The 62-year-old was once described as 'Mrs Thatcher's protege'
But he has repeatedly failed in his ambition to become an MP
PUBLISHED: 23:19 GMT, 3 March 2014 | UPDATED: 23:28 GMT, 3 March 2014
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Credentials: Oxford-educated Patrick Rock, 62, comes from a noble
background. He is pictured here in 1984 during the Portsmouth South
by-election
Born Patrick Robert John Rock de Besombes to a family of European
aristocrats, he has worked for leading Tories for four decades.
But despite his impeccable social and political contacts,
Oxford-educated Rock has repeatedly failed in his ambition to become a
Conservative MP, despite being selected to fight safe seats.
Rock, 62 and unmarried, lives in a £500,000 flat in Parsons Green,
West London. He was born in Kensington in 1951, a year after the
marriage of his mother Gertrud and Egyptian-born father Robert John Rock
de Besombes.
His paternal grandmother was a D'aigneaux, from a noble French family
that originated in Normandy and boasts a coat of arms.
As a teenager, Rock boarded at the elite Jesuit Stonyhurst College in
Lancashire, winning a scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford, where
he studied history.
After graduation he worked as Margaret Thatcher's political
correspondence secretary in the then Prime Minister's Office and also as
managing director of the Retail Consortium.
It is not clear when he shortened his name to plain Patrick Rock, but
he used it while fighting the Woolwich East election in 1979, aged 28,
which he lost despite increasing the Tory vote.
After losing Crewe and Nantwich in the 1983 election he was selected
in a by-election to defend the seemingly impregnable safe seat of
Portsmouth South in 1984, which had a Tory majority of over 12,000.
The Portsmouth News described him as 'Mrs Thatcher's protege' who had
been hand-picked by Downing Street to contest the seat ahead of more
impressive local candidates.
During the campaign he was described as 'likeable and energetic but
slightly wet behind the ears'. His campaign went catastrophically wrong
after he spoke on TV about a hospital that was not in the constituency.
Rock was unconcerned, declaring at a public meeting that he was
'absolutely certain' he would win the seat, predicting Labour would
finish second and the Liberal SDP Alliance trail in third.
But after a 14 per cent swing against him, he was defeated by the
Alliance's Mike Hancock in what was labelled the 'biggest election upset
for years' and a 'great surprise' to Mrs Thatcher.
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Rock boarded at the elite Jesuit Stonyhurst College in Lancashire before winning a scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford
Newspaper reports described the defeated Rock leaving the count 'pale with shock'.
He blamed the defeat on too many Conservatives staying at home and
Mrs Thatcher phoned him the following morning to assure him the defeat
was not his fault.
The following year, he was appointed to the Conservative Research Department.
He later worked as special adviser to Cabinet ministers in the
Department of the Environment and then the Home Office, where he met
David Cameron.
The pair are famously said to have repaired to the Two Chairmen pub
on the day of the death in 1994 of Labour leader John Smith, where they
agreed Tony Blair would take over, leaving their party 'f*****'.
Rock again attempted to become an MP in 1990, applying for the safe Tory
seat of Devizes, but failed to be selected.
He also worked in Brussels for EU Commissioner Chris Patten, with the
responsibility for the western Balkans, before becoming a policy
adviser at Downing Street.
Colleagues describe him as 'abrasive' and 'a commentator rather an a
doer'. Another said his arrest over child abuse images was a 'terrific
shock'.
Yours sincerely,
Field McConnell, United States Naval Academy, 1971; Forensic Economist;
30 year airline and 22 year military pilot; 23,000 hours of safety; Tel:
715 307 8222
David Hawkins Tel: 604 542-0891 Forensic Economist; former leader of
oil-well blow-out teams; now sponsors Grand Juries in CSI Crime and
Safety Investigation
