My father says he began to detect signs of a slight uneasiness in the relationship between my grandfather and Powell.However, like many people that day, my grandparents were shocked and upset by the racist and inflammatory nature of the speech, which was filmed by a television crew and was immediately all over the TV and on radio bulletins. My grandfather, then a reporter on the Express & Star, would in just a few years’ time take the top job on the paper, while Powell quickly moved up the political ladder, eventually securing a place in the cabinet. Powell had become a close friend of my grandfather following his election as Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South West in 1950. He is best remembered for his strong views on immigration, especially his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech which created much controversy. Ses idées et vues politiques sont aujourd'hui appelées powellisme. Pamela Powell, who has died aged 91, was for more than four decades the wife of the Conservative firebrand politician Enoch Powell. Powell had become a close friend of my grandfather following his election as Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South West in 1950. In September last year, I attended a script reading for another play about the speech, which again features Enoch, Pam, Clem and Marjorie.
Well, this speech is going to go up like a rocket, and when it gets up to the top, the stars are going to stay up.”Rupert Jones’ grandparents were babysitting Enoch Powell’s children on the day of his infamous speech. On several occasions he told colleagues that he expected to be at least a Major-General …
The BBC has had to remove an interview with an academic about Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech.The speech is scheduled to be broadcast in full for the first time tonight to mark its 50th
By the start of the 1960s these two men were pillars of the Wolverhampton establishment who would have been frequently thrown together at various events.They had a disagreement following a March 1968 speech in which Powell talked about a local girl who was allegedly the only white child in her class at primary school. My dad says that my grandmother was very principled and never wavered in her conviction that a line had been unforgivably crossed. She was very highly thought of by everyone she met.”According to the Daily Telegraph obituary, Mrs Powell Pam Powell had two main ambitions on leaving school in 1942: it said “she wanted to marry ‘an interesting man,’ and she was determined to ‘get into the war.’ Succeeding in both objectives, she joined that unique cadre of political wives who devoted everything to sustaining their husbands not just out of love, but also as a patriotic obligation”.“Throughout the problems and difficulties they faced, Pam provided wonderful, down-to-earth support,” a close friend of the Powell’s told the newspaper.Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was appointed Enoch Powell’s election agent for the 1983 general election, when the former Tory member for Wolverhamption South West was re-elected as the Ulster Unionist MP for South Down.Sir Jeffrey said she was a frequent visitor to the home her husband kept in Loughbrickland, and that he “got to know her very well”.Enoch Powell’s expected rise to high political office was ended when he made his anti-immigration ‘rivers of blood’ speech in 1968.
Enoch Powell pictured with Pamela after he retained his MP seat for Wolverhampton in the 1970 General ElectionQuinn’s love life seems to be even more fragile.On Saturday, Pam died at the age of 91.‘Jenny’s devastated and the split is very acrimonious,’ a friend says. The case was eventually settled, but three months later my grandfather accepted early retirement.This wasn’t just neighbours or acquaintances babysitting someone else’s kids for a few hours as a favour. The case was eventually settled, but three months later my grandfather accepted early retirement.This wasn’t just neighbours or acquaintances babysitting someone else’s kids for a few hours as a favour. So it was my grandmother who answered the door. She steadfastly supported the …
So it does, on the face of it, seem like a very unlikely friendship.I have an extremely small bit part role in this saga: I was born seven days before Powell’s speech, and my mother Pat – who had met Enoch and Pam at numerous family get-togethers – was in hospital recovering from a caesarean and listening to the speech and its aftermath on a bedside radio.Bizarrely, this won’t be the first time I’ve watched actors playing my grandma and grandpa.