William Francis Deedes, Baron Deedes, KBE, MC, PC, DL (1 June 1913 – 17 August 2007) was a British journalist and politician; he is the only person in Britain to have been both a member of the Cabinet and the editor of a major daily newspaper.

[edit] Early life and career

Brought up in the family home of Saltwood Castle and educated at Harrow, he was denied a university career after his father suffered heavy financial losses from the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Deedes began his career as a reporter on the Morning Post in 1931, joining the Daily Telegraph when it took over the Post in 1937. Between 1931 and the beginning of the war in 1939, he shared a home in Bethnal Green, with his uncle Wyndham Deedes.

Deedes fought in the Second World War as an officer in the 2nd Battalion of The Queen's Westminsters, one of the territorial units of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, gaining the Military Cross near Hengelo, Holland in April 1945. He was also the only officer to serve in the King's Royal Rifle Corps for the whole duration of the war.

He was married to Evelyn Branfort (who died in May 2004), by whom he had two sons (one of whom died young) and three daughters; Deedes' son, Jeremy Deedes, is a director of the Telegraph Group of companies. His daughter, Lucy Deedes, is a former Master of Foxhounds and was the first wife of Crispin Money-Coutts, the 9th Baron Latymer.

[edit] Politics

Deedes was elected Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Ashford, Kent in 1950. He served as a junior minister under Churchill for three years. He entered Harold Macmillan's Cabinet in 1962 as Minister without Portfolio. He left the Cabinet in 1964, as Minister of Information, and stood down as an MP at the second 1974 general election.

[edit] Journalism and later life

He served as editor of the Daily Telegraph from 1974 to 1986; after he was replaced by Max Hastings, he continued as a journalist. His tenure was noted for battles with the print unions.

Deedes was made a life peer in 1986, becoming Baron Deedes, of Aldington in the County of Kent, though he always preferred to be addressed as "Bill" rather than "Lord Deedes".^{[citation needed]}

Bill Deedes continued to comment on social and political issues through his newspaper columns up to his death. In his later years he gained a cult fanbase after two memorable appearances on Have I Got News For You and was the oldest guest ever to have appeared on the programme. He was also a stalwart member of the Carlton Club and was appointed as an ambassador for UNICEF in 1998, running high-profile campaigns against landmines. In 2006 he wrote an opinion piece for The Daily Telegraph saying that Islam "is the only faith on Earth that persuades its followers to seek political power and impose a law — sharia — which shapes everyone's style of life" adding that Islam "forbids" Muslims from conforming with British society.^[1] His final article, published on 3 August 2007, was on Darfur.^[2]

He died on 17 August 2007 at his home in Kent, aged 94, after a short illness. ^[3]

[edit] Popular culture

[edit] Dear Bill

Deedes was close to Margaret Thatcher and her husband Denis. The spoof letters "from" Mr. Thatcher which appeared in satirical magazine Private Eye throughout the Thatcher years were always addressed to Dear Bill - the "Bill" in question was usually assumed to be Deedes; however some instalments (e.g. 16 May and 28 November 1986) would suggest otherwise. The two men regularly played golf together, with Deedes claiming it was a public service to take the spouse of the Prime Minister away from the stress of being married to the country's head of government. The Eye also based its long-running editorial comment, "Shome mishtake shurely?", on Deedes' distinctive lisp.

[edit] Scoop

According to many sources, Deedes was the journalist used by Evelyn Waugh as the model and inspiration for the hapless William Boot, protagonist of the satirical novel Scoop. Deedes himself said he "spent part of my life brushing aside the charge," but admitted "that my inexperience and naivety as a reporter in Africa might have contributed a few bricks to the building of Boot."^[4] The two had reported together in 1936, trying to cover the Second Italo-Abyssinian War; Deedes arrived in Addis Ababa aged 22 with almost 600 pounds of luggage.^[5] Berhanu Kebele, Ethiopian ambassador, to London, pointed out that Deedes's sharp journalistic instincts ensured Italian excesses were kept in the public eye.^[6] Barring the question of age, a more appropriate model for Boot is William Beach Thomas who, according to Peter Stothard, "was a quietly successful countryside columnist and literary gent who became a calamitous Daily Mail war correspondent" in World War I.^[7]

[edit] Publications

• Deedes, WF, Words and Deedes: Selected Journalism 1931-2006, Macmillan, 2006, ISBN 1-4050-5396-8
• Deedes, WF, At War with Waugh: The Real Story of "Scoop", Macmillan, 2003 ISBN 1-4050-0573-4
• Deedes, WF, Brief Lives, Macmillan, 2004 ISBN 0-330-42639-7
• Deedes, WF, Dear Bill: A Memoir, Macmillan, 2005 ISBN 1-4050-5266-X

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Lord Deedes: Daily Telegraph obituary, 17/08/2007
• A tribute to Lord Deedes: Daily Telegraph
• "Gentleman journalist remembered" - BBC News Online, 18/08/2007
• Bill Lord Deedes - Obituary