A Very English Scandal: Uncovering the Sex, Lies and Murder Plot at the Core of the Establishment

Mrs. A. MULLINS: It is an interesting book what I read later as I read in the preview of the book.

Germany on Sep 30, 2023

Read and Reviewed: The year of my birth, 1979, coincided with the former Leader of the Liberal Party and then still a sitting MP, Jeremy Thorpe, being charged with conspiracy to murder at the Old Bailey. Whilst doubts will inevitably remain about the strict accuracy and narrative license of John Preston in his forensic account of the origins and climax of the Thorpe Affair it undoubtedly makes for highly absorbing reading. Regardless of how much Preston’s own interpretation is present, that the raw material involves all the elements that would make for a far-fetched thriller cannot have hindered his cause in portraying a scandal which appears to have been a blatant abuse of power and has all the hallmarks of an attempt by the British Establishment to close ranks.

The story has its origins in the early 1960’s when Jeremy Thorpe, the rising star of the Liberal Party met the acquaintance of nineteen-year-old Norman Scott (then Josiffe) and a homosexual affair between the pair ensued. Thorpe’s subsequent decision to share the matter with a fellow Liberal MP for Bodmin, Peter Bessell, and the series of events that followed are chronicled within A Very English Scandal and climax with...

United Kingdom on May 12, 2018

R T Twinem: The story of a government MP who uses and abuses his position of power to not only funnel funds but also amazingly to arrange the murder of his on/off lover Norman Scott, makes for surreal reading. Jeremy Thorpe was a respected eloquent Liberal MP and under the guise of a suave persona he was frightened to reveal to his friends, and in particular his constituents, that he was homosexual. In the politically correct world we live today such a revelation would have had little impact in comparison to the frightened and conservative attitude of 60/70's Britain.

Norman Scott had received and retained a number of sensitive and very private letters from his lover. Thorpe was terrified that Scott would use this correspondence to blackmail him and reveal to the world at large secrets of his personal life. When all attempts to retrieve the letters failed Jeremy Thorpe unbelievably decided his only real option was to arrange the execution of Scott. What follows is somewhat farcical; when the hired gunman shoots Norman Scott's dog and turns the weapon to his intended target the said gun jams leaving the hired executioner no option but to flee leaving in his wake a frightened and...

United Kingdom on May 11, 2018

Allen Smalling: It is said that American political scandals are usually about money, while British political scandals are usually about sex. In A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL we have an excellent example of a scandal prompted by the latter. In fact, the small sums of money paid to the potential blackmailer eventually furnished a trail that tracks the corruption, but the real story lies in the fear of the head of the UK's Liberal political party of his own homosexuality, and the lengths he and his cronies will go to cover it up. This despite the fact that during the period at hand (1960s-1970s) homosexuality in that country went from a punishable offense to a mere matter of reputation.

John Preston tells this story very well, though I for one would not type this book as a total work of journalism: surely some of the conversations reported at thirty years' remove depend on the techniques of New Journalism more than documented reportage. In a sense, then, A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL is a "nonfiction novel" not unlike Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD. That notwithstanding, this book is an excellent account of a long-term scandal, and the extent to which the British Establishment would go to protect itself....

United States on Dec 25, 2016

prisrob: Just finished watching 'The Crown' on Netflix, and finished this book about the same time. It seems the U.K. has such interesting scandals, and this one was a whopper.

In the late 60's and 70's, Jeremy Thorpe was the Leader of the UK's Liberal Party in Parliament and represented several districts. He was known for his hard work ethic, traveling by helicopter and visiting many of those districts in one day. He was also noted for an excellent memory, but it seems he was also an excellent actor. He was witty and charming, but it seems he had another side, more sinister.

It can be said that Jeremy Thorpe was led to desperation by a young man named Norman Josiffe, aka Norman Scott. One of Jeremy Thorpe's secrets was as a closeted gay man. In this era, being gay was a crime, and Jeremy Thorpe was a well known politician. His alliances with Norman Scott lasted a short time, but caused Thorpe untold grief. Scott was a delicate, sensitive, but very damaged man. Mental illness certainly was a part of his life, and once their relationship ended, he started asking for many things from North. This went on for far too long, and Jeremy Thorpe decided drastic action was...

United States on Nov 18, 2016

James Brydon: Jeremy Thorpe seemed to have it all. Personal charm, success as a politician following an equally accomplished reputation as a barrister, and a public image of integrity and resolution. With the sharp acuity of hindsight, it is all too easy to see him as riding for a fall. John Preston’s book certainly leaves a very different picture of Thorpe’s career.

The Thorpe Affair is perhaps the first political scandal that I remember with any clarity. As leader of the Liberal Party during the early 1970s he came close to holding the balance of power following the inconclusive first general election of 1974 when it seemed for a while that he might form a coalition with Edward Heath’s Conservative Party, in what now seems a precursor to the coalition negotiations that followed the 2010 election which would eventually see Britain’s third party securing a say in government.

The scandal surrounded Thorpe’s homosexuality and in particular his relationship with Norman Scott, sometime male model and generally feckless drifter through life. Their first sexual encounter (which Preston describes, based upon Scott’s own account, in terms that make it sound little short of a...

United Kingdom on Sep 07, 2016

gammyjill: "National Insurance is my lifeblood". This non sequitur was uttered by Norman Scott at a trial in England in 1979. The trial was that of four men for the conspiracy to murder a fifth man - Norman Scott. Scott escaped murder, but his dog was gunned down in the attempt. Of the four men on trial, one was Jeremy Thorpe, the retired head of Britain's Liberal Party. Norman Scott and Jeremy Thorpe had had an affair some years earlier and Thorpe had promised to take care of Scott, but rather, took his National Insurance card and wouldn't give it back. Scott found it difficult to find work without the card. Okay, is all this inane? Does it make any sense? No, of course not; British scandals rarely do make sense but they are so damn much fun to read about. Particularly when written by a master, John Preston, whose dryness and wit is apparent throughout the book, "A Very English Scandal:Sex, Lies, and a Murder Plot in the Houses of Parliament". And particularly when there are badgers thrown into the mix.

I'm sure everyone reading this review has heard of the John Profumo/Mandy Rice-Davies/Christine Keeler scandal, which led to bringing down the Conservative-led government of Alec...

United States on May 28, 2016

S Riaz: I was only a child when the scandal involving the leader of the Liberal Party, Jeremy Thorpe, exploded so, although I was aware of it, I did not know the details. As English politics have always interested me, I was keen to read this and certainly found it an engrossing book.

Events begin in 1965 when Liberal MP Peter Bessell was invited to dinner by Jeremy Thorpe – an MP since 1959 and a rising star in the Party. Thorpe confided that he wanted to be the leader of the Liberal Party; he also confessed that a young man he had had an affair with – Norman Josiffe – had written to his mother claiming to be his lover. This was at a time when homosexuality was still illegal and Thorpe was aware that his indiscrete love affairs could make him vulnerable to blackmail.

Norman Josiffe (who later renamed himself Norman Scott) was a young man who was staying with a friend of Thorpe’s when he first met him. When he found himself in trouble he turned to Thorpe and he took compromising letters from the man’s house he was staying with – at first to thank Thorpe for his kindness, intending to return them, and, later, as a form of insurance for himself. For Josiffe turned...

United Kingdom on May 05, 2016