28 Facts About John Grigg

John Edward Poynder Grigg was a British writer, historian and politician.

John Grigg was the 2nd Baron Altrincham from 1955 until he disclaimed that title under the Peerage Act on the day it received Royal Assent in 1963.

John Grigg was a liberal Tory but was defeated at the 1951 and 1955 general elections.

John Grigg likened the Queen's voice to that of "a priggish schoolgirl".

John Grigg was slapped across the face by a man in public, and was attacked by the majority of the press, with a minority, including the New Statesman and Ian Gilmour's The Spectator, agreeing with some of Grigg's ideas.

Edward John Grigg was a Times journalist, Liberal, and later Conservative, MP, Governor of Kenya, and member of Winston Churchill's wartime government.

From Eton, John Grigg joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into his father's regiment, the Grenadier Guards, in 1943 during the Second World War.

John Grigg stood for election for the recently created Oldham West at the 1951 general election, but was defeated by the sitting member Leslie Hale.

John Grigg contested the seat again in the 1955 general election but was similarly unsuccessful.

Nonetheless, John Grigg refused to apply for a writ of summons to exercise his right to a seat in the House of Lords.

When Tony Benn succeeded in obtaining passage of the Peerage Act, John Grigg was the second person to take advantage of the new law and disclaim his peerage.

John Grigg never achieved his ambition of election to the House of Commons.

John Grigg left the Conservative Party for the SDP in 1982.

In 1956, John Grigg attacked Anthony Eden's Conservative government for its handling of the Suez Crisis, and pressed for an immediate withdrawal of British forces from Port Said.

John Grigg followed his father in championing reform of the House of Lords, although he added that, in lieu of reform, abolition might be the only alternative.

John Grigg advocated the introduction of women priests into the Anglican Church.

John Grigg was critical of the Queen's style of public speaking, describing it as "frankly 'a pain in the neck":.

John Grigg's article was featured in the national press, and caused an international furore in which he was criticised by, amongst others, Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

At the time in 1957, as Lord Altrincham, John Grigg was denounced by Altrincham Town Council for his views.

At the start of the controversy, John Grigg was invited by Granada Television to be interviewed on their news programme Impact.

John Grigg defended his article in front of Day, stating that he did not wish to apologise or retract what he had written, but saying that he did regret that anyone should have thought he was hostile to the Queen.

John Grigg said that his aim had been to bring about a change in the atmosphere which surrounded the Queen and the Monarchy across the whole country.

John Grigg responded to Menzies' criticism in a front page interview with the Melbourne Herald.

John Grigg commented on the advice Menzies had given to the Queen during her 1954 tour of Western Australia.

John Grigg said there had been a mild outbreak of poliomyelitis at the time.

John Grigg took part in another Granada broadcast, Youth Wants To Know, this time from Granada Studios in Manchester.

At that same time, in the late 1960s, John Grigg turned his attention to the project that would occupy him for the remainder of his life: a multi-volume biography of the British prime minister David Lloyd George.

John Grigg married Patricia Campbell, who worked at National and English Review, on 3 December 1958 at St Mary Magdalene Church, Tormarton, Gloucestershire.