Peter Clarke (journalist)

Peter Clarke is a right wing journalist formerly the Scottish correspondent of the Economist magazine.

According to the Sunday Herald in 2002:

MSPs warned if the party lacks enthusiasm to fight for seats, they will lose ground. One critic said MSPs are seen as having gone native "with their snouts in the trough". Polls suggest they may be falling back on the low position they achieved in 1999. But Peter Clarke, a former adviser to Lord Joseph, claimed plotters want either to shift the party's position so it campaigns for abolition of Holyrood, or to put up candidates on an abolition platform who would refuse to take salaries or attend.

Unionist views

in the forthcoming Perth and Kinross by-election caused by the death of Sir Nicky Fairbairn, we have the intrusion of Northern Irish politics in the form of a candidate backed by the Ulster Unionist Party, determined to cause the government maximum embarrassment on its Irish peace efforts; arrangements are said to be well under way for a rebel Scottish Tory to stand as a "Scottish Unionist"... The Ulster Unionists, of course, have a vested interest in rubbing salt in these wounds. One fewer Tory MP means the government is even more dependent on its Unionist allies when it comes to the next vote of confidence in Major.

The Unionists look like having an effective advocate for their cause. Although details of exactly what they are doing remain elusive, their candidate looks likely to be Peter Clarke, maverick right-winger, newspaper columnist, former Scottish Tory parliamentary candidate and erstwhile assistant to arch-Unionist Enoch Powell. Clarke is a good communicator with an acid turn of phrase and a liking for controversy. As well as his undoubted interest in Ulster affairs - he used to be employed at Ulster Unionist party headquarters - it would be understandable if his motives also included a deep personal desire to cause the Conservative machine the maximum possible pain. He believes a dirty tricks campaign, including scurrilous allegations about his personal life, were once circulated to prevent him landing a promising parliamentary seat.

It's perhaps worth mentioning that the last time I saw Clarke speak was at a Scottish Young Conservative conference in Glasgow, when he shared a platform with an hard-line Ulster Tory. Both men went down a storm with the young men with shining eyes and dark suits. Clarke's views find favour with many Scottish Tory activists, especially - but not exclusively - the Young Conservatives. Clarke's concerns about the Irish situation are shared by a substantial number of activists who, having been whipped into a Unionist lather over the past few years, are proving very reluctant to swallow anything that looks to them like a lowering of the Union Jack.

Publications

• The Scotsman November 30, 2001, Friday STALE CLICHES IN A TAME CHAMBER - WHY ARE OUR MSPS SUCH NUMPTIES? BYLINE: Peter Clarke, SECTION: Pg. 19
• Scotland on Sunday November 4, 2001, Sunday NAKED AMBITION OF PR EXECUTIVE EXPOSED BYLINE: Peter Clarke SECTION: Pg. 6
• The Scotsman February 6, 2001, Tuesday POLITICS IS SO DULL WITHOUT THE ARISTOCRATS - LET'S BRING THEM BACK BYLINE: Peter Clarke SECTION: Pg. 15
• March of the revolutionary accountants The Scotsman, July 12, 1995, Wednesday, Pg. 11, 864 words, Peter Clarke Applauds Michael Forsyth'S Plans For A Shake-Up Of Scottish Office Budgets
• Think-tank top of the class The Scotsman, June 14, 1995, Wednesday, Pg. 11, 901 words, Peter Clarke Salutes The David Hume Institute For Continuing To Cause Merry Mischief