Eldon League
The Eldon League was a British right-wing reactionary organisation, which aimed to promote feudalism and monarchism. It was set up by Grand Imperial Prior Neil Hamilton, then an undergraduate at Cambridge University, as an eating and drinking society.[1] In 1980, it was described by Private Eye as the British Conservative Party's equivalent of the John Birch Society of the United States.[2]
The group had two main political factions: "Forward into the past" (the progressive wing) and "backwards into the future" (the regressive wing).[1]
It is named after the early 19th century head of Britain's judiciary, Lord Eldon, whom Hamilton called "the greatest reactionary of all time" with an "unremitting opposition to democracy and abolition of the House of Commons".[3] Hamilton also noted: "he opposed reform of the penal code and all other changes in 26 years as Lord High Chancellor, except trial by battle, which he abolished in 1819. The League is not in favour of any change, but then nobody's perfect."[1]
Views and aims
Although anti-feminist, the society did allow a few women members.[1]
In 1985, Grand Imperial Prior of the group Neil Hamilton, speaking at a dinner in Middle Temple Hall, said: "We believe in civilised living. ... We want to abolish the 20th century, particularly the internal combustion engine and plastic."[1] Hamilton also said that "the 18th century was the summit of civilisation" and believed in the aristocracy and monarchy, saying that "people generally like to feel subordinate" and "an extremely rigid class system should be greatly beneficial to human society ... We aim to show how inhuman democracy can be".[1]
Specific policies of the Eldonians included:[1]
- Abolition of the House of Commons
- Elimination of the present and future tenses of English, except for those "future-in-the-past tense which most approximates to the Eldonian ideal"[1]
- Restoration of feudalism (which Hamilton said "made people happier"[1])
- Ban all trade "because it is the catalyst of revolution"[1]
- Ban passports as they enabled people to move around
- Restore the Gold Standard.
The group believed in the 'Eldonian projection' of Earth (called Eldonia); flat and back-to-front, subdivided into the four Great Fiefdoms under the jurisdiction of League officers. Hamilton said the Eldonian League was always on guard, awaiting "a unanimous invitation by the people of the world for good government".[1]
Activities
The society was known for its eccentricity; for example, League members walked or travelled by horse-drawn carriage wherever possible and engaged in 'annual hijinks' at Ascot Racecourse and the Henley Royal Regatta.[1]
The group was well-known for their 'annual champagne duels', involving well-shaken bottles of champagne aimed at each other from 10 paces apart; the winner of the duel is whoever first knocks off the opponent's top hat. Each dueller represents a differing view on a subject, and the winner's viewpoint would later be adopted as League policy.[1] One such duel on 4 June 1975 between Hamilton and another League member decided the group's position on European Community membership in the membership of that year. Hamilton won the duel, announcing to journalists that the League "views with unabashed antipathy all forms of democracy, especially the referendum" and that "we oppose anything that is common, whether it be consultation of the common people or the Common Market".[4]
The group used to annually commemorate the visit of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II to Oxford railway station, whereupon he breakfasted at the station after arriving from the 8:45 train from Balmoral, by drinking the Tsar's preferred breakfast champagne (Louis Roederer) and food (pears in white wine).[1] Speaking to the BBC, one group member said that the event was similar to Vladimir Lenin's famous arrival at Finland Station.[5] In 1978, Count Nikolai Tolstoy was the guest of honour, to respond to the Russian Tsarist toast "Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Nationalism" (also a motto of the League).[5]
On the Fourth of July 1976, the League sent a letter to the United States Ambassador in London inviting the U.S. to rejoin the British Empire, before "ceremonially [retaking] the embassy for the Empire", according to Hamilton.[1]
Every September the group joined the Charles James Fox Society in laying a wreath on the eponymous Fox's statue in Bloomsbury Square, London, an 18th-century Radical who gambled away $70 million before he was 21.[1]
Connections
The League was represented in Hong Kong, West Germany, South Africa and Chicago (United States). The group had diplomatic links with the Republic of Minerva micronation, contacts with French and Italian monarchist groups, and ties to Iron Curtain émigré groups.[1]
Legacy
In 1995, following the cash-for-questions affair, Hamilton expressed an interest in promoting the objectives of the League online.[6]
References
- "Eldon League Wants To Abolish 20th Century". Logansport Pharos-Tribune. United Press International. 26 May 1985. p. 7.
- "Private Eye" (471–496). 1980: 5. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
The Tory Party, it appears, has its own equivalent of the John Birch Society in the Eldon League...
Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - The Listener. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1984. p. 13.
- Saunders, Robert (15 March 2018). Yes to Europe!. Cambridge University Press. p. 29-30. ISBN 978-1-108-42535-3.
- BBC Archive (12 October 2019). #OnThisDay 1978: The Eldon League celebrated the 82nd anniversary of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia's visit to Oxford Railway station buffet.. Via Facebook.
- ProQuest 329228617 "Net gain for ex-MP in battle with Fayed" [A edition.] (1998, Aug 18). Evening Standard. Quote: "In future I may revive various causes I was involved in during my youth. For instance the Eldon League, named after the Earl of Eldon, who as Lord Chancellor opposed all change."