Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior, high-ranking official within the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Foreign Secretary is a member of the Cabinet, the post is considered one of the Great Offices of State, it is considered a position similar to that of Foreign Minister in other countries. The Foreign Secretary reports directly to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; the Foreign Secretary's remit includes: relations with foreign countries, matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of Nations and the Overseas Territories in addition to the promotion of British interests abroad. The Foreign Secretary has ministerial oversight for the Secret Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Headquarters; the Foreign Secretary works out of the Foreign Office in Whitehall, the post's official residences are 1 Carlton Gardens in London and Chevening in Kent.
Margaret Beckett, appointed in 2006 by Tony Blair, is the only woman to have held the post. The current Foreign Secretary is Jeremy Hunt, following Boris Johnson's resignation on 9 July 2018; the position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was created in the British governmental reorganisation of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departments became the Home and Foreign Offices, respectively. The position of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs came into existence in 1968 with the merger of the functions of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs into a single Department of State; the India Office was a constituent predecessor department of the Foreign Office, as were the Colonial Office and the Dominions Office. Post created through the merger of the Commonwealth Office. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations Secretary of State for the Colonies Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs Foreign minister Great Offices of State FCO website
1884 United States presidential election
The United States presidential election of 1884 was the 25th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1884. It saw the first election of a Democrat as President of the United States since the 1856. Governor Grover Cleveland of New York defeated Republican James G. Blaine of Maine. Cleveland won the presidential nomination on the second ballot of the 1884 Democratic National Convention. President Chester A. Arthur had acceded to the presidency in 1881 following the assassination of James A. Garfield, but he was unsuccessful in his bid for nomination to a full term. Blaine, who had served as Secretary of State under President Garfield, defeated Arthur and other candidates on the fourth ballot of the 1884 Republican National Convention. A group of reformist Republicans known as "Mugwumps" abandoned Blaine's candidacy, viewing him as corrupt; the campaign was marred by personal invective. Blaine's reputation for public corruption and his inadvertent alienation of Catholic voters proved decisive.
In the election, Cleveland won 48.9% of the nationwide popular vote and 219 electoral votes, carrying the Solid South and several key swing states. Blaine won 48.3 % of 182 electoral votes. Cleveland won his home state by just 1,047 votes. Two third-party candidates, John St. John of the Prohibition Party and Benjamin Butler of the Greenback Party and the Anti-Monopoly Party, each won less than 2% of the popular vote; the 1884 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, on June 3–6, with former Speaker of the House James G. Blaine from Maine, President Arthur, Senator George F. Edmunds from Vermont as the frontrunners. Though he was still popular, Arthur did not make a serious bid for a full-term nomination, knowing that his increasing health problems meant he would not survive a second term. Blaine led on the first ballot, with Arthur second, Edmunds third; this order did not change on successive ballots as Blaine increased his lead, he won a majority on the fourth ballot. After nominating Blaine, the convention chose Senator John A. Logan from Illinois as the vice-presidential nominee.
Blaine remains the only Presidential nominee to come from Maine. Famed Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman was considered a possible Republican candidate, but ruled himself out with what has become known as the Sherman pledge: "If drafted, I will not run. Robert Todd Lincoln, Secretary of War of the United States, son of the past President Abraham Lincoln, was strongly courted by politicians and the media of the day to seek the presidential or vice-presidential nomination. Lincoln however was as averse to the nomination; the Democrats convened in Chicago on July 8–11, 1884, with New York Governor Grover Cleveland as clear frontrunner, the candidate of northern reformers and sound-money men. Although Tammany Hall bitterly opposed his nomination, the machine represented a minority of the New York delegation, its only chance to block Cleveland was to break the unit rule, which mandated that the votes of an entire delegation be cast for only one candidate, this it failed to do. Daniel N. Lockwood from New York placed Cleveland's name in nomination.
But this rather lackluster address was eclipsed by the seconding speech of Edward S. Bragg from Wisconsin, who roused the delegates with a memorable slap at Tammany. "They love him, gentlemen," Bragg said of Cleveland, "and they respect him, not only for himself, for his character, for his integrity and judgment and iron will, but they love him most of all for the enemies he has made." As the convention rocked with cheers, Tammany boss John Kelly lunged at the platform, screaming that he welcomed the compliment. On the first ballot, Cleveland led the field with 392 votes, more than 150 votes short of the nomination. Trailing him were Thomas F. Bayard from Delaware, 170. McDonald from Indiana, 56. Randall withdrew in Cleveland's favor; this move, together with the Southern bloc scrambling aboard the Cleveland bandwagon, was enough to put him over the top of the second ballot, with 683 votes, to 81.5 for Bayard and 45.5 for Thomas A. Hendricks from Indiana. Hendricks was nominated unanimously for vice-president on the first ballot after John C.
Black, William Rosecrans, George Washington Glick withdrew their names from consideration. Anti-Monopoly candidates: The Anti-Monopoly National Convention assembled in the Hershey Music Hall in Chicago, Illinois; the party had been formed to express opposition to the business practices of the emerging nationwide companies. There were around 200 delegates present from 16 states, but 61 of those delegates had come from Michigan and Illinois. Alson Streeter was the temporary chairman and John F. Henry was the permanent chairman. Benjamin F. Butler was nominated for president on the first ballot. Delegates from New York, Washington D. C. and Maryland bolted the convention when it appeared that no discussion of other candidates would be allowed. Allen Thurman and James Weaver were put forward as alternatives to Butler, but Weaver declined, not wishing to run another national campaign for political office, Thurman's name failed to generate much enthusiasm. Butler, while far from opposed to the nomination, hoped to be nominated by the Democratic or Republican parties, or at least in the case of the former, to influence the party platform into being more favorable to greenbacks.
However, only the Greenback Party would endorse his candidacy. The convention chose not to nominate
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, better known as Boris Johnson, is a British politician and popular historian. He has been the Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015, he had been the MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008. He was Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, from 2016 to 2018 he served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. A member of the Conservative Party, Johnson identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically and liberal policies. Born in New York City to wealthy upper-middle class English parents, Johnson was educated at the European School of Brussels, Ashdown House School, Eton College, he studied Classics at Balliol College, where he was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1986. He was sacked for falsifying a quotation, he became The Daily Telegraph's Brussels correspondent, with his articles exerting a strong influence on growing Eurosceptic sentiment among the British right-wing. He was assistant editor from 1994 to 1999 before taking the editorship of The Spectator from 1999 to 2005.
Joining the Conservatives, he was elected MP for Henley in 2001, under party leaders Michael Howard and David Cameron he was in the Shadow Cabinet. He adhered to the Conservatives' party line but adopted a more liberal stance on issues like LGBT rights in parliamentary votes. Making regular television appearances, writing books, remaining active in journalism, Johnson became one of the most conspicuous politicians in the United Kingdom. Selected as Conservative candidate for the London mayoral election of 2008, Johnson defeated Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone and resigned his seat in the House of Commons. During his first term as Mayor of London, he banned alcohol consumption on much of the capital's public transport, championed London's financial sector, introduced the New Routemaster buses, cycle hire scheme, Thames cable car. In 2012, he was reelected to the office. In 2015 he was elected MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, stepping down as Mayor of London the following year. In 2016, Johnson became a prominent figure in the successful Vote Leave campaign to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union.
He became Foreign Secretary under Theresa May's premiership, but resigned in criticism of May's approach to Brexit and the Chequers Agreement. Johnson is a controversial figure in British politics and journalism. Supporters have praised him as an entertaining and popular figure with appeal beyond traditional Conservative voters. Conversely, he has been criticised by figures on both the left and right, who accused him of elitism, dishonesty and using racist and homophobic language. Johnson is a number of fictionalised portrayals. Johnson was born to British parents on 19 June 1964 in Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City, his birth was registered with both the US authorities and the city's British Consulate, thereby granting him both American and British citizenship. His father, Stanley Johnson, was studying economics at Columbia University. Stanley's paternal grandfather was Circassian-Turkish journalist Ali Kemal. Johnson's mother was Charlotte Fawcett. S. In reference to his varied ancestry, Johnson has described himself as a "one-man melting pot" – with a combination of Muslims and Christians as great-grandparents.
Johnson was given the middle name "Boris" after a Russian émigré. Johnson's parents lived opposite the Chelsea Hotel, although in September 1964 returned to Britain so Charlotte could study at the University of Oxford, she lived with her son in Summertown and gave birth to a daughter, Rachel, in 1965. In July 1965, the family moved to Crouch End in North London. C. where Stanley had gained employment with the World Bank. A third child, was born in September 1967. Stanley gained employment with a policy panel on population control, in June moving the family to Norwalk, Connecticut. In 1969, the family settled into Stanley's family farm near Winsford in Exmoor. There, Johnson gained his first experiences with fox hunting. Stanley was absent from Nethercote, leaving Johnson to be raised by his mother and au pairs; as a child, Johnson was quiet and studious, although he suffered from deafness, resulting in several operations to insert grommets into his ears. He and his siblings were encouraged to engage in high-brow activities from a young age, with high achievement being valued.
Having few or no friends other than their siblings, the children became close. In late 1969 the family relocated to Maida Vale, North London, where Stanley began post-doctoral research at the London School of Economics. In 1970, Charlotte and the children returned to Nethercote, where Johnson was schooled at the Winsford Village School, before returning to London to settle in Primrose Hill, there being educated at Primrose Hill Primary School. In late 1971 another son, was born to the family. After Stanley secured employment at the European Commission, he moved his family to Uccle, Brussels in April 1973, where Johnson became fluent in French. Charlotte had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalised with clinical depression, with Johnson and his s
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party; the Democrats' dominant worldview was once social conservatism and economic liberalism, while populism was its leading characteristic in the rural South. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate in the Progressive Party, beginning a switch of political platforms between the Democratic and Republican Party over the coming decades, leading to Woodrow Wilson being elected as the first fiscally progressive Democrat. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has promoted a social liberal platform, supporting social justice. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business and Southern conservative-populist anti-business wings.
The New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South. After the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most Southern whites and many Northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level; the once-powerful labor union element became less supportive after the 1970s. White Evangelicals and Southerners became Republican at the state and local level since the 1990s. People living in metropolitan areas, women and gender minorities, college graduates, racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, such as Jewish Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans and African Americans, tend to support the Democratic Party much more than they support the rival Republican Party; the Democratic Party's philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state.
It seeks to provide government regulation in the economy. These interventions, such as the introduction of social programs, support for labor unions, affordable college tuitions, moves toward universal health care and equal opportunity, consumer protection and environmental protection form the core of the party's economic policy. Fifteen Democrats have served as President of the United States; the first was President Andrew Jackson, the seventh president and served from 1829 to 1837. The most recent was President Barack Obama, the 44th president and held office from 2009 to 2017. Following the 2018 midterm elections, the Democrats held a majority in the House of Representatives, "trifectas" in 14 states, the mayoralty of numerous major American cities, such as Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Portland and Washington, D. C. Twenty-three state governors were Democrats, the Party was the minority party in the Senate and in most state legislatures; as of March 2019, four of the nine Justices of the Supreme Court had been appointed by Democratic presidents.
Democratic Party officials trace its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792. That party inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party arose in the 1830s with the election of Andrew Jackson. Since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues, they have been more liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy, both parties have changed position several times; the Democratic Party evolved from the Jeffersonian Republican or Democratic-Republican Party organized by Jefferson and Madison in opposition to the Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. The party favored republicanism; the Democratic-Republican Party came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812, the Federalists disappeared and the only national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans.
The era of one-party rule in the United States, known as the Era of Good Feelings, lasted from 1816 until the early 1830s, when the Whig Party became a national political group to rival the Democratic-Republicans. However, the Democratic-Republican Party still had its own internal factions, they split over the choice of a successor to President James Monroe and the party faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles, led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, became the modern Democratic Party. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828: Jacksonians believed the people's will had prevailed. Through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president; the Democrats became the nation's first well-organized national party and tight party organization became the hallmark of nineteenth-century American politics. Opposing factions led by Henry Clay helped form the Whig Party; the Democratic Party had a small yet decisive advantage over the Whigs until the 1850s, when the Whigs fell apart over the issue of slavery.
In 1854, angry with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, anti-slavery Dem
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U. S. history. As a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States; the loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, secessionist partisans in seven Southern slave states declared state secessions from the country and unveiled their defiant formation of a Confederate States of America in rebellion against the U. S. Constitutional government; the Confederacy grew to control over half the territory in eleven states, it claimed the additional states of Kentucky and Missouri by assertions from exiled native secessionists without territory or population.
These were given full representation in the Confederate Congress throughout the Civil War. The two remaining slave holding states of Delaware and Maryland were invited to join the Confederacy, but nothing substantial developed; the Confederate States was never diplomatically recognized by the government of the United States or by that of any foreign country. The states that remained loyal to the U. S. were known as the Union. The Union and the Confederacy raised volunteer and conscription armies that fought in the South over the course of four years. Intense combat left 620,000 to 750,000 people dead, more than the number of U. S. military deaths in all other wars combined. The war ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Confederate generals throughout the southern states followed suit. Much of the South's infrastructure was destroyed the transportation systems; the Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, four million black slaves were freed.
During the Reconstruction Era that followed the war, national unity was restored, the national government expanded its power, civil rights were granted to freed black slaves through amendments to the Constitution and federal legislation. In the 1860 presidential election, led by Abraham Lincoln, supported banning slavery in all the U. S. territories. The Southern states viewed this as a violation of their constitutional rights and as the first step in a grander Republican plan to abolish slavery; the three pro-Union candidates together received an overwhelming 82% majority of the votes cast nationally: Republican Lincoln's votes centered in the north, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas' votes were distributed nationally and Constitutional Unionist John Bell's votes centered in Tennessee and Virginia; the Republican Party, dominant in the North, secured a plurality of the popular votes and a majority of the electoral votes nationally. He was the first Republican Party candidate to win the presidency.
However, before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies declared secession and formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, with an average of 49 percent. Of those states whose legislatures resolved for secession, the first seven voted with split majorities for unionist candidates Douglas and Bell, or with sizable minorities for those unionists. Of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession. Outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincoln's March 4, 1861, inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war. Speaking directly to the "Southern States", he attempted to calm their fears of any threats to slavery, reaffirming, "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists.
I believe I have no lawful right to do so, I have no inclination to do so." After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed and both sides prepared for war. The Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on "King Cotton" that they would intervene, but none did, none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter. While in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive during 1861–1862. In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy much of its western armies, seized New Orleans; the successful 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lee's Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grant's command of all Union armies in 1864. Inflicting an ever-tightening naval blockade of Confederate ports, the Union marshaled the resources and manpower to attack the Confederacy from all directions, leading to the fall of Atlanta to William T. Sherman and his march to th
Roscoe Conkling
Roscoe Conkling was a politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party, the first Republican senator from New York to be elected for three terms, the last person to turn down a U. S. Supreme Court appointment after he had been confirmed to the post. While in the House, Conkling served as bodyguard for Representative Thaddeus Stevens, a sharp-tongued anti-slavery representative, supported the Republican War effort. Conkling, temperate and detested tobacco, was known for his physical condition, maintained through regular exercise and boxing, an unusual devotion for his time. Conkling was elected to the Senate in 1867 as a leading Radical, who supported the rights of African Americans during Reconstruction; as leader of the Stalwarts, Conkling controlled patronage at the New York Customs House. Although Conkling was supported by President Ulysses S. Grant, Conkling did not support Grant's Civil Service Commission reform initiative.
Conkling refused to accept Grant's nomination of him as Chief Justice of the United States, believing his talents belonged in the Senate. The control over patronage led to a bitter conflict between Conkling and President Rutherford B. Hayes. Conkling opposed Hayes's appointment of William M. Evarts as Secretary of State. Conkling publicly led opposition to Hayes's attempt to impose Civil Service Reform on the New York Customs House. In 1880, Conkling supported Grant for President. Conkling's conflict with Garfield over New York Customs House patronage led to his resignation from the Senate in May 1881. Upon Garfield's assassination in 1881, Vice President Chester A. Arthur became President; when he offered his friend Conkling an associate justiceship on the Supreme Court, Conkling accepted the offer and was confirmed by the Senate. However, Conkling refused to serve, the last person to have done so, he practiced law in New York until his death in 1888. Conkling was born on October 30, 1829, in Albany, New York, to Alfred Conkling, a U.
S. Representative and federal judge and his wife Eliza Cockburn. Raised in an atmosphere of law and politics, early associations with notable figures of the day left an impression on young Roscoe. However, described by his father as "utterly untutored" and a "romping boy," Roscoe was left in the care of Professor George W. Clarke at the Mount Washington Collegiate Institute in New York City so that he may "be trained to studious habits." While referring to a 1787 British textbook titled "The Art of Speaking," which emphasized the importance of facial action and gesture and his older brother took lessons in diction from an English professor named Harvey and delivered speeches to each other for practice's sake. Roscoe entered the Auburn Academy in 1843, where he remained for three years; as a schoolboy, Roscoe's intimidating appearance and intellect demanded attention. As a childhood friend describes him, young Roscoe was "as large and massive in his mind as he was in his frame, accomplished in his studies what he did in his social life — a mastery and command which his companions yielded to him as due."
At the age of seventeen, Roscoe opted to forego a college education in favor of studying law under Joshua A. Spencer and Francis Kernan in Utica, New York. Roscoe made an impression upon his preceptors; when asked to supply a Whig orator who could stand up to Democratic bullies at a local village meeting, Spencer's response was "I shall send Mr. Conkling. Integrating himself into the "society" in Utica, Roscoe made himself heard on a variety of issues those concerning human rights. For example, though only eighteen at the time, Roscoe's deep sympathy for the sufferers of the Great Famine in Ireland led him to speak on behalf of victims of starvation at various venues in Central New York. Additionally, as Theodore M. Pomeroy recalls fifteen years before the Civil War Roscoe displayed a deep abhorrence for slavery, or as he described it, "man's inhumanity to man." He married Julia Catherine Seymour, sister of the Democratic politician and Governor of New York Horatio Seymour. His first political endeavor came in 1848, when he made campaign speeches on behalf of Taylor and Fillmore.
He was admitted to the bar in 1850, in the same year became district attorney of Oneida County by appointment of Governor Fish. In 1852 he returned to Utica, where in the next few years he established a reputation as a lawyer of ability. Up to 1852, in which year he stumped New York State for General Winfield Scott, the Whig candidate for the presidency, Conkling was identified with the Whig Party, but in the movement that resulted in the organization of the Republican Party he took an active part, his work, both as a political manager and an orator, contributed toward carrying New York in 1856 for Frémont and Dayton, the Republican nominees. Conkling was elected Mayor of Utica in 1858, elected as a Republican to the 36th and 37th United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1859, to March 3, 1863, he was Chairman of the U. S. House Committee on the District of Columbia, he refused to follow the financial policy of his party in 1862, delivered a notable speech against the passage of the Legal Tender Act, which made a certain class of treasury notes receivable for all public and private debts.
In this
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn is a British politician serving as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since 2015. Corbyn was first elected Member of Parliament for Islington North in 1983. Ideologically, he identifies himself as a democratic socialist. Born and raised in Wiltshire, Corbyn joined Labour as a teenager. Moving to London, he became a trade union representative. In 1974, he was elected to Haringey Council and became Secretary of Hornsey Constituency Labour Party, until elected as the MP for Islington North in 1983, his activism has included roles in Anti-Fascist Action, the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, advocating for a united Ireland. As a backbench MP, he voted against the Labour whip, including "New Labour" governments under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, he chaired the Stop the War Coalition from 2011 to 2015. Corbyn was elected Labour leader in 2015. Taking the party to the left, he advocated renationalisation of public utilities and the railways, a less interventionist military policy, reversals of austerity cuts to welfare and public services.
After Labour MPs sought to remove him in 2016, he won a second leadership contest. Although critical of the European Union, he supported continued membership in the 2016 referendum. In the 2017 general election, Labour again finished as the second-largest party in parliament, but increased their share of the vote to 40%, resulting in a net gain of 30 seats and a hung parliament. Corbyn has been criticised in relation to allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party and for alleged antisemitic associations prior to becoming leader. Corbyn has apologised and asserted his record of opposing antisemitism and his commitment to rooting it out in the party. Corbyn was brought up in nearby Kington St Michael in Wiltshire, he is the youngest of the four sons of Naomi Loveday, a maths teacher, David Benjamin Corbyn, an electrical engineer and expert in power rectifiers. His brother Piers Corbyn is a physicist and weather forecaster, his parents were Labour Party members and peace campaigners who met in the 1930s at a committee meeting in support of the Spanish Republic at Conway Hall during the Spanish Civil War.
When Corbyn was seven years old, the family moved to Pave Lane in Shropshire, where his father bought Yew Tree Manor, a 17th-century country house, once part of the Duke of Sutherland's Lilleshall estate. Corbyn was educated at Castle House School, an independent preparatory school near Newport, before attending Adams' Grammar School as a day student. While still at school, he became active in The Wrekin constituency Young Socialists, his local Labour Party, the League Against Cruel Sports, he joined the Labour Party at age 16 and achieved two E-grade A-Levels, the lowest-possible passing grade, before leaving school at 18. Corbyn joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1966 whilst at school and became one of its three vice-chairs and subsequently vice-president. After school, Corbyn worked as a reporter for a local newspaper, the Newport and Market Drayton Advertiser. At around the age of 19 he spent two years doing Voluntary Service Overseas in Jamaica as a youth worker and geography teacher.
He subsequently travelled through Latin America in 1969 and 1970, visiting Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Whilst in Brazil he participated in a student demonstration in São Paulo against the Brazilian military government, he attended a May Day march in Santiago, where the atmosphere around Salvador Allende's Popular Unity alliance which swept to power in the Chilean elections of 1970 made an impression on him: " noticed something different from anything I had experienced... What Popular Unity and Allende had done was weld together the folk tradition, the song tradition, the artistic tradition and the intellectual tradition". Returning to the UK in 1971, he worked as an official for the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers. Corbyn began a course in Trade Union Studies at North London Polytechnic but left after a year without a degree after a series of arguments with his tutors over the curriculum, he worked as a trade union organiser for the National Union of Public Employees and Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, where his union was approached by Tony Benn and "encouraged... to produce a blueprint for workers' control of British Leyland".
He was appointed a member of a district health authority and in early 1974, at the age of 24, he was elected to Haringey Council in South Hornsey ward. After boundary changes in 1978 he was re-elected in Harringay ward as councillor, remaining so until 1983; as a delegate from Hornsey to the Labour Party conference in 1978, Corbyn moved a motion calling for dentists to be employed by the NHS rather than private contractors. He spoke in another debate, describing a motion calling for greater support for law and order as "more appropriate to the National Front than to the Labour Party". Corbyn became the local Labour Party's agent and organiser, had responsibility for the 1979 general election campaign in Hornsey. Around this time, he became involved with the London Labour Briefing. Described by The Times in 1981 as "Briefing's founder", The Economist in a 1982 article named Corbyn as "Briefing's general secretary figure", as did a profile on Corbyn compiled by parliamentary biographer Andrew Roth in 2004, which alleges that he joined the editorial board as General Secretary in 1979.
Michael Crick in his 2016 edition of Militant says Corbyn was "a member of the editorial board", as does Lansley and Wolmar's 1989 work, The
![Illustration shows a group of men, some identified by name "Blackburn, D.B. Hill, Mclaughlin, Thurman, Jones, Hedden, [and] Hendricks" and some by association with quills behind their ears "Sun" Charles A. Dana, "Cincinnati Enquirer" John R. McLean, "World" Joseph Pulitzer, and "Star", with the newspaper editors pushing a wrapped figure labeled "This is the Mugwump! And don't you forget it!" into a crematorium labeled "Bourbon Crematory for Disbelievers in the Spoils System"; Hendricks stands on the right, next to an urn labeled "For Mugwump Ashes" and the others observe from the left. Puck and the figure representing "The Independent Party" are watching from a window in the background.](/wiki/File:A_%22_bogus%22_cremation_for_the_benefit_of_the_%22life-long_Democrats%22_LCCN2011661357.jpg)
. New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
