Editing Michael Dobbs

{{Short description|British conservative politician and best-selling author (born 1948)}}
{{For|the British-American journalist and non-fiction author|Michael Dobbs (journalist)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name             = The Lord Dobbs
|image            = Official portrait of Lord Dobbs crop 2, 2022.jpg
|caption          = Official portrait, 2022
| office = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br />[[Lord Temporal]]
| term_start = 20 December 2010<br />[[Life peer|Life Peerage]]
| term_end = 
|birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1948|11|14|df=y}}
|birth_place      = [[Cheshunt]], [[Hertfordshire]], England
|death_date       = 
|death_place      = 
|children=4
|party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|education        = [[Christ Church, Oxford]] {{small|([[Master of Arts|MA]])}}<br />[[Tufts University]] {{small|([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy|MALD]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])}}
}}

'''Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs''' (born 14 November 1948) is a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician, media commentator and author, best known for his ''[[House of Cards (novel)|House of Cards]]'' trilogy. He has been a television and radio presenter and a senior corporate executive of [[Saatchi & Saatchi]]. 

''[[The Guardian]]'' called him "Westminster's baby faced hitman."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/paul-casserly-who-does-the-best-fu/OQKLJQJ2KQRT7MYMS4GQNBIVGU/ |title=Paul Casserly: Who does the best F.U? | date=16 December 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/07/house-cards-creator-michael-dobbs-i-must-have-sold-my-soul | title=House of Cards creator Michael Dobbs: 'I must have sold my soul' | date=7 July 2015 }}</ref> ''[[The Mail on Sunday]]'' called him "Perhaps the cleverest man in the country". ''[[The Sunday Express]]'' said he was "a man who, in Latin America, would have been shot". He is the recipient of many public awards and nominations, including being a five-time [[Emmy Awards]] nominee.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0229645/awards/ |title=Michael Dobbs - Awards |publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in [[Cheshunt]], [[Hertfordshire]],<ref name="theindependent">{{cite news|title=Is he fibbing? I can't possibly comment|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/is-he-fibbing-i-cant-possibly-comment-1570603.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/is-he-fibbing-i-cant-possibly-comment-1570603.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=15 March 2017|work=The Independent|date=31 January 1995}}</ref> the son of nurseryman Eric and Eileen Dobbs. He was educated at [[Richard Hale School|Hertford Grammar School]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford]].

After graduating from Oxford in 1971 with a third-class [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in [[philosophy, politics and economics]], Dobbs moved to the United States. He attended the [[Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy]] at [[Tufts University]] in [[Medford, Massachusetts]], and graduated in 1977 with an [[Master of Arts|MA]], [[M.A.L.D.|MALD]], and a [[PhD]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/10041510/You-may-have-a-first-class-degree-but-Lord-Winston-doesnt-want-you.html|title=You may have a first-class degree - but Lord Winston doesn't want you|last=Plante|first=Robert Peston, Lynda La|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=7 May 2013|access-date=12 June 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> His doctoral dissertation on nuclear strategic arms control was published as ''China and SALT: Dragon Hunting in a Multinuclear World''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRs7-bmUAAAkQhr.jpg:large|title=China and SALT: Dragon Hunting in a Multinuclear World|access-date=12 August 2023}}</ref> In 2007, Dobbs gave the Alumni Salutation at Fletcher.

He has been a Senior Visiting Professor of International Relations at The Fletcher School, and a Parliamentary Fellow at [[St Antony's College]], Oxford.

==Writing==
===Novels and Television===
Michael Dobbs' writing career began in 1989 with the publication of ''House of Cards'', the first in what would become a trilogy of political thrillers with [[Francis Urquhart]] as the central character; ''House of Cards'' was followed by ''To Play the King'' in 1992 and ''The Final Cut'' in 1994. In 1990, ''House of Cards'' was turned into [[House of Cards (British TV series)|a BBC television mini-series]] which received 14 [[BAFTA]] nominations and two BAFTA wins and was voted the 84th Best British Show in History.<ref>{{cite web|title=Previous Lunch - Baroness (Anne) Jenkin in conversation with Lord (Michael) Dobbs|url=http://www.wellbeingofwomen.org.uk/events/london-events/literary-lunches/?art=15531|publisher=Wellbeing of Women|access-date=12 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003052136/http://www.wellbeingofwomen.org.uk/events/london-events/literary-lunches/?art=15531|archive-date=3 October 2013}}</ref> [[Netflix]] produced [[House of Cards (American TV series)|an American version]] based upon Dobbs's first novel and its BBC adaptation. He was an executive producer of the American series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/house-of-cards-netflix |title=House of Cards |publisher=Peabodyawards.com |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref>

His novel, ''Winston's War'' (2004), was shortlisted for the [[Channel 4]] Political Book of the Year Award, and his Harry Jones novels, ''A Sentimental Traitor'' and ''A Ghost at the Door'', for the Paddy Power Political Book of the Year awards in 2013 and 2014, respectively. His novels are also published in the United States, China and many other countries.

In 2024 his novel ''The Lords' Day'' (2007) was chosen by Her Majesty Queen Camilla for inclusion in [[The Queen's Reading Room]], where it was described as "An entirely gripping and amazingly authentic thriller about what happens when the State Opening of Parliament really doesn’t go to plan."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://thequeensreadingroom.co.uk/books/the-lords-day/ | title=The Lords' Day }}</ref>

In 2009 Dobbs’ play, ''Turning Point'', about the meeting between Winston Churchill and [[Soviet]] spy, [[Guy Burgess]], was broadcast by Sky Arts TV, starring [[Matthew Marsh (actor)|Matthew Marsh]] and [[Benedict Cumberbatch]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8862684/ | title=The Turning Point | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> and won a Broadcasting Press Guild Award.

[[Anthony Howard (journalist)|Anthony Howard]] of ''[[The Times]]'' said "Dobbs is following in a respectable tradition. [[Shakespeare]], [[Walter Scott]], even [[Tolstoy]], all used historical events as the framework for their writings. And, unlike some of their distinguished works, Dobbs's novel [''Winston's War''] is, in fact, astonishingly historically accurate".{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

[[Gyles Brandreth]] in the ''[[Sunday Express]]'' said "Michael Dobbs does for Westminster skulduggery what Agatha Christie did for the country house murder."{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

===Other work===
Dobbs has been a judge of the [[Costa Book Awards|Whitbread Book of the Year Award]]. He presented the ''[[Huw Wheldon]] Memorial Lecture'' in 2015 for the [[Royal Television Society]] and has lectured at dozens of literary and fundraising events around the world.

===Awards and Nominations===
*Primetime Emmy Awards, Nominee for Outstanding Drama Series ''(2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)''

*PGA Awards, Nominee for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama ''(2017)''

*International Churchill Society’s Blenheim Prize ''(2017)''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://winstonchurchill.org/about/awards/ | title=Awards | date=28 January 2025 }}</ref>

*Producers Guild of America Awards, Nominee for The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama ''(2016)'' 

*Online Film and Television Association Award, Nominee for Best Writing in a Drama Series ''(2014)'' <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0229645/awards/?ref_=nm_awd | title=Michael Dobbs - Awards | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

*Lifetime Achievement Award for Political Literature, Paddy Power Political Book Awards ''(2014)''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=071j21ebhEo | title=Boris Johnson presents the Lifetime Achievement award to Michael Dobbs | website=[[YouTube]] | date=10 April 2014 }}</ref>

*P T Barnum Award for Excellence in Entertainment ''(2014)''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://as.tufts.edu/fms/news-events/pt-barnum-award | title=P. T. Barnum Award &#124; Film and Media Studies }}</ref>

*Tufts University Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award ''(2014)''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://alumniandfriends.tufts.edu/join-our-community/about-alumni-association/alumni-awards-program | title=Alumni Awards Program &#124; Tufts Alumni }}</ref>

*Paddy Power Political Novel of the Year ''(2013, 2014)''

*Benjamin Franklin Award for best historical novel ''(2008)'' <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.fictiondb.com/awards/2008~benjamin-franklin-award~19.htm | title=2008 Benjamin Franklin Award Winners }}</ref>

*Shortlisted for C4 Political Novel of the Year ''(2001)''

==Politics==
After completing his doctorate in 1975, Dobbs returned to England and began working in London for the Conservative Party. From 1977 to 1979, he was a close personal aide to [[Margaret Thatcher]], who was then leader of the [[His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition|Opposition]]. He was the first person on election night in 1979 to inform Thatcher that she had won.
He held many political posts in the ensuing years, many closely linked to [[Norman Tebbit]]: 1981 to 1983 special adviser in the Department of Employment; 1984 to 1986 special adviser in the Department of Trade and Industry; 1986 to 1987 Chief of Staff of the Conservative Party; and 1994 to 1995 Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. 

In 1984, he survived the [[Brighton hotel bombing|Brighton bombing]] at the Conservative Party Conference. He was called "Westminster's baby-faced hit man", by ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 1987.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/07/house-cards-creator-michael-dobbs-i-must-have-sold-my-soul|title =House of Cards creator Michael Dobbs: "I must have sold my soul"|newspaper =New Statesman|date =7 July 2015|first =Anoosh |last =Chakelian}}</ref>

On 18 December 2010, Dobbs was made a [[life peer]], as '''Baron Dobbs''', of [[Wylye, Wiltshire|Wylye]], in the [[County of Wiltshire]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=59641 |date=22 December 2010 |page=24506}}</ref> and sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative Peer.<ref>{{cite web|author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Lords, Westminster |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/101220-0001.htm#1012201000300 |title=Lords Hansard text for 20 Dec 201020 Dec 2010 (pt 0001) |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-dobbs/4192 |publisher=Parliament.uk |author=House of Lords |title=Lord Dobbs |access-date=16 October 2013}}</ref>

In 2013 he co-sponsored, with [[James Wharton, Baron Wharton of Yarm|James Wharton]] MP, the European Union (Referendum) Bill to hold a national vote on the UK’s membership of the EU. It failed, but shortly thereafter was followed by a government bill that led to the holding of the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]], which voted in favour of leaving the EU.

In August 2014, Lord Dobbs was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''The Guardian'' opposing [[Scottish independence]] in the run-up to September's [[2014 Scottish independence referendum|referendum on that issue]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories|work=The Guardian|date=7 August 2014 |access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>

In March 2019, he criticised the Conservative government, stating that "[w]e have a flat-pack Cabinet that threatens to collapse every time you switch the telly on."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/michael-dobbs-brexit-we-have-flat-pack-cabinet-threatens-collapse-every-time-you-switch-telly-76711 |title=Michael Dobbs: Brexit – We have a flat-pack Cabinet that threatens to collapse every time you switch the telly on |last=Dobbs |first=Michael |date=15 March 2019 |work=[[The Yorkshire Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030121012/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/michael-dobbs-brexit-we-have-flat-pack-cabinet-threatens-collapse-every-time-you-switch-telly-76711 |url-status=live |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=30 October 2020}}</ref>

On October 14 2019 he helped formally introduce the debate on ''The Queen’s Speech'' in the House of Lords, in which he stated “I am an optimist – I have to be. I have four kids and am a grandfather and a Tory Back-Bencher. All roles for which survival requires endless doses of optimism.”<ref>https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2019-10-14/debates/EFA43353-FF96-4650-9A9E-3D92E28718F9/Queen%E2%80%99SSpeech</ref>

In 2019 during the state visit of President [[Xi Jinping]] of China, he presented Xi with a copy of ''House of Cards'' bearing the inscription: “Where we agree, let us rejoice. Where we do not agree, let us discuss. Where we cannot agree, let us do so as respected friends.”<ref>https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2016-03/23/content_24054467.htm</ref>

On November 5 2023, the then-Foreign Secretary and former Prime Minister, [[David Cameron]], said of Dobbs, “I well remember sending him here (The House of Lords), because a week later we lost a vote by one, and he was the responsible noble Lord. I remember having some words with him after that – although, clearly, it had absolutely no effect.”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2023-12-05/debates/CA0F464A-2709-4E40-91C4-2594C2D3DC64/UK-EURelationship | title=UK-EU Relationship - Hansard - UK Parliament }}</ref>

Dobbs is a member of the advisory board of the Parthenon Project,<ref>{{cite web |title=Parthenon Project |url=https://www.parthenonproject.co.uk/ |publisher=Parthenon Project |date=2022 |access-date=13 October 2022}}</ref> an organisation that aims "to reunify the Parthenon Sculptures (also known as the [[Elgin Marbles]]) currently on permanent display in the [[British Museum]] with the other remaining originals in their home city of [[Athens]]"<ref>{{cite web |title=Parthenon Project: Overview |url=https://www.parthenonproject.co.uk/#overview |publisher=Parthenon Project |date=2022 |access-date=13 October 2022}}</ref> in Greece.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Elgin Marbles: New body aims to return sculptures to Greece |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63231885 |publisher=BBC |location=London |date=13 October 2022 |access-date=13 October 2022}}</ref>
In the House of Lords he said “the debate about the Elgin Marbles is really like grumpy old men talking about teenage sex, and merely the grubby bits. It misses the point. We are talking about building relationships, about creating something that is bigger and better, it’s called soft power.”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2023-12-14/debates/EF44031F-D514-4DEE-B109-BC56E433715B/ElginMarbles | title=Elgin Marbles - Hansard - UK Parliament }}</ref>

==Business and media==
Dobbs held various positions at [[Saatchi & Saatchi]] (1979–1990), including Deputy Chairman and Director of Worldwide Corporate Communications. He has written for many newspapers, including ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' (1972–1975) and he was a columnist for ''The Mail on Sunday'' (1991–1998). 

He hosted the current affairs programme ''[[Despatch Box]]'' on [[BBC Two]] (1998–2001).

He has been a regular contributor to [[BBC Radio 4]]. He has written and presented documentaries about the school days of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, ''[[The Archers]]'' radio drama series and the [[Brighton Bomb]]. In 2023 he was guest editor of ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'', devoting the programme to an interview with [[HM Queen Camilla]] (then Princess of Wales), and [[prostate cancer]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bd7rzl | title=BBC Radio 4 - Best of Today, Michael Dobbs' Today Programme | date=27 December 2021 }}</ref> In December 2024 he presented a three-part satirical review of the year on Broadcasting House in the voice of [[Larry (cat)|Larry]], the Downing Street Cat.

==Personal life==
Dobbs divides his time between London and [[Wiltshire]]. He has two sons from his first marriage and two stepsons with his second wife, Rachel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/my-perfect-weekend/10273843/My-perfect-weekend-Michael-Dobbs-politician-and-author.html |title=My perfect weekend: Michael Dobbs, politician and author : The Conservative politician and author Michael Dobbs, 64, conducts a double life between the House of Lords and his home in Wiltshire |work=The Telegraph|date=3 September 2013 |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref>

==Charitable work==
Dobbs has been involved with many charities. In 2015 he walked 185 miles from his home in [[Wiltshire]] to the [[Richard Hale School]] in [[Hertford]], where he had been a pupil, to raise money for a neighbour paralysed as a result of a rugby accident.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://walk4jack.com/ |title=Charity Walk |date=18 March 2015 |access-date=3 June 2015 |publisher=Walk4jack.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113521/http://walk4jack.com/ |archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> In 2018 he walked 130 miles around the [[Isle of Man]] to raise money for the local hospice.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-44152884 | title=House of Cards author Lord Dobbs to walk Manx coastal path in father's memory | work=BBC News | date=17 May 2018 }}</ref>
He has been the patron of the [[Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust]], an eye charity that has treated more than 50 million patients in Pakistan. He has been the president of his local branch of the [[Royal British Legion]]. He is active in promoting better treatment of prostate cancer.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/conditions/cancer/fighting-cancer-killed-father-strangely-life-affirming/ | title='I'm fighting the cancer that killed my father – and it's strangely life-affirming' | work=The Telegraph | date=6 November 2023 | last1=Dobbs | first1=Michael }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/22/men-will-be-saved-by-this-prostate-cancer-revolution/ | title=Men will be saved by this prostate cancer revolution | work=The Telegraph | date=22 August 2023 | last1=Dobbs | first1=Michael }}</ref> He is on the advisory board of the Lake Nona Impact Forum, a health and well-being trust.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lakenonaimpactforum.org/event/advisory-board/ | title=National Advisory Board – Lake Nona Impact Forum }}</ref>

==Namesake==
Dobbs is a distant relative of the American [[Michael Dobbs (American author)|Michael Dobbs]], a US non-fiction author with the same name. The two are sometimes confused.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dobbs |first=Michael |date=6 March 2008 |title=The Real Michael Dobbs |url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/06/the_real_michael_dobbs.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614103806/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/06/the_real_michael_dobbs.html |archive-date=14 June 2012 |department=''The Fact Checker'' (blog) |work=The Washington Post |access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
'''Francis Urquhart novels'''
* ''[[House of Cards (novel)|House of Cards]]'' (1989)
* ''To Play the King'' (HarperCollins, 1992)
* ''The Final Cut'' (HarperCollins, 1994)

'''Tom Goodfellowe novels'''
* ''Goodfellowe MP'' (1997)
* ''The Buddha of Brewer Street'' (1997)
* ''[[Whispers of Betrayal]]'' (2000)

'''Winston Churchill novels'''
* ''[[Winston's War]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Never Surrender (novel)|Never Surrender]]'' (2003)
* ''Churchill's Hour'' (2004)
* ''Churchill's Triumph'' (2005)

'''Harry Jones thrillers'''
* ''The Lords' Day'' (2007)
* ''The Edge of Madness'' (2008)
* ''The Reluctant Hero'' (2010)
* ''Old Enemies'' (2011)
* ''A Sentimental Traitor'' (2012)
* ''A Ghost at the Door'' (2013)

'''Non-series novels'''
* ''Wall Games'' (1990)
* ''Last Man to Die'' (1991)
* ''The Touch of Innocents'' (1994)
* ''First Lady'' (2006)

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.michaeldobbs.com/}}
* [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/michael-dobbs/ Fantasticfiction.co.uk]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120614103806/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/06/the_real_michael_dobbs.html Blog.washingtonpost.com]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbs, Michael}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Cheshunt]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:20th-century British novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century British novelists]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers]]
[[Category:The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni]]
[[Category:People educated at Hertford Grammar School]]
[[Category:British male novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century British male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century British male writers]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:British Eurosceptics]]