Gazette

Myrtle Boal

A belated tribute to Myrtle Boal who died at the end of last year.

Myrtle, a committed Christian and small businesswoman, was an enthusiastic supporter of the Northern Ireland Conservatives and stood for the party a number of times, including at the 1992 General Election.

She supported me throughout my time running the Conservative Christian Fellowship and I spent two happy weekends in Northern Ireland with her, the North Down Conservatives and her church and family friends.

Many readers will know her from Party Conference.

Illness took her away from all of us, before she had the opportunity to enjoy retirement. Kind, clever, passionate, principled, hilarious company, faithful. She is missed.

Tim Montgomerie

> Appreciation from James O'Fee

Baroness Park of Monmouth, 1921-2010

It has been announced this morning that Daphne Park, Baroness Park of Monmouth has died, aged 88.

After a long career as a diplomat and an intelligence officer, she was ennobled in 1990 and sat as a Conservative peer.

Back in 2003, Rachel Sylvester wrote this wonderful profile of the woman she knew as "Daffers" when she was a student at Oxford in the late 1980s (where the future peer was a Pro-Vice Chancellor):

With her sensible shoes, her beady brown eyes and her Lady Bracknell voice, Baroness Park of Monmouth does not look the Queen of Spies. At 81, she bears a closer resemblance to Miss Marple than James Bond. She drinks black coffee - stirred, not shaken - instead of martinis, and, for most of her career, she drove a battered old 2CV rather than a customised Aston Martin.

But Daphne Park was the true face of British Intelligence for the second half of the 20th century. As one of MI6's most senior controllers for more than 30 years, she ran agents in Moscow during the Cold War, infiltrated Hanoi during the Vietnam conflict and smuggled men out of the Congo, post-independence, in the boot of her car. When she refers to "the office", she means MI6.

She remained an active peer until her death, making what was her final contribution in the chamber just last month, on the National Security Strategy.

Jonathan Isaby

Happy 60th Birthday to Eric Ollerenshaw!

There was a bumper turnout last night for a surprise birthday party for Eric Ollerenshaw, who turns sixty this week.

Eric is Conservative candidate for Lancaster and Fleetwood at the general election and chief of staff to Baroness Warsi, with whom he has been able to use his own wide experience of community cohesion issues from his time as a Hackney councillor and GLA member.

It was a fitting tribute to the affection and respect in which Eric is held that last night's party was attended by such a large cohort of political friends - and indeed opponents.

Lancaster and Fleetwood is a "must-win" marginal at the election, where Eric requires a swing of 4.4% to gain the seat. All the very best to him in the battle ahead!

Jonathan Isaby

> Gazette is a new ConHome feature where we want to report news and announcements that will be of interest to the "Conservative family", not dissimilar to the Court and Social section of the broadsheet newspapers. If you have any news you want to share, please email Jonathan or Tim.

Welcome to ConservativeHome's Gazette

On these pages we want to be able to report news that might be of interest to the 'Conservative family'. The sad death of a much loved grassroots member. The retirement of a dedicated party agent. The appointment of a CCHQ staffer to a new job outside of the party. It's a bit of an experiment but email us with any news that you think might be of interest to the wider party. It's the usual address: Jonathan or Tim.

Andrew Marshall pays tribute to John Antcliffe, 1961-2010

By Andrew Marshall

Former Conservative parliamentary candidate John Antcliffe has died suddenly, aged 48.  John was an outstanding political talent in his generation and a tireless supporter of the Conservative cause.

John read history at Corpus Christi, Cambridge and was Chairman of CUCA and Treasurer of the Cambridge Union.  After graduating he joined Rothschilds and was elected a councillor in his home borough of Greenwich.  He fought the February 1987 Greenwich by-election (against Rosie Barnes of the SDP) and then fought the seat again at the 1987 general election - a very short straw to draw.  To the surprise of all who knew him, John didn't succeed in being selected for a winnable seat in the coming years, but remained an active supporter of the party, giving freely of his time in supporting others and in helping raise money for the Party.

John's business career flourished - after becoming head of corporate communications for Rothschilds, he moved into financial PR in the late 1990s, working for Bell Pottinger before founding his own agency Smithfield, along with John Kiely, in the early 2000s.  He was also President of the Council of the Royal Albert Hall, having been an assiduous member of the Council over the last decade.

John would have been an outstanding constituency MP and minister.  He touched many people, and will be particularly remembered for his sharp mind and wonderful wit, which was combined with a genuine interest and concern for others.

There will be a private family funeral followed by a memorial service in May.

> 23/3: FT report