Enoch Powell

ENOCH POWELL d1998. British politician, scholar and writer. He served as MP for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party from 1950 to February 1974 and as the MP for South Down for the Ulster Unionist Party from October 1974 to 1987. He was Minister of Health from 1960 to 1963 and was Shadow Secretary of State for Defence from 1965 to 1968 in the Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath. He is remembered particularly for his views on immigration and demographic change. In 1968 Powell attracted attention nationwide for his "Rivers of Blood" speech in which he criticised immigration to Britain in the post-war era. His speech was criticised by some of his own party members and The Times as racialist. Edward Heath (who was then the leader of the Conservative Party) and the leader of the Opposition dismissed him from the Shadow Cabinet the day after the speech. In the aftermath several polls suggested that between 67-82% of the British population agreed with him. He turned his back on the Conservatives and endorsed a vote for the Labour Party. He was returned to the House of Commons in October 1974 as the Ulster Unionist Party MP for the constituency of South Down in Northern Ireland. He represented it until he was defeated at the 1987 general election. He died in 1998 aged 85 and remains a divisive and controversial figure in Britain