Francis Urquhart

The Right Honourable Francis Urquhart MP
Francis Urquhart
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office October 20, 2011 – January 20, 2033
Monarch	Elizabeth II Charles III William V
Preceded by	Henry Collingridge
Succeeded by	Maxwell Stanbrook
Government Chief Whip
In office 13 June 1987 – 14 December 1991
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	John Wakeham
Succeeded by	Tim Stamper
Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire
In office 1st May 1997 – 29th July 2003
Member of Parliament for South West Cambridgeshire
In office 9th June 1983 – 1st May 1997
Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire
In office 16th March 1961 by-election – 9th June 1983
Personal details
Born	1936 Bruichcladdich
Died	29 July 2003 (aged 66) London, England
Political party	Conservative and Unionist
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Urquhart
Alma mater	Eton College Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Profession	Army Officer, Politician
Military service
Service/branch	British Army • Scots Guards
Rank	Lieutenant

Francis Ewan Urquhart (1937 –– 29 July 2003) is a fictional character created by Michael Dobbs. A Conservative politician, he appeared in a trilogy of novels: House of Cards in 1989, To Play the King in 1992 and The Final Cut in 1995. He was portrayed in television versions by Ian Richardson.

The "epitome of elegant evil", in the series Urquhart addressed the audience in asides, often quoting Shakespeare, or giving a knowing look to the camera. He used the catchphrase, "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment", or a variation thereon, as a deniable way of agreeing with people. The term has often been used in the real life British politics, and in the media, since the BBC airing of House of Cards in 1990. The first series, which opens with the battle within the Conservative Party to succeed Margaret Thatcher as its leader and as Prime Minister, gained instant popularity when she actually fell from power during its run.

Background

Urquhart has served for many years as Chief Whip of the Conservative Party. He is believed by most people to be an honest and decent man; as Lord 'Teddy' Billsborough remarks to Michael Samuels in House of Cards, "Dull dog, but sound as a bell. The odd thing about Francis Urquhart is that he'd never stab you in the back, however much he disliked you. Not many left like Urquhart. Dying breed, more's the pity." Prior to events of the novel, the characterisation seems accurate, but when the new Prime Minister rejects a number of original ideas suggested by Urquhart, including a new memorandum for a Cabinet reshuffle in which he would hold a senior Cabinet post, Urquhart is revealed as an ambitious, vengeful and manipulative man who lusts after power and is willing to commit murder and blackmail to get it. (Dobbs chose his initials very deliberately ). He is encouraged by his equally amoral wife, Elizabeth.

The books reveal that Urquhart was a tutor before entering politics and that he felt pressured by his family to live up to the memory of his older brother, Allistar, who died in the Second World War. He also comments in To Play the King that his family was originally Scottish, but moved to England when James I took power: "'My family came south with James I. We were defenders of the English throne before your family was ever heard of,'" he says to the King when forcing his abdication. In the television version of The Final Cut, Urquhart claims that he was born in the Scottish Highlands and flashback sequences feature him being in the Army, which earlier books suggest he was not. In the TV series, he tells a newspaper reporter he was "'a young lieutenant in the Scots Guards'" when asked about his youth. He has a fondness for Bruichladdich malt whisky. He is also fond of hunting and shooting both at Chequers and his own original country estate (seen only in House of Cards) near Southampton. The tie he wears in the TV series suggests that he attended Eton College.

Politics

Urqhuart is hard right-wing. His policies include abolishing the Arts Council, outlawing vagrancy, reintroducing conscription and banning pensioners from National Health Service treatment unless they have paid for Age Insurance. He describes himself to his wife, Elizabeth, in To Play the King as: "I'm not a brute, Elizabeth, just a plain, no-nonsense, old-fashioned Tory". He is contemptuous of the welfare state. He appears to be at least sceptical of the European Union.

During an interview, Urquhart expounds his views of British society, by saying: "There is a deep division in society today between those who want to work and enjoy the fruits of their labour and abide by and uphold the laws of the land, and an increasing number of what it has become fashionable to call "the disaffected", "the disadvantaged", "the differently motivated", what we used to call lazy people, dishonest people, who don't want to take responsibility for their actions or their lives". In the same interview, he lambastes youth culture for its depraved morality by saying: "It is not right that our people in the very prime and flower of youth should be spending half the day loathing in bed and the rest selling each other drugs and stealing from each other". In his view, conscription is the best solution to "give young people the chance to learn self discipline again, a chance to feel proud of themselves". Finally, his detestation of the welfare state can be gleaned from his "great belief of Britain [...], [...] not a nation of social workers or clients of social workers" and the fact that "Britain is a fierce proud nation and [...] still - God willing - a nation to be reckoned".

His analysis of the malaise of certain sectors of society was later used by the media and politicians for finding a rationale to the 2011 London riots. Urquhart, however, never hinted at immigration as a cause to social problems and unrest. Although his ministerial cabinets were all made of white, British, mainly male politicians, Urquhart's policies are not racialist.

His foreign policy takes after Margaret Thatcher's stance on world affairs: in that regard, Urquhart thinks that Britain has more to teach the world and Europe in particular, than the other way round, and would like to see the rest of the EU to speak English - a position that would then completely alienate the Foreign Secretary Tom Makepeace. Besides, his strong belief in discipline and the rule of law shapes his foreign policy in Cyprus, where he authorises the use of force against schoolgirls who were blocking military vehicles.

His economic policies are poorly outlined, but seem to favour the laissez-faire deregulatory approach of Margaret Thatcher and a relaxation of anti-trust laws.

House of Cards

"Nothing lasts forever: even the longest, the most glittering reign must come to an end someday". Those are the first word pronounced by the Chief Whip of the British Conservative Party, Francis Ewan Urquhart, referring to the fall from power of PM Margaret Thatcher. The winner of the ensuing party leadership contest is Henry Collingridge, a moderate but undecisive conservative. In the first series, Urquhart submits a memorandum to the new Prime Minister advancing the idea of a cabinet reshuffle that would contemplate a prominent ministerial position for the Chief Whip. Henry Collingridge discards his proposals and denies Urquhart the promotion he's been craving, urging him to orchestrate a political revenge.

Each government department has a whip attached who reports regularly to the Chief Whip. In addition, all delicate secrets and potential scandals are handled by the Chief Whip, who is in charge of discipline and morale on the backbenches. Urquhart exploits his position and inside knowledge, and he regularly leaks information and scandal to the press to undermine Collingridge and ultimately force him to resign. Most of his leaks are to his keen supporter Mattie Storin, a reporter for The Chronicle, a (fictional) pro-Tory paper (however, in the novel it is the real Telegraph), whose thuggish proprietor Benjamin Landless woos Urquhart with promises of lax competition in the election, as Landless expands his media empire.

He then eliminates his enemies in the resulting leadership contest by means of scandals that he set up himself or publicised. These include threatening to publish photographs of Harold Earle (Education Secretary) receiving oral sex from a rent boy; causing Peter MacKenzie, the Health Minister, to accidentally run over a disabled man; forcing Patrick Woolton, the Foreign Secretary, to withdraw by threatening him with a tape of his one-night stand with Penny Guy (secretary and mistress to Urquhart's right-hand man Roger O'Neill). His remaining rival, Michael Samuels (Environment Secretary), is alleged by the tabloids to have been a "gay lib commie" and CND-supporter at university. Urquhart thereby reaches the brink of victory.

Prior to the final ballot he murders Roger O'Neill, whom he blackmailed into helping him to remove the Prime Minister from office. Urquhart invites O'Neill to his country house near Southampton, gets him drunk, and mixes rat poison with his cocaine. This is because O'Neill has become unstable (due to his cocaine addiction and break-up with Penny) and knows too much about Urquhart's activities.

The ending of the novel and TV series differ significantly (indeed, only the ending and popularity of the TV series prompted the author Michael Dobbs to write the sequels). Mattie untangles Urquhart's web and confronts him in the deserted roof garden of the Houses of Parliament. In the novel, he commits suicide by jumping to his death. In the TV drama, he throws her off the roof, killing her, and claims she committed suicide. In the TV version, Urquhart had gained her ultimate trust by having a sexual relationship with her (with his wife's consent). This was strangely paternal; when Urquhart informed her "'Now that is absurd, Mattie. You don't expect me to fall for that. I'm old enough to be your father'", she seems to be further attracted to him, and called him 'daddy.' Shortly after murdering her, he is driven to Buckingham Palace to be invited by the Queen to form a government as Prime Minister. He does not know that Mattie was taping their final conversation and that someone would find the tape.

To Play the King

The second instalment starts with Francis Urquhart, in his second term as Prime Minister, feeling a sense of anti-climax. Having gained great power and influence, he wonders how to use them. His wife comments that he needs "'Something or someone to present you with a new challenge. Something to stimulate you intellectually. Bring out the best in you.'" This challenge is shortly provided in the form of the new King. The King has a strong social conscience, and is concerned about what he sees as the result of Urquhart's hard-line policies. He does not directly criticise Urquhart in public, but makes speeches about the direction he wishes the country to pursue, which contrasts with the Government's policies. Urquhart wins the confidence of the King's estranged wife and uses his influence in the press to reveal intimate and scandalous secrets concerning the Royal Family. The King is dragged into campaigning on behalf of the Opposition during a general election which Urquhart wins, creating a constitutional crisis and finally forcing the King to abdicate in favour of his teenage son, whom Urquhart expects to be a much less influential Monarch.

Urquhart also murders his former ally and Party Chairman, Tim Stamper after he learns of Mattie's tape and that Stamper acquired it and now, embittered by Urquhart's failure to reward his loyalty, Stamper plans to go to the police with the tape. He also eliminates his own aide (and lover) Sarah Harding, in whom Stamper had confided. Both perish in car explosions, made to appear as IRA terrorist attacks, arranged by his bodyguard, Commander Corder.

With a tame monarch and no threat in sight, Urquhart is secure as Prime Minister.

The Final Cut

The last installment in the trilogy portrays an embattled and increasingly unpopular man who is determined to "'beat that bloody woman's record'" of longevity as Prime Minister. He is aware that, like all statesmen, he will not rule forever and he is determined to 'make my mark on the [world].' He sets about reuniting Cyprus, both to secure his legacy, and to gain substantial revenue for 'The Urquhart Trust' after a Turkish Cypriot businessman, Nureş, who informs Urquhart of an international sea boundary deal, that consequently gives the exploitation rights for offshore oil to the British and the Turks. His past is catching up with him, however - a tenacious Cypriot girl and her father are determined to prove that he murdered her uncles while serving as a young officer in Cyprus during the unrest that preceded independence in 1956. He also sacks his more liberal and pro-European Foreign Secretary, Tom Makepeace, who is fed up with not being allowed to do his job and having Urquhart take the credit for the Cyprus deal (and publicly dismisses Makepeace's role as having been "'loaded down with much of the donkey-work'"), leaving Makepeace free to challenge Urquhart for the party leadership.

After disastrous events in Cyprus, Urquhart is shot dead at the unveiling of the Margaret Thatcher memorial, having been Prime Minister for 4,228 days—one day longer than Thatcher. In the TV series Urquhart's bodyguard, Corder, arranges his assassination with the consent of his wife (who is implied to be Corder's lover—Urquhart knows this and does not object) to stop the dark secrets from his past being revealed. In the book, Urquhart allows himself to be killed by an assassin who is out for revenge, martyring himself in the process—by pushing his wife out of the way and saving her life, he secured himself a State funeral, the landslide re-election of his Party and the legacy he craved.