Adrian Hilton

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Adrian Hilton
Adrian Hilton

Adrian Hilton (born 10 January 1964) is a British Conservative politician who gained media attention during the 2005 general election.

Hilton studied Drama and Movement Psychology followed by a further degree in Theology, in which he graduated with first class honours. He is a grammar school faculty head (Politics & Philosophy), and lectures in religio-political issues. He has authored many magazine articles and a best-selling book The Principality and Power of Europe, dealing with the constitutional issues raised by Britain's continuing relationship with the European Union. This carried a Foreword by the former Speaker of the British House of Commons Viscount Tonypandy. Along with Rodney Atkinson and Norris McWhirter, with whom he often shared political platforms, he has been vocal in his views on the European Union's policy of 'ever closer union'. He is a defender of the Act of Settlement 1701. He holds a Guinness World Record for a non-stop recital of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.

Hilton was (briefly) a parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party for Slough in the 2005 General Election. Hilton was asked to resign as a Conservative parliamentary candidate following an article in the Catholic Herald which was critical of his defence of the Protestant constitution. Accusing him of being an 'anti-papist' and a 'bigot', they quoted from articles he had written for The Spectator magazine in 2003, two years earlier, in which he argued that "a Catholic EU will inevitably result in the subjugation of Britain's Protestant ethos to Roman Catholic social, political and religious teaching". The article had been commissioned by its editor, Boris Johnson MP, then a vice chairman of the Conservative Party, in the context of the Pope's demands for 'God' to be featured in the then emerging Constitution for Europe [1]. Hilton was in fact referring to the observations of the Catholic politician Shirley Williams, who had stated the same as far back as the EEC referendum in 1975 [2]. Other prominent Roman Catholics, both politicians and theologians, have also echoed this theme, so he was in any case stating nothing new. When Hilton refused to resign, he was dismissed by Michael Howard in the same week that saw the departure of Danny Kruger (Sedgefield) and Howard Flight (Arundel & South Downs). Unlike these other candidates, however, Hilton was never accused of any conduct contrary to Conservative policy. Indeed, the Conservative Party (including its Chief Whip David Maclean MP) was not only aware of these articles, it had already sat in judgement upon them and found them to be consistent with Conservative philosophy. When the Slough Conservative Association refused to deselect him, they were themselves suspended.

Though criticised by some sections of the media, Hilton was supported by Lord Rees-Mogg in The Times, and prominent Catholics including Charles Moore in The Daily Telegraph, who referred to his case as one of religious persecution.

In May 2006, Hilton was a candidate in the Slough local elections but failed to win the Cippenham Meadows seat.

On March 10th 2007, Hilton announced, through his blog, that he would be standing for election to the South Bucks. District Council.

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