Maurice Cowling - Revision history

Olivia Rendall at 15:36, 2 February 2015

2015-02-02T15:36:10Z

Tom Griffin: /* Influence */

2013-07-18T21:55:34Z

Influence

Tom Mills at 15:56, 14 March 2011

2011-03-14T15:56:48Z

Tom Mills: /* Political philosophy */

2010-11-02T21:10:20Z

Political philosophy

Tom Mills: /* Political philosophy */

2010-10-19T10:06:08Z

Political philosophy

Tom Mills at 10:04, 19 October 2010

2010-10-19T10:04:01Z

Tom Mills at 09:44, 19 October 2010

2010-10-19T09:44:29Z

Tom Mills: /* Influence */

2010-10-19T09:41:39Z

Influence

Tom Mills: /* Political philosophy */

2010-10-19T09:41:12Z

Political philosophy

Tom Mills at 09:40, 19 October 2010

2010-10-19T09:40:20Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:36, 2 February 2015
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		+	[[File:Maurice-Cowling.jpg\|200px\|thumb\|right\|Maurice Cowling]]
	'''Maurice John Cowling''' (6 September 1926 - 24 August 2005) was a Conservative historian based at [[Peterhouse]], Cambridge. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article558995.ece Maurice Cowling], ''The Times'', 26 August 2005.</ref> Referred to by ''[[The Times]]'' as 'a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia' <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref> he was an outspoken critic of social democracy and liberal politics in general, and although not a Thatcherite is thought to have had a considerable influence on the direction of Conservative thought in the 1970s and 1980s.		'''Maurice John Cowling''' (6 September 1926 - 24 August 2005) was a Conservative historian based at [[Peterhouse]], Cambridge. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article558995.ece Maurice Cowling], ''The Times'', 26 August 2005.</ref> Referred to by ''[[The Times]]'' as 'a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia' <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref> he was an outspoken critic of social democracy and liberal politics in general, and although not a Thatcherite is thought to have had a considerable influence on the direction of Conservative thought in the 1970s and 1980s.

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 <blockquote style="background-color:ivory;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%;font-size:10pt">It was often stated that Cowling had a considerable influence on the direction of Conservative thought in the 1970s and 1980s, either personally or in association with academic and political co-conspirators in and beyond Peterhouse. The college was widely regarded as a conservative seminary, partly because several of Cowling's pupils went to work for the [[Conservative Research Department]] or Conservative newspapers. Cowling himself became a more active propagandist in the late 1970s, helping to found the [[Salisbury Group]], which aimed to provide a forum for serious discussion of Conservative political philosophy, and editing the collection ''Conservative Essays'' (1978). <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref></blockquote>
-Peter Oborne cites disgraced Labour spindoctor [[Damian McBride]], who studied under Cowling at [[Peterhouse]], as an example of the historian's political influence along with [[Michael Gove]] and the Labour press officer [[Michael Ellam]]. <ref>Peter Oborne, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/19/politicians-media-spin The Tories must avoid the cult of the celebrity prime minister], The Observer, 19 April 2009.</ref> According to his ''Times'' obituary, Cowling influenced [[Michael Portillo]], [[Alistair Cooke]], for many years a linchpin of the Conservative research department; [[Hywel Williams]], an adviser to [[John Redwood]]; and [[David Ruffley]], MP, an adviser to [[Kenneth Clarke]]. Others taught by him or influenced by his personality were [[Oliver Letwin]], [[Charles Moore]], [[Norman Stone]], [[Niall Ferguson]], [[Frank Johnson]] and [[Andrew Roberts]]. <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref>
+Peter Oborne cites disgraced Labour spindoctor [[Damian McBride]], who studied under Cowling at [[Peterhouse]], as an example of the historian's political influence along with [[Michael Gove]] and the Labour press officer [[Michael Ellam]]. <ref>Peter Oborne, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/19/politicians-media-spin The Tories must avoid the cult of the celebrity prime minister], The Observer, 19 April 2009.</ref> According to his ''Times'' obituary, Cowling influenced [[Michael Portillo]], [[Alistair Cooke, Lord Lexden|Alistair Cooke]], for many years a linchpin of the Conservative research department; [[Hywel Williams]], an adviser to [[John Redwood]]; and [[David Ruffley]], MP, an adviser to [[Kenneth Clarke]]. Others taught by him or influenced by his personality were [[Oliver Letwin]], [[Charles Moore]], [[Norman Stone]], [[Niall Ferguson]], [[Frank Johnson]] and [[Andrew Roberts]]. <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref>
 ==Affiliations==

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 *[[Conservative Party]]
 *[[Salisbury Group]]
 ==Connections==

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	[[Kenneth Minogue]] wrote of Cowling on the [[Social Affairs Unit]] blog that: ‘His main target was a kind of pious high mindedness that he detected lurking behind the dominant liberalism of political life and the deceptive pretence of impartiality in a lot of academic writing.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> Cowling himself described the ‘Peterhouse Right’ as ‘a small group of dons whose teaching and writing is about the history of politics, art thought and religion’ and who ‘share common prejudices - against the higher liberalism and all sorts of liberal rhetoric, including ecclesiastical liberal rhetoric’. <ref>quoted in Geoffrey Wheatcroft, ‘Inside Story: On the eve of the Conservative Party's latest budget, Geoffrey Wheatcroft re-ports on how Cambridge's smallest and oldest college has become the breeding ground of the radical Right’, ''Guardian'', 26 November 1993; p.8</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, 'His resentment of the naïvety and power of the liberal intelligentsia was fuelled by its fervent opposition to the use of force, and its faith in the United Nations, particularly during the Suez crisis of 1956.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>		[[Kenneth Minogue]] wrote of Cowling on the [[Social Affairs Unit]] blog that: ‘His main target was a kind of pious high mindedness that he detected lurking behind the dominant liberalism of political life and the deceptive pretence of impartiality in a lot of academic writing.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> Cowling himself described the ‘Peterhouse Right’ as ‘a small group of dons whose teaching and writing is about the history of politics, art thought and religion’ and who ‘share common prejudices - against the higher liberalism and all sorts of liberal rhetoric, including ecclesiastical liberal rhetoric’. <ref>quoted in Geoffrey Wheatcroft, ‘Inside Story: On the eve of the Conservative Party's latest budget, Geoffrey Wheatcroft re-ports on how Cambridge's smallest and oldest college has become the breeding ground of the radical Right’, ''Guardian'', 26 November 1993; p.8</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, 'His resentment of the naïvety and power of the liberal intelligentsia was fuelled by its fervent opposition to the use of force, and its faith in the United Nations, particularly during the Suez crisis of 1956.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>
		+
		+	Cowling was critical of the expansion of higher education in the '60s and 70s. In 1990 he wrote that:
		+
		+	<blockquote style="background-color:ivory;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%;font-size:10pt">The Peterhouse Right is mistrustful of higher education as it has developed in Britain in the last twenty-five years, believes that if higher education is to be extensive, it should educate practical capabilities, and wishes that the Robbins expansion could have been vocational and technological. <ref>Maurice Cowling, ''Mill and liberalism'' (Cambridge University Press, 1990) p.xxxi</ref></blockquote>

	In the 1960s Cowling campaigned against plans to introduce a course in sociology at Cambridge, which he regarded as a vehicle for liberal dogma. <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref> This reflected his highly cynical view of intellectual debate which he believed simply reflected the interests of participants. [[William Rees-Mogg]], who visited Cowling at [[Peterhouse]] in the late 1970s, writes that, ‘His central doctrine was that political philosophies are mere rhetoric, designed to advance the politician or his party towards power. He was a brilliant exponent of political philosophies, but he did not believe that they were real.’ <ref>William Rees-Mogg, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article560100.ece Ideas are the decisive force], The Times, 29, August 2005.</ref> Similarly [[Kenneth Minogue]] writes that Cowling ‘followed, to a fault, the cynical or Marxist line that utterances about the world are all "performatives" designed to play a persuasive role in argument… He was not averse to describing himself as a “Tory Marxist”.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, Cowling 'prescribed an extraordinary variety of books [to his students], including much Marxist and post-modernist criticism.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>		In the 1960s Cowling campaigned against plans to introduce a course in sociology at Cambridge, which he regarded as a vehicle for liberal dogma. <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref> This reflected his highly cynical view of intellectual debate which he believed simply reflected the interests of participants. [[William Rees-Mogg]], who visited Cowling at [[Peterhouse]] in the late 1970s, writes that, ‘His central doctrine was that political philosophies are mere rhetoric, designed to advance the politician or his party towards power. He was a brilliant exponent of political philosophies, but he did not believe that they were real.’ <ref>William Rees-Mogg, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article560100.ece Ideas are the decisive force], The Times, 29, August 2005.</ref> Similarly [[Kenneth Minogue]] writes that Cowling ‘followed, to a fault, the cynical or Marxist line that utterances about the world are all "performatives" designed to play a persuasive role in argument… He was not averse to describing himself as a “Tory Marxist”.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, Cowling 'prescribed an extraordinary variety of books [to his students], including much Marxist and post-modernist criticism.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>

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 [[Kenneth Minogue]] wrote of Cowling on the [[Social Affairs Unit]] blog that: ‘His main target was a kind of pious high mindedness that he detected lurking behind the dominant liberalism of political life and the deceptive pretence of impartiality in a lot of academic writing.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> Cowling himself described the ‘Peterhouse Right’ as ‘a small group of dons whose teaching and writing is about the history of politics, art thought and religion’ and who ‘share common prejudices - against the higher liberalism and all sorts of liberal rhetoric, including ecclesiastical liberal rhetoric’. <ref>quoted in Geoffrey Wheatcroft, ‘Inside Story: On the eve of the Conservative Party's latest budget, Geoffrey Wheatcroft re-ports on how Cambridge's smallest and oldest college has become the breeding ground of the radical Right’, ''Guardian'', 26 November 1993; p.8</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, 'His resentment of the naïvety and power of the liberal intelligentsia was fuelled by its fervent opposition to the use of force, and its faith in the United Nations, particularly during the Suez crisis of 1956.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>
-In the 1960s Cowling campaigned against plans within the university to introduce a course in sociology, which he regarded as a vehicle for liberal dogma. <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref>  This reflected his highly cynical view of intellectual debate which he believed simply reflected the interests of participants.  [[William Rees-Mogg]], who visited Cowling at [[Peterhouse]] in the late 1970s, writes that, ‘His central doctrine was that political philosophies are mere rhetoric, designed to advance the politician or his party towards power. He was a brilliant exponent of political philosophies, but he did not believe that they were real.’ <ref>William Rees-Mogg, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article560100.ece Ideas are the decisive force], The Times, 29, August 2005.</ref>  Similarly [[Kenneth Minogue]] writes that Cowling ‘followed, to a fault, the cynical or Marxist line that utterances about the world are all "performatives" designed to play a persuasive role in argument… He was not averse to describing himself as a “Tory Marxist”.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, Cowling 'prescribed an extraordinary variety of books [to his students], including much Marxist and post-modernist criticism.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>
+In the 1960s Cowling campaigned against plans to introduce a course in sociology at Cambridge, which he regarded as a vehicle for liberal dogma. <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref>  This reflected his highly cynical view of intellectual debate which he believed simply reflected the interests of participants.  [[William Rees-Mogg]], who visited Cowling at [[Peterhouse]] in the late 1970s, writes that, ‘His central doctrine was that political philosophies are mere rhetoric, designed to advance the politician or his party towards power. He was a brilliant exponent of political philosophies, but he did not believe that they were real.’ <ref>William Rees-Mogg, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article560100.ece Ideas are the decisive force], The Times, 29, August 2005.</ref>  Similarly [[Kenneth Minogue]] writes that Cowling ‘followed, to a fault, the cynical or Marxist line that utterances about the world are all "performatives" designed to play a persuasive role in argument… He was not averse to describing himself as a “Tory Marxist”.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, Cowling 'prescribed an extraordinary variety of books [to his students], including much Marxist and post-modernist criticism.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>
 ==Influence==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Maurice John Cowling''' (6 September 1926 - 24 August 2005) was a Conservative historian based at [[Peterhouse]], Cambridge. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article558995.ece Maurice Cowling], ''The Times'', 26 August 2005.</ref> He was an outspoken critic of liberal politics and although not a Thatcherite is thought to have had a considerable influence on the direction of Conservative thought in the 1970s and 1980s.
+'''Maurice John Cowling''' (6 September 1926 - 24 August 2005) was a Conservative historian based at [[Peterhouse]], Cambridge. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article558995.ece Maurice Cowling], ''The Times'', 26 August 2005.</ref> Referred to by ''[[The Times]]'' as 'a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia' <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref> he was an outspoken critic of social democracy and liberal politics in general, and although not a Thatcherite is thought to have had a considerable influence on the direction of Conservative thought in the 1970s and 1980s.
 ==Political philosophy==
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 [[Kenneth Minogue]] wrote of Cowling on the [[Social Affairs Unit]] blog that: ‘His main target was a kind of pious high mindedness that he detected lurking behind the dominant liberalism of political life and the deceptive pretence of impartiality in a lot of academic writing.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> Cowling himself described the ‘Peterhouse Right’ as ‘a small group of dons whose teaching and writing is about the history of politics, art thought and religion’ and who ‘share common prejudices - against the higher liberalism and all sorts of liberal rhetoric, including ecclesiastical liberal rhetoric’. <ref>quoted in Geoffrey Wheatcroft, ‘Inside Story: On the eve of the Conservative Party's latest budget, Geoffrey Wheatcroft re-ports on how Cambridge's smallest and oldest college has become the breeding ground of the radical Right’, ''Guardian'', 26 November 1993; p.8</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, 'His resentment of the naïvety and power of the liberal intelligentsia was fuelled by its fervent opposition to the use of force, and its faith in the United Nations, particularly during the Suez crisis of 1956.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>
-In the 1960s Cowling campaigned against plans within the university to introduce a course in sociology, which he regarded as a vehicle for liberal dogma. <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, The Times, 26 August 2005</ref>  This reflected his highly cynical view of intellectual debate which he believed simply reflected the interests of participants.  [[William Rees-Mogg]], who visited Cowling at [[Peterhouse]] in the late 1970s, writes that, ‘His central doctrine was that political philosophies are mere rhetoric, designed to advance the politician or his party towards power. He was a brilliant exponent of political philosophies, but he did not believe that they were real.’ <ref>William Rees-Mogg, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article560100.ece Ideas are the decisive force], The Times, 29, August 2005.</ref>  Similarly [[Kenneth Minogue]] writes that Cowling ‘followed, to a fault, the cynical or Marxist line that utterances about the world are all "performatives" designed to play a persuasive role in argument… He was not averse to describing himself as a “Tory Marxist”.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, Cowling 'prescribed an extraordinary variety of books [to his students], including much Marxist and post-modernist criticism.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>
+In the 1960s Cowling campaigned against plans within the university to introduce a course in sociology, which he regarded as a vehicle for liberal dogma. <ref>‘Cambridge historian who influenced a generation of Conservative politicians and was a scourge of the liberal intelligentsia’, ''The Times'', 26 August 2005</ref>  This reflected his highly cynical view of intellectual debate which he believed simply reflected the interests of participants.  [[William Rees-Mogg]], who visited Cowling at [[Peterhouse]] in the late 1970s, writes that, ‘His central doctrine was that political philosophies are mere rhetoric, designed to advance the politician or his party towards power. He was a brilliant exponent of political philosophies, but he did not believe that they were real.’ <ref>William Rees-Mogg, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article560100.ece Ideas are the decisive force], The Times, 29, August 2005.</ref>  Similarly [[Kenneth Minogue]] writes that Cowling ‘followed, to a fault, the cynical or Marxist line that utterances about the world are all "performatives" designed to play a persuasive role in argument… He was not averse to describing himself as a “Tory Marxist”.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, Cowling 'prescribed an extraordinary variety of books [to his students], including much Marxist and post-modernist criticism.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>
 ==Influence==

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:44, 19 October 2010
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−	'''Maurice John Cowling''' (6 September 1926 - 24 August 2005) was a Conservative historian based at [[Peterhouse]], Cambridge. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article558995.ece Maurice Cowling], ''The Times'', 26 August 2005.</ref>	+	'''Maurice John Cowling''' (6 September 1926 - 24 August 2005) was a Conservative historian based at [[Peterhouse]], Cambridge. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article558995.ece Maurice Cowling], ''The Times'', 26 August 2005.</ref> He was an outspoken critic of liberal politics and although not a Thatcherite is thought to have had a considerable influence on the direction of Conservative thought in the 1970s and 1980s.

	==Political philosophy==		==Political philosophy==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''Maurice John Cowling''' (6 September 1926 - 24 August 2005) was a Conservative historian based at [[Peterhouse]], Cambridge. <ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article558995.ece Maurice Cowling], ''The Times'', 26 August 2005.</ref>
-[[Peter Oborne]] describes Cowling as an inspirational teacher of the Namierite school of history.
+==Political philosophy==
-::However, his particular scholarly contribution was to take Namier's pessimism about human nature, scepticism about political ideas, and dogmatic insistence that public events could only be explained by reference to narrow personal interest, to their ultimate conclusion. His most important book, ''The Impact of Hitler'', argued in spellbinding detail that the British reaction to the rise of fascism in the 1930s could only be understood in terms of squalid calculations of partisan advantage.<ref>Peter Oborne, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/19/politicians-media-spin The Tories must avoid the cult of the celebrity prime minister], The Observer, 19 April 2009.</ref>
+In his biography of [[Michael Portillo]], [[Michael Gove]] wrote:
-[[William Rees-Mogg]], who visited Cowling at Peterhouse in the late 1970s, offers a similar assessment:
+<blockquote style="background-color:ivory;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%;font-size:10pt">[[Michael Portillo|Portillo's]] tutor, Maurice Cowling, was spare, crusty and the university's most reactionary don. Cowling and his fellow Right-winger [[Shirley Robin Letwin]], the author of ''The Anatomy Of Thatcherism'' [and the mother of [[Oliver Letwin]]], introduced their students to a type of Conservatism at odds with the progressive drift of Edward Heath's government.<p>Cowling's Conservatism was broadly a belief in letting those born to rule get on with it, rather than succumbing to modish liberalism. He argued that, in politics, 'elites... should eschew guilt and self-doubt to perform the duties of their stations' and that politics itself was 'primarily a matter of rhetoric and manoeuvre' among the small group of leaders whose 'accepted authority constituted political leadership'. <ref>Extract from ''Michael Portillo, The Future Of The Right'' by Michael Gove, published in ''Daily Mail'', 10 October 1995; p.9</ref></p></blockquote>
-Oborne cites disgraced Labour spindoctor [[Damian McBride]], who studied under Cowling at Peterhouse, as an example of the historian's political influence:
+[[Kenneth Minogue]] wrote of Cowling on the [[Social Affairs Unit]] blog that: ‘His main target was a kind of pious high mindedness that he detected lurking behind the dominant liberalism of political life and the deceptive pretence of impartiality in a lot of academic writing.’ <ref>Kenneth Minogue, ‘[http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000582.php The LSE Right on the Peterhouse Right: Kenneth Minogue on Maurice Cowling, the Conservative as Social Critic]’, Social Affairs Unit, 19 September 2005</ref> Cowling himself described the ‘Peterhouse Right’ as ‘a small group of dons whose teaching and writing is about the history of politics, art thought and religion’ and who ‘share common prejudices - against the higher liberalism and all sorts of liberal rhetoric, including ecclesiastical liberal rhetoric’. <ref>quoted in Geoffrey Wheatcroft, ‘Inside Story: On the eve of the Conservative Party's latest budget, Geoffrey Wheatcroft re-ports on how Cambridge's smallest and oldest college has become the breeding ground of the radical Right’, ''Guardian'', 26 November 1993; p.8</ref> According to Jonathan Parry, 'His resentment of the naïvety and power of the liberal intelligentsia was fuelled by its fervent opposition to the use of force, and its faith in the United Nations, particularly during the Suez crisis of 1956.' <ref>Jonathan Parry, ‘[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/95252 Cowling, Maurice John (1926–2005)]’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, May 2009 [Accessed 15 Oct 2010]</ref>
-::Cowling, who enjoyed disturbingly close connections to Tory central office, has been the mentor of a variety of other political figures. Among them are John Major's defence secretary [[Michael Portillo]], the rising Tory star [[Michael Gove]], and [[Mike Ellam]], the current Downing Street press spokesman. It is Brown's tragedy that he has become a prime minister on the Namierite model.<ref>Peter Oborne, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/19/politicians-media-spin The Tories must avoid the cult of the celebrity prime minister], The Observer, 19 April 2009.</ref>
 ==Affiliations==