Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university located in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins trace back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, in 1858. The institution became a university in 1992 and was renamed after John Ruskin, the Oxford University professor and author, in 2005. Ruskin delivered the inaugural speech at the Cambridge School of Art in 1858. ARU is classified as one of the "post-1992 universities." The university's motto is in Latin: Excellentia per societatem, which translates to Excellence through partnership in English.
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet positions in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including Secretary of State for Employment, Secretary of State for the Environment and Home Secretary.
Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, Baron Kerr of Monteviot,, commonly known as Michael Ancram, was a British politician and peer who served as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party from 2001 to 2005. He was formerly styled Earl of Ancram until he inherited the marquessate in 2004, upon the death of his father.
James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior, was a British Conservative Party politician. A Member of Parliament from 1959 to 1987, he represented the Suffolk constituency of Lowestoft until 1983 and then the renamed constituency of Waveney from 1983 to 1987, when he stood down from the House of Commons and was made a life peer. He served in two Conservative cabinets, and outside parliament was Chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce from 1996 to 2004, and Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University from 1992 to 1999.
Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, 2nd Baron Strathclyde,, known informally as Tom Strathclyde, is a British Conservative politician. Lord Strathclyde served in the political role of Leader of the House of Lords from the 2010 general election until January 2013 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, having been Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords (1998–2010). As of 2024, he is the most recent hereditary peer to serve as Leader of the Lords.
John Cradock Maples, Baron Maples was a British politician and life peer who served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 1989 to 1992. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham West from 1983 to 1992 and Stratford-upon-Avon from 1997 to 2010.
Angela Evans Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon,, is a British politician and life peer serving as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal since 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Parties, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon from 1997 to 2010.
Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, is a British-Belizean businessman, pollster and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and was the 132nd richest person in the UK, as ranked by the Sunday Times Rich List 2021, with an estimated fortune of £1.257 billion.
David Gifford Leathes Prior, Baron Prior of Brampton is the former chairman of NHS England and chairman of University College Hospital. He served as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 1997 until the 2001 general election, when he lost his seat to Norman Lamb of the Liberal Democrats by 483 votes. In 2015, he was appointed as a life peer in the House of Lords.
Harold Stanley Kalms, Baron Kalms is the life president and former chairman of Currys plc. Currys plc owns Currys, as well as the now phased-out brands "PC World", "Team Knowhow" and various international electronics retailers. Dixons Retail merged with Carphone Warehouse in October 2014 to become Dixons Carphone. He spent his entire career from 1948 working for Dixons, which was founded by his father Charles Kalms in 1937.
"Nigger in the woodpile" or "nigger in the fence" is a figure of speech originating in the United States meaning "some fact of considerable importance that is not disclosed—something suspicious or wrong".
Paul Edward Winston White, Baron Hanningfield,, was a British politician and farmer. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in various leadership roles in local government in Essex and was influential in establishing the Local Government Association. He was a member of Essex County Council from 1970 and 2011, and served in frontbench roles in the House of Lords after being nominated for a life peerage in 1998.
Writtle University College was a university college located in Writtle near Chelmsford, Essex. It was founded in 1893 and obtained University College status in May 2016.
Guy Vaughan Black, Baron Black of Brentwood is Deputy Chairman of the Telegraph Media Group.
Anne Marie Morris is a former British Conservative politician and lawyer, who represented Newton Abbot as a Member of Parliament (MP) between May 2010 and May 2024. During her 14 year term in office, she twice lost the party whip for a period of nine months between July and December 2017, and then again between January and May 2022.
Andrew Simon Feldman, Baron Feldman of Elstree, is a British barrister, businessman and Conservative fundraiser and politician.
Anne Caroline Jenkin, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington is a Conservative member of the House of Lords.
Bernard Francisco Ribeiro, Baron Ribeiro, is a British surgeon who served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 2005 to 2008. He was created a life peer in 2010 and sat in the House of Lords on the Conservative benches until his retirement in 2023.
British prime minister David Cameron reshuffled the Conservative members of his coalition government on 15 July 2014. The reshuffle, intended to strengthen his party's position in advance of the 2015 general election, had been long anticipated, as Cameron had maintained an unusually high level of stability amongst the senior ranks of his government, with only one prior reshuffle of significance, and many ministers having remained in place since their election in 2010. The reshuffle also featured the appointment of a new European Commissioner representing the United Kingdom, as the term of Lady Ashton was set to expire later in 2014.
There have been incidents of racism in the Conservative Party since at least 1964. Conservative shadow defence minister Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech in 1968 was both influential and widely regarded as anti-immigrant with racist overtones; the party's leader at the time, Edward Heath, condemned it, although some Conservative MPs defended Powell's speech. Since then, accusations have been made about several leading members of the party and its policies; these have related to prejudice against non-white people.
