Winston Churchill (1940-)

Winston Spencer-Churchill (born October 10, 1940), generally known as Winston Churchill, [Churchill's legal surname is Spencer-Churchill: his ancestor George Spencer changed his name to Spencer-Churchill when he became the 5th Duke of Marlborough, but starting with his great-grandfather, Lord Randolph Churchill, his branch of the Spencer-Churchill family has used the name "Churchill" only in its public life.] is a retired British Conservative Party politician and the grandson of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Career

Before becoming a Member for Parliament, he was a journalist, notably in the Middle East during the Six Day War and met numerous politicians on the Israeli circuit, including Moshe Dayan.

Later, Churchill became Member of Parliament for the Manchester constituency of Stretford from 1970 until the 1983 general election, when he transferred to the new Davyhulme constituency, which he represented until the seat was abolished for the 1997 general election. Although well-known due to his family history, he never achieved high office. His cousin Nicholas Soames is a serving Conservative Member of Parliament.

In May 1993 he provoked a row by criticising the "relentless flow" of immigrants to Britain from the Indian subcontinent. He was publicly reprimanded by the then Home Secretary, Michael Howard. The Prime Minister, John Major, supported Howard's comments.

He also was the subject of controversy in 1995 when he and his family sold a large archive of papers relating to his grandfather for £13.5m. This was funded by a grant from the newly established National Lottery. Private Eye noted this 'happy coincidence' solving his losses from Lloyd's.

Since leaving Parliament, Churchill has been a sought after speaker on the lecture circuit and has written many articles in support of the Iraq War and the fight against Islamic terrorism. He has also edited a compilation of his grandfather's famous speeches entitled "Never Give In".

In 2007, he acted as a spokesman for the pressure group UK National Defence Association.

Family

Churchill was born at Chequers, the son of Randolph Churchill, the only son of Sir Winston Churchill, and of Randolph's wife Pamela Digby, later to become famous as Pamela Harriman.

Churchill's first marriage, in July 1964, was to Minnie Caroline d'Erlanger, the daughter of the banker Sir Gerard John Regis d'Erlanger. The couple had four children:

#Randolph Leonard Spencer Churchill (born 1965)
#Jennie Spencer Churchill (born 1966)
#Marina Spencer Churchill (born 1967)
#John Gerard Averell "Jack" Spencer Churchill (born 1975)

This marriage ended in divorce in 1997, due to Churchill's extramarital relationships, notably with Soraya Khashoggi, former wife of the arms-dealer Adnan Khashoggi. He married secondly Luce Danielson, a Belgian-born jewellery maker, the same year. However, his mother's will shared his inheritance with his first wife.

Publications

*"First Journey", 1964
*"Six Day War", 1967
*"Defending the West", 1981
*"Memories and Adventures", 1989
*"His Father's Son", 1996
*"The Great Republic", 1999
*"Never Give In!: the best of Winston Churchill's speeches", (ed.) 2003

Notes

External links

* [http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003205 "My Grandfather Invented Iraq" by Winston Churchill, from Opinion Journal]
* [http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=3158 "Churchill on Islamic Fundamentalism"]
* [http://www.cp.org/english/online/full/Entertainment/031107/e110712A.html "Grandson gathers 'the best' of Winston Churchill's speeches in new book"]