CHURCHILL, Winston S.

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Autograph letter signed, advising a fellow politician against class pretensions after a speech. Writing as Home Secretary to the Conservative MP Oliver Locker-Lampson, Churchill remarks, "Testimonials about the efficacy of 'blue blood' should come only from the working classes", after Locker-Lampson had claimed in a speech that men named Churchill would achieve more greatness than those named Smith or Jones.Locker-Lampson (1880-1954), MP for Ramsey, was a close friend of Churchill and was later one of the few Conservative MPs to support him during his 1930s "Wilderness Years". Locker-Lampson had made his maiden speech in Parliament on 3 May during the debate on the Parliament Bill, which sought to reform the House of Lords. "A warm-hearted appeal for the retention of 'blue blood' in the Hereditary Chamber was made by Mr. Oliver Locker-Lampson in an entertaining speech. 'One would expect men of the name of Cecil or Churchill to do greater things and become greater leaders of men than bearers of the name of Smith or Jones', he said, amid roars of laughter" (Daily Mirror, 4 May 1911). The remark was friendly but pointed: Churchill had been one of the chief advocates of curbing the power of the hereditary House of Lords.Churchill finishes, "Otherwise I like your speech & very glad to hear from several quarters that it was successful. I shall hope to be present next time". Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Magazine, and presidential candidate in the 19

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