Biography

Kenneth Clarke was born in Nottingham in July, 1940. His father was a colliery electrician. Having decided that he wanted to be a politician from the age of seven, he passed through Nottingham High School, and read Law at Cambridge University. He was President of the Union at Cambridge, and became active in Conservative politics - being defeated for the seat of Mansfield in 1964 and 1966. Winning Nottingham Rushcliffe in 1970, he rose through the party ranks during the reigns of Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

After the Conservative's second defeat in 2001, he stood for the leadership of the party on the resignation of William Hague. He was defeated, eventually, by the relatively unknown MP, Iain Duncan Smith.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

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I would have liked to be the leader of the Conservative Party and I still would. But I've run twice and I can't see another opportunity coming up in the future.

The TRG (Tory Reform Group) remains the best place for those who, like me, believe in a market economy and individual liberty combined with a social conscience.

I had a bad habit of rocking back on my chair from our old-fashioned Victorian bench desks. One day I crashed over backwards having already been warned not to do this. I remember my shock and surprise when my teacher Mr Burnett gave me six of the best on each hand for having caused such disruption. I did not do it again. Mr Burnett must actually have been a remarkable teacher because, despite the class size, he inspired me to work hard and to enjoy my schoolwork. Now, looking back, I am eternally grateful to him. His teaching was old-fashioned, and included a lot of rote learning. But in his stern and unbending way he ensured we made extremely good progress. I don't think, though, that I was an out-of-place swot. I was just another lively child running in and out of the school during the breaks, with all the same enthusiasms as my schoolmates.