Cecil Parkinson, who died on January 22, was a brilliant politician who would have made a great Prime Minister. His work as Conservative Party Chairman was the focus of the following tribute by Alistair Lexden, published in The Times on January 27.
Cecil Parkinson was the most popular Chairman the Conservative party has ever had, winning enormous respect among those who worked for him in Conservative Central Office between 1981 and 1983. He was the only Party Chairman who regularly toured the building. He would sit on the floor and crack jokes. He taught us not to be afraid of Mrs Thatcher when she descended on us.
He brought us our first computers; the young Oliver Letwin sat up all night to master their intricacies. With one of the finest party professionals, Sir Anthony Garner, at his side, he modernised the arrangements for training constituency agents and increased their numbers, bringing the party’s organisation to a standard of efficiency which his successors sadly allowed to decline.
I remember how shocked he was on his return to the party chairmanship after the 1997 election, not least because some high election bonuses had been promised to individuals who did not deserve them. His lasting services to his party included the chairmanship of the Conservative Archive Trust which we set up together in the mid-1990s at the Bodleian Library.
The trust ensures the preservation of the largest collection of documents in the possession of a British political party, going back to the mid-19th century. He appreciated the importance of agents, and organisation, because he was the first constituency chairman to preside over the party.