David Hart (political activist)
David Hart | |
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political activist, real estate developer, farmer, playwright | |
Political party | Conservative Party |
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David Hart (4 February 1944 – 5 January 2011) was an English writer, businessman, and adviser to
Early life
Born at
Hart was educated at Eton until his expulsion in his fourth year.[4] In the mid- to late 1960s, he made several avant-garde films and was in the circle of Bruce Robinson (who made Withnail and I). On A Game Called Scruggs (1965) he worked with Raoul Coutard, regular cinematographer for Jean-Luc Godard, and was described by producer Michael Deeley as "the English Godard".[5][failed verification]
By now, Hart had begun to work in property,
Political advisor
By the late 1970s, he was involved in Conservative Party politics and the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank. He wrote speeches for Archie Hamilton MP, a friend from Eton.[3]
In the early 1980s Thatcher involved Hart in negotiations with the
During the
In 1987 he formed the
Towards the end of Hungarian socialism, Hart channelled support from the West to the fledgling Fidesz party,[18] which at the time was an unofficial anti-Communist student movement developing at the Eötvös Loránd University under the protection of the last Communist minister of the interior, István Horváth.[19][20][21][22][23] The group received a visit and material support from George Soros by 1985. It was formally founded in 1988, changed into a party in 1989, and by 1990 its members were part of Hungary's new parliament.[24]
In the autumn of 1993, he was appointed as a personal advisor to Malcolm Rifkind, Secretary of State for Defence,[25] a position Hart retained when Michael Portillo succeeded Rifkind. Reportedly a long-standing Portillo contact, Hart is credited with writing the 'Who Dares Wins' conclusion to Portillo's 1995 Conservative Party Conference speech.[1][26] He was also involved in the 1995 plan to install 40 telephones and fax machines in a Lord North Street house for a Portillo leadership challenge to Conservative leader and prime minister John Major which never emerged.[27]
In the 2000s he was involved in the international
Cultural depictions
In 2004 the author David Peace published the novel GB84, a "fiction based on a fact" of the miners' strike. The book's most controversial feature was Stephen Sweet, who is referred to throughout by his driver as "The Jew", a vain and obsessive character allegedly based on Hart.[11]
However, in Francis Beckett and David Henckes' study on the miners' strike, Marching to the Fault Line, Hart features more as light relief.[30] Hart is also portrayed as a central protagonist on the government's side in Beth Steel's 2014 play Wonderland.[citation needed]
Hart himself wrote numerous plays, including Victoriana, The Little Rabbi, The Ark & the Covenant,[3] and two novels, The Colonel and Come to the Edge.
Personal life
Hart lived in some style in Suffolk; first at Coldham Hall (near Stanningfield), Bury St Edmunds and then at nearby Chadacre Hall in Shimpling.[1]
Hart was the father of five children, three sons and two daughters, by four women;
Filmography
- Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing, Spring Comes and the Grass Grows by Itself – short film
- A Game Called Scruggs (1965) – featurette starring Susannah York
- The Other People (a.k.a. Sleep Is Lovely, 1968) – feature film
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "David Hart". The Telegraph. 5 January 2011. Archived from the original on 9 January 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103498. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b c d e f Thomas, David (27 September 2003). "Implausible but true". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b Childs, Martin (22 October 2011) [11 January 2011]. "David Hart: Flamboyant banking heir who made his name as Thatcher's political fixer during the 1980s miners' strike". The Independent. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Grainger, Julian (n.d.). "Sleep Is Lovely (1968)". BFI Lost Films. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ "No. 46437". The London Gazette. 19 December 1974. p. 13042.
- ^ Pearce, Edward (9 January 2011). "David Hart obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-7102-1371-6.
- ^ a b O'Connell, Dominic (17 August 2003). "BAE hires Thatcher's strike buster to broker US merger". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ^ Moore, Suzanne (25 January 2024). "Britain is still scarred by the miners' defeat". UnHerd. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ a b Marqusee, Mike (28 September 2013) [5 March 2004]. "David Peace: State of the union rights". The Independent. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b Clement, Barrie (22 October 2011) [21 October 1992]. "Government in crisis: UDM leader reflects on road to dole queue". The Independent. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (1 November 2002). "MI5 agent 'spied on Labour MP'". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "MP 'spied on by the state'". BBC News. 1 November 2002. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Farrell, Michael (1991). "News and Notes". British Journal of Addiction (86): 469.
- ^ Hughes, Mike (May 1991). "Western Goals (UK)". Lobster Magazine. No. 21.
- ^ Lawson, Alan (ed.). "Tories Take the Slippery Slope to Extremism: Scotland Becomes No. 1 Target". Radical Scotland (Jun / Jul '88 ed.). pp. 6–8.
- ^ Groom, Brian (8 January 2011), "Libertarian who helped Thatcher defeat miners", Financial Times
- ISBN 0-691-05028-7
- ISBN 978-0190874865
- ^ Balogh, Éva S. (27 July 2010), About István Stumpf, a New Judge on the Hungarian Constitutional Court, Hungarian Spectrum
- ^ Amit Orbán Viktor nem tett ki a honlapjára állambiztonsági múltjáról, Kuruc.info, 17 February 2012
- ^ C., Ioana (1 April 2022), Viktor Orbán – a "Petrov" of Hungary. The Prime Minister's collaboration with Hungarian security, Informational Warfare and Strategic Communication Laboratory of the Romanian Academy
- ^ Buckley, Neil; Byrne, Andrew (25 January 2018), "Viktor Orban: the rise of Europe's troublemaker", Financial Times
- ^ Kelsey, Tim (23 October 2011) [6 September 1994]. "Thatcher confidante returns to the spotlight: David Hart is back on". The Independent. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "Mark Thatcher 'was planning Texas move'". The Guardian. 26 August 2004. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "The friends of Michael Portillo". The Guardian. 10 September 1999. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Blackhurst, Chris (23 October 2011) [14 July 1995]. "Mystery player suspected of swinging final deal". The Independent. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b Leigh, David and Rob Evans (10 June 2007). "Questions over secret bank transfers". The Guardian (published 11 June 2007). Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Tonkin, Boyd (27 March 2009). "The Week in Books: Factional strife in an age of monsters". The Independent. Archived from the original on 29 March 2009.
- ^ Hart, David (15 June 2009). "'Despite it all, I feel lucky to be alive'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009.
External links
- David Hart at IMDb