{{Short description|British journalist (1931–2019)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}} {{Use British English|date=September 2016}} '''Christopher Wighton Moncrieff''' CBE (9 September 1931 – 22 November 2019) was a British journalist who was the political editor of the Press Association from 1980 to 1994.
==Early life== Moncrieff was born in Derby in 1931 to Robert Wighton Moncrieff and Winifred Margaret (née Hydon).<ref name=GuardianObit>{{cite news |last1=Langdon |first1=Julia |title=Chris Moncrieff obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/25/chris-moncrieff-obituary |accessdate=21 December 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=25 November 2019 |location=London}}</ref> His father had studied chemistry at Manchester University, and worked in the textile industry, including as superintendent of textile research for British Celanese.<ref name="Who's Who">''The Author's and Writer's Who's Who'', ed. Edward Martell, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1971, p. 565.</ref><ref>''The Chemical Age'', vol. 50–51, 1944, p. 486.</ref><ref>''Journal of the Textile Institute'', vol. 34, 1943, p. P-88.</ref> He wrote several books, including ''Man-Made Fibres: Wool Shrinkage and its Prevention'' and ''The Chemistry of Perfumery Materials''.<ref name="Who's Who" />
==Education== Moncrieff was educated at the Moravian Girls' School, an independent school in the village of Ockbrook, near his home in Chaddesden in Derbyshire.<ref name=PSA>{{cite web|url=https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/PSAAwards2010.pdf|title=Political Studies Association - Awards 2010 - Award Winners (Diamond Jubilee Award - Political Journalist - Chris Moncrieff CBE - page 11)|work=Political Studies Association|date=2010|accessdate=6 June 2015}}</ref> He said that his parents decided to send him there as they didn't believe the local council school was good enough, and that although there were other boys at the school, he nevertheless found it "very embarrassing" to have attended it.<ref name=PSA/> After time at Nottingham High School, he finished his education at Ellesmere College, Shropshire.<ref name=GuardianObit />
==Life and career== Having left school at age 16, Moncrieff trained as a journalist at the ''Harrogate Herald'' and, after National Service in the Intelligence Corps, worked for six years at the ''Coventry Evening Telegraph'' and the ''Nottingham Evening Post''.<ref name=GuardianObit /> In 1962, he joined the Houses of Parliament political staff of the Press Association, a leading news agency, becoming a lobby correspondent in 1973 and then political editor in 1984.<ref name=GuardianObit />
Once a legendary drinker of Guinness, Moncrieff was teetotal from 1983.<ref name="GuardianObit" /><ref>M, [http://londonist.com/2010/03/alternative_pub_crawls_the_houses_o.php? "Alternative Pub Crawls: The Houses Of Parliament"], ''Londonist'', 19 March 2010.</ref> The Rev Ian Paisley, who used to insist on smelling the breath of journalists he was about to be interviewed by, once famously said to him "Moncrieff, is that the devil's buttermilk I smell on your breath?"<ref name=Independent>Colin Brown, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/chris-moncrieff-so-good-they-put-his-byline-on-the-bar-395470.html "Chris Moncrieff: So good they put his byline on the bar"], ''The Independent'', 29 October 2007.</ref> Margaret Thatcher, a great admirer, made him a CBE in the 1990 New Year Honours. He officially retired in 1994 but continued to write political commentary for the Press Association and regularly appeared on political programmes on radio and television.
In November 2010, he was awarded a Diamond Jubilee Award for Political Journalism by the UK Political Studies Association on the occasion of the PSA's 60th Anniversary.<ref>[http://www.psa.ac.uk/PSAAwards2010_details.aspx?ID=10 PSA Awards 2010 Winner's Details: Political Journalist: Chris Moncrieff CBE] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104025312/http://www.psa.ac.uk/PSAAwards2010_details.aspx?ID=10 |date=4 January 2011}}</ref> Presenting the award, ''Financial Times'' journalist Sue Cameron told an anecdote of spying Moncrieff in the lobby at Westminster: "Looking for a story, Chris?" she enquired. "No," came the reply, "I've got the story. I'm just looking for somebody to say it."<ref>[http://blog.itv.com/news/alastairstewart/2010/12/ted-heath-and-the-art-of-whipping/ Alistair Stewart's Blog], ITN: 1 December 2010.</ref>
Sir Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher's former press secretary, said of Moncrieff: "He is the nearest approach to the 24-hour journalist I have ever known".<ref>M. L. P. Foster, [http://www.mouthlondon.com/current/you-can’t-keep-a-good-man-down/ "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830003940/http://www.mouthlondon.com/current/you-can%E2%80%99t-keep-a-good-man-down/ |date=30 August 2011}}, Mouth London, 13 April 2011.</ref> Sir Nicholas Winterton MP said: "To me, the best journalist in this place is the oldest journalist, Chris Moncrieff. You tell him something; he reports it; he does not dress it up; he actually reports....Chris Moncrieff is the straightest man you could ever come across."<ref>[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmmodern/951/6032904.htm "Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons Minutes of Evidence"], Parliamentary business, ''Hansard'', House of Commons, 29 March 2006.</ref>
The refurbished press gallery bar at the House of Commons was renamed Moncrieff's in his honour.<ref name=Independent />
Moncrieff was interviewed by National Life Stories (C467/20) in 2016 for the "Oral History of the British Press" collection held by the British Library.<ref name="oralhistory">[http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Press-and-media/021M-C0638X0020XX-0001V0 "Moncrieff, Chris (1 of 12). Oral History of the British Press"], National Life Stories Collection, The British Library Board, 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2017.</ref>
He died in hospital after a short illness on 22 November 2019 at the age of 88.
==Family life== He was married to actress Maggie (née Ferguson) from 1961 until her death in 2016. He had four children, Joanna, Sarah, Kate and Angus.<ref name=GuardianObit />
==Bibliography== * ''Living On a Deadline'', Virgin Books Ltd, 2001. {{ISBN|1-85227-917-6}} * ''Wine, Women and Westminster'', JR Books, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-906217-80-8}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moncrieff, Chris}} Category:1931 births Category:2019 deaths Category:British male journalists Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Chaddesden Category:Military personnel from Derby Category:Intelligence Corps soldiers Category:20th-century British Army personnel Category:People educated at Nottingham High School