Gregory Lauder-Frost

Gregory Lauder-Frost is a British politician and political writer noted for his traditional conservative views. A descendant of the Plantagenets through his ancestor Sir Robert Drury (d.1536) of Thurston & Hawstead, Privy Councillor and Speaker of the House of Commons, he is also the great-nephew of Sir Harry Lauder whom Sir Winston Churchill famously described as 'the greatest ambassador Scotland ever had'.

An early member of the newly created Freedom Association (then called the National Association for Freedom), Lauder-Frost had been a Conservative Party activist from the mid-1970s and worked tirelessly for the party. From 1978 he was on the Executive Committee of the Chelsea Conservative Association at the same time as MP James Arbuthnot. He left after a row about the overnight demolition of the Italianate Kensington Town Hall by the Conservative-controlled Kensington and Chelsea Council, to join and subsequently became a patron of the Roxburgh and Berwickshire Conservative Association in southern Scotland until 1993.

Lauder-Frost was a member (1976-1992 incl) and later Political Secretary of the Monday Club, the traditional-conservative pressure group, which Harold Wilson famously referred to as "the conscience of the Tory Party". As chairman (1987 - 1992) of its Foreign Affairs Committee, in October 1991 he headed the first British political delegation to observe the war between Serbia and Croatia. Tory MPs Andrew Hunter and Roger Knapman (now leader of the UK Independence Party), and Count Nikolai Tolstoy, were part of the delegation which was entertained by President Franjo Tudjman and the Croatian government in Zagreb. An opponent of what he terms "the new Soviet bloc", in 1990 Lauder-Frost shared an anti-EU platform with Enoch Powell at a packed Monday Club meeting at the Empire Hotel, Blackpool, during the Conservative Party Conference, which was filmed and featured on BBCTV's "Newsnight" programme.

In 1989, Gregory Lauder-Frost was invited to become an Honorary Vice-President of the ultra-conservative group, the Western Goals Institute, noted for its anti-communist stance, a post he held until 2000. On 12/13 August 1989 he was part of their delegation attending the huge anti-communist demonstrations at Moln in Germany, and in July 1990 was in the WGI delegation to the World Anti-Communist League Congress in Brussels, one of the largest ever held. He wrote a controversial article which appeared in the group's newspaper, "European Dawn" in September 1989, condemning the anniversary celebrations of the French Revolution, and another attacking the West's appeasement and betrayal of European nations to communism.

Once described on the front cover of "New Statesman" magazine (7 June 1991) as 'Britain's Staunchest Monarchist' he is a Life Member (1979) of the International Monarchist League, having served as its Publications Officer (1987-1992) and Secretary-General (1990-1991).

However, Lauder-Frost's domestic affairs were a cause of almost constant anxiety to him. In April 1985 his wife had taken a lover and left for the USA. Lauder-Frost was awarded full custody of his daughter, then one year old. However she was subsequently abducted twice and on both occasions taken abroad. Although ultimately successful in her return to Britain, the complicated costs involved over such a long period were crippling. His politically motivated employers, a government department, then claimed financial irregularities in his work in January 1992; this led to a succession of charges against Lauder-Frost which were, over a period of eight months, either dropped or amended as challenged. A conviction on a reduced number of counts for theft was obtained in November 1992, but because of the irregularities of the case the judge, Justice Marr-Johnson, refused an order for restititution. A successful appeal eventually came the following year. A civil case was then raised against him which also failed.

By this time, with selective and biased reporting, Lauder-Frost's reputation had taken a battering and he withdrew from public debate and most political activities to concentrate on the upbringing of his daughter. On 2nd February 1995 he was gravely injured in a road accident returning from his daughter's school. He nevertheless managed to take the Chair at the Western Goals Dinner in London later the following month, addressed by Ulster MP Peter Robinson.

Gregory Lauder-Frost has remained a popular 'gentleman' figure of the Right and invitations to political events and debate have not ceased. He was seen sitting in front of Baroness Thatcher at St.Martin-in-the-Fields for the Memorial Service for Norris McWhirter on 7th October, 2004. He has resumed some minor activity on the political fringe. He chaired the Traditional Britain Dinner at Simpsons-in-the-Strand in November 2003, an impressive gathering of Who's Who on the respectable Right in Britain. He is also a committee member of the Conservative Democratic Alliance (CDA). His opposition to so-called "New Right" economic policies and to the US-led war in Iraq have seen him branded a "neo-socialist" by some younger neo-Conservatives who are heavily influenced by Margaret Thatcher and Milton Friedman.