and in 1973 moved to purge members of the National Front from the Monday Club. As Secretary of the Monday Club Northern Ireland Policy Committee, he backed calls from Ulster Unionist MPs for Mrs Thatcher to implement her 1979 Conservative General Manifesto commitment to "establish one or more elected regional councils in Northern Ireland with a wide range of powers over local services" in place of the 1982-86 Northern Ireland Assembly, and opposed the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which earned him the admiration and support of the then Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jim (now Lord) Molyneaux and the then Ulster Unionist Chief Whip and MP for East Londonderry, Willie Ross.
Candidatures
In 1972 Proctor, then working as a researcher for anti-Common MarketEuropean 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...
Conservative MPs, was adopted as candidate for Hackney South and Shoreditch. He fought the seat at both the February
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
and October
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
general elections of 1974.
Parliament
It was generally regarded as surprising that Proctor won the selection for BasildonBasildon (UK Parliament constituency)
Basildon was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in 1978. The seat was not expected to be easy for the Conservatives to win, but Proctor was elected in the 1979 election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
after a campaign in which he raised the need for restricting the number of "coloured" immigrants. He returned to this theme, also advocating payment for repatriation, during his first term in Parliament.
Proctor opposed the call to boycott 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...
in 1980 on libertarian grounds. He also opposed establishing the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1982, voted for the return of Capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
and rebelled on votes over the EEC. Proctor supported the Freedom of Information
Freedom of information
Freedom of information refers to the protection of the right to freedom of expression with regards to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e...
Act. In the 1983 election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
Proctor's seat was divided, and he moved with the more Conservative-voting part to the new Billericay
Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)
Billericay was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.It returned Conservative MPs at every election except 1966....
seat.
Scandal
In June 1986, The PeopleThe People
The People, previously known as the Sunday People, is a British tabloid Sunday-only newspaper. The paper was founded on 16 October 1881.It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group.In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 806,544....
newspaper published claims that Proctor had taken part in spanking
Spanking
Spanking refers to the act of striking the buttocks of another person to cause temporary pain without producing physical injury. It generally involves one person striking the buttocks of another person with an open hand. When an open hand is used, spanking is referred to in some countries as...
and cane beating of male prostitutes, aged between 17 and 21, in his London flat. Had this occurred 20 years later, Proctor would not have broken the law, but the age of consent for homosexuals was 21 in 1986, as opposed to 16 for heterosexuals. Proctor did not sue for libel when the allegations were made. In 1987, Proctor was charged with gross indecency and resigned his candidature. He was succeeded as MP by Teresa Gorman
Teresa Gorman
Teresa Ellen Gorman is a British politician, and was Conservative Member of Parliament for Billericay, in the county of Essex in England until 2001 when she stood down...
at the General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
the following month. At his trial in May 1987, Proctor pleaded guilty and was fined a total of £1,450.
Publications
- Immigration, Repatriation, & the C.R.E., by K.Harvey Proctor, MP, John R. PinnigerJohn R. PinnigerJohn R Pinniger is a former Conservative councillor for the London Borough of Lambeth and an unsuccessful Conservative candidate for the European Parliament...
, MA, with a foreword by Sir Ronald BellRonald Bell (UK politician)Sir Ronald McMillan Bell, , QC , Knight Bachelor , was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom representing South Buckinghamshire from 1950 to 1974 and Beaconsfield from 1974 to 1982.-Family and education:The younger son of John Bell, Ronald was educated at Cardiff High...
, QC, MP, published by the Monday Club, 1981, (P/B) - Immigration - An Untenable Situation by K.Harvey Proctor, MP, and John R. Pinniger, MA, Policy Paper from the Monday Club's Immigration and Repatriation Policy Committee, October 1981
- Race Relations & Immigration by K.Harvey Proctor, MP, and John R. Pinniger, MA, Policy Paper from the Monday Club's Immigration & Race Relations Committee, October 1982
- Blackpool Revisited, (calling for an examination of the Immigration issue), in Right Ahead, Monday Club newspaper, October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue