Former home secretary Lord Douglas Hurd entertained a sell-out crowd at the London Jewish Cultural Centre (LJCC) with a lively discussion about one of Britain’s most famous prime ministers.
The 84-year-old talked about his latest book, Disraeli: or, The Two Lives, with co-author Edward Young at the LJCC, in Ivy House, North End Road, Golders Green, on Tuesday of last week.
As part of the discussion, titled Disraeli: The Great Prime Minister or the Dandy Gambler, the pair explored the paradoxes at the heart of Benjamin Disraeli’s life.
They argued that Disraeli, who served as Conservative prime minister between 1874 and 1880, was a dandy and gambler on the one hand, a devoted servant and favourite prime minister of Queen Victoria on the other.
Lord Hurd was elevated to the House of Lords after retiring at the 1997 general election as one of the Conservative Party’s most senior elder statesmen, having been an MP for 23 years.
He served as home secretary and later foreign secretary in Conservative governments run by Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
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