1966 Lord Longford Asks Where Do You Come From?

 

 

Over a very long lifetime - he died at the age of ninety five in 2001 - Frank Pakenham, Earl of Longford, became a figure of fun, derision and some anger. He campaigned against pornography alongside the derided Mary Whitehouse; attracted anger for his friendship with the Moors murderer, Myra Hindley; and from being a supporter of gay rights when male homosexuality was still criminalised became an outspoken Roman Catholic opponent.

But in the 1960s he was also known as a prison reformer and as Leader of the House of Lords in Harold Wilson’s Labour government. As such, he was invited to speak at the Oxford University Labour Club and was, as usual, offered dinner beforehand at the Union. The year, 1966.

Unusually, among those standing around in the group assembled for pre-dinner drinks, there was a black student, rather tall and beautiful, who I hadn’t seen before and didn’t know. Lord Longford made a beeline for her, offered his hand, and asked, Where do you come from?

There was a slight pause and then, with a broad smile, she replied, Buckinghamshire.