Editing Matthew Parris

{{short description|British journalist, broadcaster and former politician (born 1949)}}
{{for-multi|the 13th-century chronicler|Matthew Paris|the lawyer and writer on Balkan affairs|Matthew Parish}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name             = Matthew Parris
|image            = Matthew Parris 2017.jpg
|office           = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br>for [[West Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)|West Derbyshire]]
|term_start       = 3 May 1979
|term_end         = 8 May 1986
|predecessor      = [[James Scott-Hopkins]]
|successor        = [[Patrick McLoughlin]]
|birth_date       = {{birth date and age|df=y|1949|8|7}}
|birth_place      = [[Johannesburg]], South Africa
|death_date       = 
|death_place      = 
|party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|partner          = [[Julian Glover (journalist)|Julian Glover]]
|education        = {{ubl|[[Clare College, Cambridge]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Yale University]]}}
}}
'''Matthew Francis Parris''' (born 7 August 1949)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parris, Matthew Francis, (born 7 Aug. 1949), author, journalist and broadcaster |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-30129 |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO |language=en |doi=}}</ref> is a British political writer, broadcaster, and former politician. He served as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[West Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)|West Derbyshire]] from 1979 to 1986. Ideologically a [[liberal conservative]], he is a member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].

Parris was born in South Africa to British parents. He subsequently studied at [[Clare College, Cambridge]], and [[Yale University]] before working for the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] and then the [[Conservative Research Department]]. He entered parliament in 1979 and remained there until 1986, resigning to pursue a journalistic career as presenter of the television series ''[[Weekend World]]''. After the series ended in 1988, he became a freelance columnist for ''[[The Times]]''. Having spoken out for [[gay rights]] throughout the 1980s, in 1989 he was a founding member of the gay rights charity [[Stonewall (charity)|Stonewall]].

During the 1990s, Parris' columns began being collected together for book publication and in 2002 he published his autobiography. His political column proved influential, described as being widely regarded as essential reading among the political class in [[Westminster]]. By the 2010s and 2020s he was more openly critical of some of the groups he had been affiliated with, criticising Conservative leaders [[Boris Johnson]] and [[Liz Truss]] as well as Stonewall's move to include [[trans rights]] in its remit. In 2024, he ended his Saturday political column in ''The Times''.

==Early life and education==
Parris was born in [[Johannesburg]], South Africa. The eldest of six children (three brothers and two sisters), he grew up in several British territories: South Africa, Cyprus, Rhodesia, Swaziland and Jamaica, where his father was working as an electrical engineer. His parents ended up working and living in [[Catalonia]], Spain, where Parris later bought a house.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

At the age of 19, Parris drove across Africa to Europe in a [[Morris Oxford]]; the trip was traumatically punctuated when, he reports in his 2002 autobiography, he and his female companion were attacked, and he was forced to witness her rape.<ref>''Chance Witness'', pp. 94–95</ref>

He later attributed his embrace of conservatism to an early reading of [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Animal Farm]]'': "An admiration for [the pigs'] intelligence and sense of order dawned in me. I never liked them, but their final triumph taught me that idealism is not enough."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/matthew-parris-animal-farm-by-george-orwell-1945-73zvqkpz9md|title=Matthew Parris: Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)|first=Matthew|last=Parris|newspaper=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

Parris was educated at [[Waterford Kamhlaba]] United World College of Southern Africa, an independent school just outside [[Mbabane]] in Swaziland, Sessions School on the island of Cyprus,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Parris |first=Matthew |date=3 May 2020 |title=The women who really influenced us (by men) |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-women-who-really-influenced-us-by-men-6cmz637mj |access-date=3 May 2022}}</ref> and [[Clare College, Cambridge]], where he gained a [[first class degree]] in law and was a member of the [[Cambridge University Liberal Club]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article6987062.ece | archive-url=https://archive.today/20110604220711/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article6987062.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=4 June 2011 | location=London | work=[[The Times]] | title=Invicta what a terrible choice of poem | first=Matthew | last=Parris | date=14 January 2010}}</ref> He won a [[Paul Mellon]] scholarship and studied [[international relations]] at [[Yale University]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matthew Parris – DBA Speakers |url=https://www.dbaspeakers.com/matthew-parris/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |language=en-GB}}</ref> At Yale, he failed to receive his [[Master of Arts]] degree, later blaming "too much coffee, Four Roses bourbon, train training to break a five-minute mile and hanging out with interesting people."<ref name="Matthew Parris 2024, p. 16">Matthew Parris, "Confessions of a Political Animal," ''The Times Magazine'', 20 July 2024, p. 16.</ref> It was at the university that he befriended [[Peter Ackroyd]].<ref name="Matthew Parris 2024, p. 16"/>

==Early and parliamentary career==
Parris was offered a job as an [[MI6]] officer,<ref>''Chance Witness'', p.134</ref> but instead worked for the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] for two years. In 1976, he left this career because he did not like its formality, and because he wanted to become a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]. He eventually joined the [[Conservative Research Department]] and moved on to become correspondence secretary to [[Margaret Thatcher]].{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

In the late 1970s, he was awarded an [[RSPCA]] medal — presented by Thatcher, then [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]]) — for jumping into the [[River Thames]] to rescue a dog.<ref>''Chance Witness'', p.197</ref> He later attributed that incident for the party's decision to select him as a parliamentary candidate.<ref name="Matthew Parris 2024, p. 16"/>

Parris was the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP for the [[parliamentary constituency]] of [[Derbyshire West (UK Parliament constituency)|West Derbyshire]] from 1979 to 1986. Competing prospective candidates for the seat included [[Peter Lilley]] and [[Michael Howard]]. He voiced support for [[gay rights]]. Parris left politics to pursue a career in journalism.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/08/20/matthew-parris-wishes-he-had-come-out-while-a-tory-mp/|title=Matthew Parris wishes he had come out while a Tory MP|date=20 August 2010|work=[[PinkNews]]|access-date=5 November 2019}}</ref> While a politician he wrote a few newspaper columns; one, "Stop being Beastly to Tatchell" for ''The Times'', complained about [[homophobia|homophobic]] tactics used against [[Peter Tatchell]] in the [[1983 Bermondsey by-election]].<ref name="Matthew Parris 2024, p. 16"/>

==Radio and television==
Parris is now a radio and television presenter, ''[[The Times]]'' columnist, and pundit.<ref name=T/> As an MP he took part in a ''[[World in Action]]'' documentary during 1984 requiring him to live in [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] for a week on £26.80, the then state [[social security]] payment set for a single adult by the government he supported as a Conservative.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081022211931/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/402598 "British Film Industry: WORLD IN ACTION > FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR PARRIS"] Thames TV, 23 January 1984</ref><ref>[http://www.itv.com/ClassicTVshows/documentary/WorldinAction.html "ITV TV Classics – World In Action"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611150939/http://www.itv.com/ClassicTVshows/documentary/WorldinAction.html |date=11 June 2009 }} Published 4 May 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2009</ref> The experiment came to an embarrassing end when he ran out of money for the electricity meter. Twenty years later, in 2004, he attempted the experiment again for the documentary ''For the Benefit of Mr Parris, Revisited''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090926230259/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/785972 "British Film Industry: FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR PARRIS, REVISITED"] ITV1, 29 January 2004</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.libertybell.tv/content.aspx?page=56&sub=67 |title=Liberty Bell – For the Benefit of Mr Parris |publisher=Libertybell.tv |date=29 January 2004 |access-date=27 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717131630/http://www.libertybell.tv/content.aspx?page=56&sub=67 |archive-date=17 July 2011 }}</ref>

Parris resigned as an MP by applying for the Crown position of [[Steward of the Manor of Northstead]] and left Parliament specifically to take over from [[Brian Walden]] as host of [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]'s influential Sunday lunchtime current-affairs series ''[[Weekend World]]'' in 1986. The series, broadcast since 1977 with Walden at its helm, ran for two more years under Parris before being cancelled in 1988.

He presents [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Great Lives]]'' biography series, and has appeared on the satirical news programme ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' and presented ''[[After Dark (TV programme)|After Dark]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.openmedia.co.uk/after-dark-core-database-folder|title=After Dark: with presenters including Tony Wilson and Anthony Clare|website=openmedia.co.uk|access-date=20 January 2021|archive-date=27 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127200218/https://www.openmedia.co.uk/after-dark-core-database-folder|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2007, Parris presented two light-hearted but caustic documentaries for Radio 4 on politicians' use of cliché and jargon, entitled ''Not My Words, Mr Speaker''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qgvj |title=BBC Radio 4 – Not My Words, Mr Speaker|publisher=BBC |date=19 September 2007 |access-date=15 October 2014}}</ref>

On 8 July 2011, on Radio 4's ''[[Any Questions?]]'', at the height of the furore surrounding the alleged illegal and corrupt activities of ''[[News of the World]]'' journalists, Parris eulogised the newspaper and gave an enthusiastic appreciation of what he considered the virtues and positive achievements of [[Rupert Murdoch]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b012942s |title=BBC Radio 4 – Any Questions? |publisher=BBC |date=8 July 2011 |access-date=18 February 2023}}</ref>

In December 2017 Parris appeared, in a cameo role, in the Anniversary edition of BBC's ''[[The League of Gentlemen]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09kcxdt|title=Royston Vasey Mon Amour, Anniversary Specials, The League of Gentlemen – BBC Two|publisher=BBC}}</ref>

==Writing and journalism==

Parris is a prolific writer and has written many books on politics and travel. In 1991, a compilation of his pieces in ''[[The Times]]'' appeared, entitled ''So Far, So Good''. Since then there have been further compilations. ''Scorn'', a book he has edited of quotations about curses, jibes and general invective, was published in October 1994. He has achieved continuing success as a parliamentary reporter and columnist through his knowledge and understanding of politicians and ability to write well about them. He worked as [[parliamentary sketch writing|parliamentary sketch writer]] for ''The Times'' newspaper from 1988 to 2001 and has had weekly columns in ''The Times'' and ''[[The Spectator]]'' magazine. In 2004, Parris became Writer of the Year in [[Granada Television]]'s ''[[What the Papers Say]]'' Awards. In part, this was for reporting on elections in Iraq and Afghanistan. His previous accolades include Columnist of the Year in the 1991 and 1993 [[British Press Awards]], and in the ''What the Papers Say'' Awards 1992. In 1990 he received the [[London Press Club]]'s [[Edgar Wallace]] Outstanding Reporter of the Year Award.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In 2002, his autobiography, ''Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics'', was published by Viking. In 2005, he published ''A Castle in Spain'' about his family's project to refurbish a derelict sixteenth-century mansion, L'Avenc, in [[Catalonia]], close to the foothills of the [[Pyrenees]], and make his home there.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In 2011, ''[[Total Politics]]'' said that Parris's column "is considered essential reading by many in [[Westminster]]. He has a penchant for holding opinions that go against the grain. Parris has written scathingly about the [[localism (politics)|localism]] agenda, and was a long-time defender of [[PMQs]], although he recently changed his mind."<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/277577/top-100-political-journalists-2011.thtml |title=Top 100 political journalists 2011 |work=Total Politics |location= London |access-date=25 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140301171422/http://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/277577/top-100-political-journalists-2011.thtml |archive-date=1 March 2014 }}</ref>

Parris's writing has often attracted wider comment. For example, in a 2007 article in ''The Times'' he wrote a satirical article which stated, "A festive custom we could do worse than foster would be stringing piano wire across country lanes to decapitate cyclists",<ref name=T>{{cite news |title=What's smug and deserves to be decapitated? Matthew Parris: My Week |date=27 December 2007 |url= https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/matthewparris/article2044185.ece |access-date=18 January 2016 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location= London}}</ref><ref name=B>{{cite news |work=BBC News |date=3 January 2008 |title= Cycling fury at beheading 'joke' |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/7168530.stm}}</ref> which attracted two hundred letters to the Press Complaints Commission.<ref>[https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/file_member/200803014.pdf Cyclinguk.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118214959/https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/file_member/200803014.pdf |date=18 January 2017 }} Retrieved 18 January 2016</ref> Parris issued an apology: "I offended many with my Christmas attack on cyclists. It was meant humorously but so many cyclists have taken it seriously that I plainly misjudged. I am sorry."<ref name=T/><ref name=B/> In the same year [[Alastair Campbell]] called Parris "a little shit" in his diaries, to which Parris responded "I'd rather be a little shit than a big cunt".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Burkeman|first1=Oliver|title=Does he mean me?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jul/10/media.pressandpublishing|work=The Guardian|date=10 July 2007}}</ref>

In the run-up to the [[2014 Clacton by-election]], Parris visited the [[Essex]] town and wrote a column suggesting that the Conservatives should dismiss its voters' views: "[[Clacton-on-Sea]] is going nowhere. Its voters are going nowhere, it's rather sad, and there's nothing more to say. This is Britain on crutches. This is tracksuit-and-trainers Britain, tattoo-parlour Britain, all-our-yesterdays Britain. [...] I am not arguing that we should be careless of the needs of struggling people and places such as Clacton. But I am arguing — if I am honest — that we should be careless of their opinions." The ''[[Clacton Gazette]]'' reported on residents responding angrily to his "derogatory comments". [[Douglas Carswell]], the sitting Conservative MP who had defected to the [[UK Independence Party]] (UKIP), responded, "It's incredibly sad to read what Matthew Parris wrote.  He's a close friend of the Tory leadership and this is clearly how the party hierarchy thinks. I'm proud of Clacton and I'm proud of Clacton people." Writing in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', academics [[Robert Ford (academic)|Rob Ford]] and [[Matthew Goodwin]] noted of Parris's prognosis that "while it may play well at dinner parties in SW1 in the short-term, it is a recipe for electoral suicide." They also observed that UKIP party leader [[Nigel Farage]] had "already put Parris quotations" on the party's leaflets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parris |first=Matthew |date=2014-09-06 |title=Tories should turn their backs on Clacton |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/tories-should-turn-their-backs-on-clacton-j0k5h6zld08 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=[[The Times]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Residents' fury at former Tory MP's Clacton slur |url=https://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/11460663.residents-fury-at-former-tory-mps-clacton-slur/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20210517214113/https://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/11460663.residents-fury-at-former-tory-mps-clacton-slur/ |archive-date=2021-05-17 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Clacton and Frinton Gazette |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ford |first=Rob |author-link=Robert Ford (academic) |last2=Goodwin |first2=Matthew |author-link2=Matthew Goodwin |date=2014-09-08 |title=The voters of Clacton don't deserve Matthew Parris's sneering contempt |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/11082586/The-voters-of-Clacton-dont-deserve-Matthew-Parriss-sneering-contempt.html |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=[[Daily Telegraph]] |language=en}}</ref>

Parris criticised the initial [[2015 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|2015 leadership election]] for the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], referring to recent rule changes that allowed any individual who donated £3 to the Labour Party to vote in the leadership elections.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Parris|first1=Matthew|title=My llamas paid their £3 to vote in Labour poll|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/my-llamas-paid-their-3-to-vote-in-labour-poll-vbzh0p9lf9b|work=[[The Times]]|date=19 August 2015}}</ref> Following [[2016 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|a second leadership election]], which incumbent leader [[Jeremy Corbyn]] won with an increased majority, [[Channel 4]] presenter [[Krishnan Guru-Murthy]] said that Parris and [[Michael Dobbs]] commented that Corbyn's reelection "will break the Labour Party".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hopkins|first1=Steven|title=Corbyn Leadership Ballot Decision Will 'Break Labour'|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jeremy-corbyn-ballot-decision-will-break-labour-as-matthew-parris-and-michael-dobbs_uk_57853e4ce4b0e9f338cc4556|work=HuffPost|date=12 July 2016}}</ref>

A co-founder of the gay rights charity [[Stonewall (charity)|Stonewall]], Parris has criticised the organisation for latterly adopting [[trans rights]] as part of its agenda, writing that trans issues are unrelated to [[gay rights]] and should be for a separate organisation.<ref>{{cite web|last=Parris|first=Matthew|work=[[The Times]]|title=Stonewall should stay out of trans rights war|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4972efe4-ba6d-11eb-98e3-d1306649ebf7?shareToken=79fce127d57161fe024aeb52ef37551b|date=22 May 2021|access-date=25 May 2021|archive-date=22 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522111321/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4972efe4-ba6d-11eb-98e3-d1306649ebf7?shareToken=79fce127d57161fe024aeb52ef37551b|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In May 2021, Parris called for the removal of ethnic minority status from Gypsy, Roma and Travellers, describing them "not a race, but a doomed mindset" and called for "a gradual but relentless squeeze on anyone who tries without permission to park their home on public property or the property of others".<ref>{{cite news |last=Parris |first=Matthew |work=[[The Times]] |location= London |title=It's time we stopped pandering to Travellers |url= https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/its-time-we-stopped-pandering-to-travellers-2slbdvbvp |date=22 May 2021 |access-date=15 May 2021}}</ref> The anti-racism group [[Hope not Hate]] responded to Parris saying "The Times have published an article advocating for eradicating the way of life of an entire ethnic minority. Absolutely shameful. Solidarity with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people who have to endure this racism, and this mindset."<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=hopenothate |author=Hope not Hate |number=1393484483974864900 |date = 15 May 2021 |title=The Times have published an article advocating for eradicating the way of life of an entire ethnic minority. Absolutely shameful. Solidarity with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people who have to endure this racism, and this mindset.}}</ref>

In June 2021, Parris argued there was "an absolute problem with human rights" and wrote a column whose "aim is to question the whole concept of fundamental human rights. It is so deeply flawed as to be fatal to all reasoning built upon it."<ref>{{cite news |last=Parris |first=Matthew |work=[[The Times]] |location= London |title=The absolute problem with human rights |url= https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/the-absolute-problem-with-human-rights-khp3ztv3f |date=26 June 2021 |access-date=26 June 2021}}</ref>

In his writing, Parris proved critical of several Conservative leaders. In June 2020 Parris wrote an excoriating article on [[Boris Johnson]] saying, "He never had any judgment or strategic vision. Mr Johnson was only ever a shallow opportunist with a minor talent to amuse".<ref>[[The Times]] "Comment" 6 June 2010: "Johnson has been tested and found wanting"</ref> In 2022, Parris described [[Liz Truss]] as  "a planet-sized mass of overconfidence and ambition teetering upon a pinhead of a political brain".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rentoul |first=John |date=20 August 2022 |title=Why Liz Truss could be a successful prime minister |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/liz-truss-conservative-prime-minister-leadership-race-b2149094.html |access-date=26 July 2024 |website=The Independent}}</ref>

In July 2024, a few weeks short of his 75th birthday, Parris stopped writing his long-running Saturday opinion column in ''The Times'',<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/matthew-parris-my-life-in-politics-boris-johnson-3h8cf6qj7 |title=Matthew Parris: my life in politics (I was right about Boris) |first=Matthew |last=Parris |date=19 July 2024 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |access-date=1 August 2024}}</ref> in which he mostly commented on British politics. He continues to write his diary column for the newspaper, which appears on Wednesdays.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/profile/matthew-parris |title=Matthew Parris |website=[[The Times]] |access-date=1 August 2024}}</ref>

===Travel writing===
Parris has made several expeditions abroad. They include [[Mount Kilimanjaro]] in 1967 and in 1989; [[Zaire]] (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1973; the Sahara in 1978; [[Peru]]; [[Bolivia]]. In 1990 he published ''Inca-Kola'' about his travels in Peru.

He spent the Antarctic winter of 2000 on the French possession of Grande Terre, part of the [[Kerguelen Islands|Kerguelen]] Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, with a few dozen over-winterers, mostly researchers. One of them was fatally shot in an accident during his stay, about which he wrote for ''The Times''.<ref>[http://www.times-archive.co.uk/onlinespecials/features/parris/ Matthew Parris's account of stay on Kerguelen in 2000], ''The Times'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511163817/http://www.times-archive.co.uk/onlinespecials/features/parris/ |date=11 May 2008 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Ideologically, in 2024 Parris described himself as inclining towards [[liberal conservatism]].<ref>Matthew Parris, "Confessions of a Political Animal," ''The Times Magazine'', 20 July 2024, p. 19.</ref>

Parris claims he attempted to [[Coming out|out himself]] in a late-night debate in the House of Commons in 1984, but nobody noticed.<ref>{{cite book |first=Chris |last=Bryant |author-link= Chris Bryant |title=Parliament: The Biography (Volume II – Reform) |publisher=Random House |date=14 August 2014 |isbn= 978-0857522245 |page=92 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KMthAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT92}}</ref><ref name="Times">{{cite news |last1=Pierce |first1=Andrew |title=Parris, the reluctant groom, says 'I do' |url= https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/parris-the-reluctant-groom-says-i-do-t6zfjz2d7vv |work=[[The Times]] |location= London |date=29 August 2006 |url-access= subscription }}</ref> He announced that he was gay in one of his weekly newspaper columns and admitted that he [[Gay cruising in England and Wales|cruised]] [[Clapham Common]] for sex.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/13/biography.politicalbooks |title=Observer review: Chance Witness by Matthew Parris |first=Rachel |last=Cooke |date=12 October 2002 |website=The Observer |location= London |access-date=2 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4728933/Coming-out-.-.-.-as-a-politician.html |title=Coming out . . . as a politician |first=Boris |last=Johnson |date=5 October 2002 |access-date=2 May 2018 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location= London }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Steve |last=Richards |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/chance-witness-by-matthew-parris-140163.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/chance-witness-by-matthew-parris-140163.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Chance Witness by Matthew Parris |website=The Independent |location= London |date=15 October 2002 |access-date=2 May 2018}}</ref>
In an interview on ''[[Newsnight]]'', during the [[Ron Davies (Welsh politician)|Ron Davies]] scandal of 1998, he told [[Jeremy Paxman]] that there were two gay members of the then [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] Cabinet, one being [[Peter Mandelson]].  He has stated that there are between 30 and 60 unannounced gay members of the British Parliament.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

In August 2006 Parris entered into a [[civil partnership]] with his long-term partner, [[Julian Glover (journalist)|Julian Glover]], a speechwriter for [[David Cameron]] and a former political journalist at ''[[The Guardian]]''. At the time of their partnership, they had been together for 11 years.<ref name="Times" />

Parris owns homes in Spain, Derbyshire (where he keeps pet [[alpaca]]s) and the [[London Docklands|Docklands]] in [[East London]].<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.countrylife.co.uk/out-and-about/dogs/matthew-parris-llamas-theyre-interested-everything-humans-201741 |title=Matthew Parris on his llamas: 'They're interested in everything humans are doing' |last=Pollock |first=Octavia |date=18 August 2019 |website=Country Life |access-date=29 February 2020}}</ref> He is the honorary patron of Clare Politics, a student-run politics society at [[Clare College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Clare Politics|title=About Us|url=http://www.clarepolitics.co.uk/aboutus/|access-date=15 August 2011|archive-date=1 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001053639/http://www.clarepolitics.co.uk/aboutus/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a keen [[marathon]] runner, taking part in the [[London Marathon]] several times. His personal best was 2:32:57, achieved in 1985 at the age of 35,<ref name="topping">{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/apr/13/mps-london-marathon-ed-balls |title=Record number of MPs run in London Marathon |first=Alexandra |last=Topping |date=13 April 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=13 April 2014 }}</ref> a record which ''[[Total Politics]]'' in 2018 said "looks unlikely to be smashed any time soon"; [[John Lamont]], the fastest of 15 MPs in the [[2018 London Marathon|marathon that year]], finished at 3:38:03.<ref name="singleton20180423">{{Cite news |url=https://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/diary/tories-keep-london-marathon-crown-john-lamont-fastest-mp |title=Tories keep London Marathon crown as John Lamont is fastest MP |last=Singleton |first=David |date=23 April 2018 |work=Total Politics |location= London |access-date=11 August 2018}}</ref> Parris decided that he wanted to go out on top, and arguing that serious running is not good for one's health, he stopped running marathons after that. No British MP, sitting or retired, has bettered Parris' marathon-running time.<ref name="topping" />

==Reception and influence==

In October 2017, the commentator [[Iain Dale]] placed Parris at Number 84 in his list of 'The Top 100 Most Influential People on the Right', describing him as "the pre-eminent columnist of his generation".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/iain-dale/100-most-influential-people-on-right-iain-dale/|title=The Top 100 Most Influential People On The Right: Iain Dale's 2017 List|last=Dale|first=Iain|date=2 October 2017|work=LBC|access-date=30 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>
In August 2010, in a list compiled by the ''[[Independent on Sunday]]'', Parris was voted the 49th most influential [[LGBT]] person in Britain.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|40em}}
*''Scorn: The Wittiest and Wickedest Insults in Human History'' Matthew Parris (Profile Books Ltd, 2016) {{ISBN|1781257299}}
*''Parting Shots:  Undiplomatic Diplomats – the ambassadors' letters you were never meant to see'' Matthew Parris, Andrew Bryson (Penguin Books Ltd, 2010) {{ISBN|978-0-670-91929-1}}
*''Mission Accomplished!:  A Treasury of the Things Politicians Wish They Hadn't Said'' Matthew Parris, Phil Mason (JR Books Ltd, 2007) {{ISBN|978-1-906217-35-8}}
*''A Castle in Spain'' (Viking, 2005) {{ISBN|0-670-91547-5}}
*''Chance Witness: An Outsider's Life in Politics'' (Viking, 2002) {{ISBN|0-670-89440-0}}
*''  The King's English (Oxford Language Classics Series)'' Henry Fowler, Frank Fowler, Matthew Parris (introduction) (Oxford University Press, 2002) {{ISBN|0-19-860507-2}}
*''Off Message: New Labour, New Sketches'' (Robson Books, 2001) {{ISBN|1-86105-479-3}}
*''I Wish I Hadn't Said That: The Experts Speak – and Get It Wrong!'' Matthew Parris (foreword), [[Christopher Cerf (musician and television producer)|Christopher Cerf]], [[Victor Navasky]] (HarperCollins, 2000) {{ISBN|0-00-653149-0}}
*''Against the Law: The Classic Account of a Homosexual in 1950s Britain'' Peter Wildeblood, Matthew Parris (introduction) (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999) {{ISBN|0-297-64382-7}}
*''The Great Unfrocked: Two Thousand Years of Church Scandal'' (Robson, 1998) {{ISBN|1-86105-129-8}}
*''Scorn with Extra Bile'' Matthew Parris (editor) (Penguin Books, 1998) {{ISBN|0-14-027780-3}}
*''I Couldn't Possibly Comment: More Sketches from the Commons'' (Robson Books, 1997) {{ISBN|1-86105-095-X}}
*''Read My Lips: A Treasury of Things Politicians Wish They Hadn't Said'' (Parkwest Publications, 1997) {{ISBN|1-86105-043-7}}
*''Great Parliamentary Scandals: Four Centuries of Calumny, Smear and Innuendo'' (Robson Books, 1995) {{ISBN|0-86051-957-0}}
*''Scorn with Added Vitriol'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1995) {{ISBN|0-241-13587-7}}
*''Scorn: A Bucketful of Discourtesy, Disparagement, Invective, Ridicule, Impudence, Contumely, Derision, Hate, Affront, Disdain, Bile, Taunts, Curses and Jibes'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1994) {{ISBN|0-241-13384-X}}
*''Look Behind You!: Sketches and Follies from the Commons'' (Robson, 1993) {{ISBN|0-86051-874-4}}
*''So Far So Good...: Selected Pieces'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1991) {{ISBN|0-297-81215-7}}
*''Inca Kola: A Traveller's Tale of Peru'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1990) {{ISBN|0-297-81075-8}}
*''Coping with the Soviet Union'' Peter Blaker, Julian Critchley, Matthew Parris (Conservative Political Centre Bookshop, 1977) {{ISBN|0-85070-599-1}}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://archive.today/20070208223909/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/ ''The Times'' Online – Matthew Parris's column archives]
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/audio_video/podcasts/article1185148.ece ''The Times'' Online – The Matthew Parris Pol-Cast]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Podcast series commenting on the 2006 [[Party conference season]]
*[http://www.times-archive.co.uk/onlinespecials/features/parris/ ''The Times'' Online – Matthew Parris: the Kerguelen columns] articles from his trip to the [[Kerguelen Islands]]
*{{C-SPAN|75201}}
**[http://www.c-span.org/video/?296987-1/qa-matthew-parris C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Parris, 12 December 2010]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/19981202070111/http://www.notmuch.com/Features/Interview/int-040498.html Audio interview]
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-matthew-parris | Matthew Parris }}
* [http://www.ethosjournal.com/topics/local-government/item/460-policy-maker-for-a-page ''Ethos Journal'' Matthew Parris features as Policy-Maker for a Page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004231514/http://www.ethosjournal.com/topics/local-government/item/460-policy-maker-for-a-page |date=4 October 2013 }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[West Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)|West Derbyshire]]
  | years  = [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979]]–[[1986 West Derbyshire by-election|1986]]
  | before = [[James Scott-Hopkins]]
  | after  = [[Sir Patrick McLoughlin]]
}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parris, Matthew}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:South African atheists]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:South African male journalists]]
[[Category:English gay politicians]]
[[Category:British broadcaster-politicians]]
[[Category:British gay writers]]
[[Category:LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1979–1983]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:British LGBTQ journalists]]
[[Category:Waterford Kamhlaba alumni]]
[[Category:People educated at a United World College]]
[[Category:People from Johannesburg]]
[[Category:South African people of British descent]]
[[Category:South African emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:20th-century South African male writers]]
[[Category:The Spectator people]]
[[Category:BBC newsreaders and journalists]]