Biography

He is a supporter of the British Conservative Party.

He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1994.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1984.

He was an Open Scholar at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

He was a lecturer in History, Department of International History, London School of Economics, 1972-1998.

What I approved of with Margaret Thatcher was first of all that her high-camp quality was quite wonderful, especially after she had received voice training, and had this swooping contralto, with the occasional turns of basso profundo when she really got going.

Women are not a panacea, they don't bring a miracle, they don't do mysterious good.

Some of our very worst ministers have been women. Please let's confront this. We had Estelle Morris, who at least had the merit of realising she couldn't do the job and resigned within a year. It's true, she knew she couldn't do it. And we had Jacqui Smith, who with intensely strong competition is probably the worst Home Secretary ever.

My sense in politics is that successful women are at least as brutal and nasty as the successful men, and Margaret Thatcher's an outstanding example.

The BBC is in many ways wonderful, but it is not good at recognising when a programme has come to the end of its natural life. Programmes are like weeds - they spring up, grow quickly, and then should be allowed to die quickly. I think the BBC needs to be much more adventurous. I am horrified by this appetite they have for relaunches and remakes. They should be thinking about doing something new.