Enoch Powell

Enoch Powell was a British politician, scholar, poet, and classical philologist. He was born in Birmingham, England, on June 16, 1912. He studied classics at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a double first in 1933. He became a professor of Greek at the University of Sydney in Australia in 1937, at the age of 25. He returned to England in 1939 and joined the British Army at the outbreak of World War II. He served in various positions, including staff and intelligence, and reached the rank of brigadier while he was still in his early thirties. He was also a prolific writer and poet, publishing several books on classical and political subjects. After the war, Powell entered politics as a member of the Conservative Party. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West in 1950. He held various positions in the government, including Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1957–1958) and Minister of Health (1960–1963). He was known for his free-market views and his opposition to Britain's entry into the European Economic Community. He also advocated for the decolonization of the British Empire and supported the independence of Rhodesia. Powell became a national figure after his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech in 1968, in which he criticized mass immigration into Britain and warned of its consequences. He used inflammatory language and imagery, such as "the River Tiber foaming with much blood" and "wide-grinning piccaninnies". He was denounced by many as a racist and a demagogue, and was sacked from his position as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence by the Conservative leader Edward Heath. However, he also gained a lot of support from some sections of the public who shared his concerns about immigration. Powell continued to be an influential and divisive figure in British politics until his retirement in 1987. He left the Conservative Party in 1974 and joined the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), representing South Down in Northern Ireland. He opposed the Sunningdale Agreement and the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which aimed to bring peace and power-sharing to Northern Ireland. He also supported Margaret Thatcher's economic policies and her victory in the Falklands War. Powell died of Parkinson's disease on February 8, 1998, at the age of 85. He was buried at Warwick Cemetery, alongside other veterans of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He is remembered as one of the most influential and controversial politicians of the 20th century in Britain.