Bolsover's Satanic ills - Telegraph Bolsover's Satanic ills The town has Britain's highest concentration of devil-worshippers - and even its own Beast Gardening mystery: experts are divided over what the grounds of Bolsover Castle would have looked like in the 17th century Photo: Alamy Comments Nothing stranger in all its long history has happened to Bolsover, dominated by the castle on the hill and closed pits all around, than its new reputation as the Satanist capital of Britain. It is not that naked covens dance on Cresswell Crags or that cloven footprints have been found on the grass in the suitably named Hornscroft Park. No, Bolsover’s reputation derives from the last census, in which 17 people there claimed Satanism as their religion. For Satanism, that, thankfully, is a lot. Wags point out that Bolsover has long had its Beast – a nickname for its chirpy Lefty MP, Dennis Skinner, 82. But it is not true that the A666 goes anywhere near Bolsover. If the whole thing is just a joke, not all Bolsoverians are chuckling.

“I think it’s a load of rubbish,” says Ken Walker, the chairman of the council. Yet he may find Satanism the devil of a slur to exorcise. Related Articles Dennis Skinner is LabourList readers’ favourite backbencher | LabourList Dennis Skinner is LabourList readers’ favourite backbencher 10th April, 2015 2:25 pm Tags: Backbench MPs Dennis Skinner John McDonnell Sarah Champion Stella Creasy Tom Watson Weekly Survey Weekly Survey Results Now that Parliament has shut down for the election, we wanted to reflect on the past 5 years. This government has been characterised by cuts to public services and ruthless attacks on the poorest in society (not least through unfair measures like the Bedroom Tax). But, that’s not all this half decade will be remember for; while the Labour leadership team is so often in the spotlight, it’s often forgotten how hard others MPs are working. That’s why we wanted to know which backbench Labour MPs our readers thought had stood out. There was one clear winner: Dennis Skinner. Otherwise known as the Beast of Bolsover, Skinner has been an MP for 45 years.

Easily recognised by his signature tweed jacket and red tie, ‘the Beast of Bolsover’ has earned nickname he earned for refusing to uphold procedures in Parliament he sees as archaic. He’s also well known for his sense of humour – in 2013, he told Parliament, “Half the Tories opposite are crooks” and when he was told to retract the statement, he replied “Ok, half the Tories opposite aren’t crooks”. One of his most memorable interventions of late came in the form of his yearly Queen’s Speech heckle, which you can watch here. But Skinner isn’t the only MP who received a sizeable number of votes. One hundred votes behind Skinner is Tom Watson. The MP for West Bromwich East played a significant role in exposing the phone hacking scandal, which has gained him much acclaim – and the popular backbencher is an energetic figure on both the campaigning and fundraiser circuits where he’s a big draw for activists. In third place is left-wing MP, John McDonnell. The MP for Hayes and Harlington, like Skinner, isn’t afraid to speak out for what he believes in, even when it goes against the party line.

He recently said that he, along with other 30 or 40 other MPs, would force Labour to change course on austerity if the party win in May. McDonnell is also Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the “Public Services Not Private Profit Group.” In fourth place is Sarah Champion, who is only 5 votes behind McDonnell. Champion was only elected to the Commons in 2012 but has clearly already made an impression on our readers. The MP for Rotherham has led a cross-party inquiry into the Sexual Offences Act 2003 , which is intended to deal with in child sexual exploitation and trafficking within the UK. She also featured in in the documentary, Inside the Commons: Lifting the Lid earlier this year. In fifth place is Margaret Hodge. Although she’s been an MP since ’94, Hodge is best known for being Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. In this role she’s become known for her forthright and vigorous questioning. These 5 MPs aren’t the only ones who got a noteworthy number of votes. Below is a table which shows any MP who got 5 votes or more.

Among them are relative newcomers like Ian Lavery; well-known MPs who previously held cabinet positions, like Alan Johnson, Margaret Hodge and former PM Gordon Brown; and veteran campaigners, such as Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott. Take a look at the table here: Dennis Skinner h2g2 - Nicknames Nicknames 1 Conversation A Nickname is generally considered to be a name other than a given name by which others call a person. The whole point of a nickname is that it should not be invented by the appellee; it is not the same as nom-de-plums or pseudonyms, which are usually invented by someone for their own use. They come into being for a variety of reasons: Tradition; many trades and professions have traditional nicknames based on surnames or job. The British Royal Navy, (and other organisations)for example, uses "Spider" Webb, "Smudge" Smith, "Chalky" White, "Bungy" Edwards, as surname based nicknames, whilst shipwrights and writers are invariably called "Chippy" and "Scribes", even when away from the workplace. Alleged humour and original wit by the nickname-giver.

These nicknames are intended to be humorous, as the inventors are (wrongly) convinced that nobody has heard them before; the nicknames invariably refer to physical or racial chareacteristics Examples. Lofty or Snowy for any tall person Specs or Joe90 (a bespectacled heroic puppet from a 1960s TV program) for anyone who wears glasses. Titch, Shorthouse, for those shorter in height than the nickname giver. Taff, Jock, etc for Welsh or Scottish folk. Nastiness: very popular in politics. Usually invented by the media, but occasionally by political enemies, or worse, by friends. In the UK parliament we have had The Beast of Bolsover ( Dennis Skinner), Geoffrey Who (Geoffrey Howe), The Chingford Skinhead (Norman Tebbitt). Affection. Affectionate nicknames often develop between couples; occasionally someone in the limelight will be popular enough to have a nickname coined.

Examples - "Cuddly" Dudley Moore (a British comedian and jazz pianist) The Forces Sweetheart (Vera Lynne) and millions of Honeybuns, Possums, Hotlips, Bigbums, etc, whose nicknames may return to haunt them if they ever leave the partner who bestowed them. Need to uniquely identify the owner of a common surname. This occurs a great deal in areas such as Wales, UK, where a community is likely to have many folks sharing surnames such as Jones, Morgan, Thomas, Davies, etc. Examples would include "Jones the Phones" , "Tommy Lamps", and "Dai Dan Dwr" (Dai underwater, who used to be a submariner)) Nicknames in Wales, however, are not confined to the bearers of the more popular surnames; it is common to hear someone's first name with a nickname tagged on regardless of the surname.

Example " Scottish Bob" (who isn't Scottish but wore a tartan tie once), Honest Don (who doesn't cheat at cards but is such a good player that everyone assumes he does) A nickname trait that seems to be restricted to Wales is where the first name and surname are similar - Tommy Thomas, David Davies will always be called Tommy Twice and Dai Twice respectively (Dai is short for David) In Wales, nicknames do not always disappear when the owner dies; the author knows of a number of instances of nicknames being passed down to at least 2 generations; one particular family is still known as the Hong Kong Reeses because the grandfather ran a shop called the Hong Kong Emporium in South Wales at the start of the 1900s! British Parliament Grills David Cameron On Offshore Tax Connections : NPR British Parliament Grills David Cameron On Offshore Tax Connections Embed Embed British Parliament Grills David Cameron On Offshore Tax Connections British Parliament Grills David Cameron On Offshore Tax Connections Embed Embed NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Michael Wilkinson, a political correspondent at the Telegraph, about the British prime minister's offshore tax connections revealed in the Panama Papers leak.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Members of Britain's House of Commons got the chance today to question Prime Minister David Cameron about an offshore company created by his father and revealed in the Panama Papers leak. Cameron has been under attack for the way he's handled the revelation. He told MPs that he was initially reluctant to comment because he was trying to protect his family. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) DAVID CAMERON: I accept all of the criticisms for not responding more quickly to these issues last week. But, as I've said, I was angry about the way my father's memory was being traduced. I know he was a hard-working man and a wonderful dad, and I'm proud of everything he did to build a business and provide for his family. SIEGEL: We're joined now by political correspondent Michael Wilkinson of the British paper The Daily Telegraph. He's been following this story and joins us via Skype. Welcome, Michael Wilkinson. MICHAEL WILKINSON: Hi, Robert. SIEGEL: Why did David Cameron feel that he had to make this statement to the Commons?

WILKINSON: Well, to put it bluntly, he's had the worst week of his prime ministerial career. It has been an absolutely horrid week, and he had to defend himself before MPs today. Today was the first day that they came back from their Easter break, so he had to go before them and explain himself. SIEGEL: The issue being both that he had at some point benefited from an offshore company, but also that he had spoken out against this sort of corporation in the past. WILKINSON: That's right. Actually, David Cameron is one of the - well, let's put it this way - one of the world's leading politicians to speak out on tax evasion. In fact, next month in London, he will be hosting an anti-corruption summit with global leaders coming to the city, and he'll be leading that to try and push forward the agenda in terms of tax evasion and cracking down on it. So it's actually quite embarrassing, and obviously that's been a focus over the past week. SIEGEL: Well, did MPs seem to accept what he had to say about it today? WILKINSON: Well (laughter), there was some interesting interaction.

Let's just say it was high drama in the House of Commons today. One of the opposition MPs who is called Dennis Skinner - he's a labor MP. He also has the nickname of the beast of Bolsover. He's quite notorious. He described David Cameron as dodgy Dave which is a bit of a slur. But he tried to get away with it in Parliament, but the speaker of the House asked him to withdraw the statement. He refused to withdraw it, saying that this is the man that has done more to divide the nation than anyone else. And so as a result, the speaker then had to expel this MP from Parliament. So this MP had to walk out. So it was a culmination of what's been sort of a - quite an eventful day, really. SIEGEL: What does all of this say about political and social divisions in Britain today? WILKINSON: Well, I think the long and short of it really is that many people have lost trust in politicians. I mean, this is not a new thing. This has been going on over the last few years, and it's been bubbling away.

And I think across the world we've seen the rise of a sort of new anti-politics, if you like. And politicians in Britain over the last week have becoming - come under a lot of pressure to release details of their own financial affairs. David Cameron spent a week trying to deflate this issue. But it ended in him releasing his tax returns for the last six years. And what we've seen today is an absolute flurry over MPs and politicians releasing theirs as well. SIEGEL: Well, by releasing his tax information and by taking it on the chin a few times in the House of Commons today, does David Cameron put all this behind him now? WILKINSON: Well, there were calls for him to resign. And on Saturday, there was a big protest in London. But actually, realistically, that's not really going to come to anything. David Cameron is not going anywhere. But he does have a tough task on his hands in terms of trying to rebuild trust in the Conservative Party. This comes against the backdrop of a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union as well which has been hugely divisive for his party.

So he's got his work cut out over the next few weeks to restore trust and get things on an equal footing again. SIEGEL: Michael Wilkinson of The Daily Telegraph in London, thanks for talking with us. WILKINSON: Thank you. Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc. , an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. 10 Cities And Towns With Connections To Satanism - Listverse 10 Cities And Towns With Connections To Satanism Benjamin Welton January 28, 2016 Devil worship, the black arts, satanism—three different names for the same thing. In most instances, these words tend to fall from the mouths of blowhards who see little red demons in every crack and crevice of popular culture. But on occasion, these terms do mean something.

There are small churches and covens of practicing Satanists throughout the world, while bigger organizations like the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set occasionally get magazine coverage due to their large congregations. Some of the cities on this list are well-known hot spots of blasphemous activity, while others may surprise you. Featured image credit: Adrian Wimmer 10 Turin Photo credit: MarkusMark Despite being the home of the ghostly, Christlike face that adorns the Shroud of Turin , this industrial city in northern Italy is also home to one of the most thriving satanic communities in all of Europe. During the 1980s, the Catholic Church hired six new exorcists to combat the city’s “magic.” Archbishop Anastasio Ballestrero even told The New York Times that the Devil lived in the city . A decade earlier, Italian filmmaker Dario Argento set his horror classic Deep Red in Turin because of the city’s dark reputation . Much of Turin’s status is founded on the belief that it forms a magical triangle with the cities of London and San Francisco as a sort of powerhouse for black magic .

Supposedly significant landmarks include the Piazza Statuto, the Via Vittorio Alfieri, and the Piazza del Palazzo, with each one displaying certain evil symbols like pentagrams, winged devils , and more. Even churches are included. Certain structures, like the neoclassical Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio, appear to be more pagan than Christian. Underneath the city, some believe that Turin’s wealthy elite hold court with demons and other Satanists to retain power over the city’s culture and economy. Italy is one of the few places in Europe where accusations of satanism are taken seriously. During the Amanda Knox trial, attorney Giuliano Mignini argued that Meredith Kercher had been murdered as part of a satanic sex ritual. In fact, a certain segment of the Italian population still believes that the Monster of Florence was actually a cabal of rural devil worshipers . 9 Bolsover Photo credit: Phil Sangwell Bolsover, a former mining town located in the Midlands county of Derbyshire, boasts of many great things.

They range from the usual amenities of good living—such as restaurants, pubs, and libraries—to the 17th-century Bolsover Castle , which was originally founded in the 11th century by one of William the Conqueror’s knights. Bolsover is also the most satanic city in England. This title was earned in 2011 when 17 residents out of almost 76,000, or 0.2 percent of the population, claimed satanism as their religion on a census. Although the city of Bristol had 34 Satanists in its population in 2011, Bolsover had more Satanists per capita. So Bolsover is now known as the chief city in England’s “ satanic heartland .” Oddly enough, the Church of Satan was quick to deny that actual Satanists existed in Bolsover.

Calling it a joke, the senior leaders in Anton LaVey’s religion echoed the sentiments of the Bolsover District Council, which called the census “ a load of rubbish .” The fact that so many Satanists in Bolsover went unnoticed until the 2011 census points to an elaborate joke on the part of at least some of the 17 citizens. Yet it should be noted that Dennis Skinner, Bolsover’s Labor MP, sports the rather diabolical nickname “ The Beast of Bolsover ” due to his red-hot temperament. 8 Amityville Photo credit: BrownieCharles99 Amityville, a small town in Long Island’s Suffolk County that was made famous by Jay Anson’s 1977 book, has attracted its fair share of unwanted attention. The Dutch Colonial house with the moon-shaped eyes no longer occupies the lot at 112 Ocean Avenue, but sightseers and fans of the macabre still stop by on occasion to get a little spooked. Although many claim that the entire story behind The Amityville Horror was fabricated, it’s not disputed that Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr.

killed six members of his family on the night of November 13, 1974. At the trial, DeFeo claimed that “ devilish black hands ” and disembodied voices drove him to kill. This statement may have inspired some of the later claims made by the Lutz family. But like DeFeo, another Long Island murderer was drawn to the house’s negative energy. Before savagely murdering his friend and fellow high school junkie Gary Lauwers on June 16, 1984, Ricky Kasso, later dubbed the “Acid King,” was a well-known Satanist in and around his hometown of Northport, Long Island. A fan of shouting “Hail Satan” to pedestrians, Kasso was the head of a drug-fueled satanic coven called the Knights of the Black Circle. During a Walpurgis Night celebration, Kasso and a few friends supposedly performed a ritual at the vacant Amityville house. Of course, this story may not be true.

But Kasso did murder Lauwers in the name of Satan, even demanding that the beaten and bloody Lauwers say that he “ loved Satan .” 7 Fort Thomas Kentucky On a cold winter morning in February 1896, a headless corpse was found on the Fort Thomas, Kentucky, farm of John Locke. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the corpse belonged to a pregnant woman named Pearl Bryan. A native of Greencastle, Indiana, Bryan soon became a newspaper sensation because of her gruesome fate and the mystery surrounding why she was in Kentucky in the first place. Once the culprits were apprehended, the case grew creepier. Bryan’s killers, Alonzo Walling and Scott Jackson, were believed to be practicing occultists who murdered Bryan as part of a satanic ritual that took place after hours in a slaughterhouse. The veracity of these allegations was bolstered by the fact that neither Walling nor Jackson would tell the police what they had done with Bryan’s head. If they did, both men claimed that they would be visited by the wrath of Satan . Nowadays, the murder and the sinister motivations of Walling and Jackson live on in nearby Wilder, Kentucky.

There, the spirits of all three supposedly haunt Bobby Mackey’s Music World nightclub. 6 St. James Photo credit: Paranormal Witness via DVD King Reviews Long Island has long had an association with satanism beyond Amityville. Although the residents of North Massapequa believe that a “ Devil Worship House ” exists in their town, the Church of Satan has a small presence in neighboring Massapequa Park . Even the folkloric Cropsey of Staten Island contains a satanic element . This has helped the proliferation of various legend-tripping activities throughout rural Long Island, which shares a version of the Cropsey legend. Despite all of this sensationalism, many New Yorkers still see Long Island as a refuge—an escape from the hustle and bustle of America’s largest city. That’s what Jeannette Meyran and her daughters sought when they relocated to the small town of St. James on Long Island in 2006. The family was also trying to leave behind tragedy. Their patriarch, Curtis Meyran, had died in an apartment fire during what the New York Fire Department has called their “ Black Sunday .” Sadly, the fresh start that the Meyrans were hoping for never came.

After claiming to see hooded men on their property and hear disembodied voices and thumps throughout the house, the family discovered a diary from 1927 in their unfinished basement. The diary, written by a girl named Christina, reportedly spoke about animal sacrifices and sexual abuse as part of a Long Island–based cult. For years afterward, the family continued to experience paranormal events, some of which included physical violence. The family’s ordeal was eventually made into an episode for Syfy’s Paranormal Witness program. 5 Victoria British Columbia Photo credit: St. Martin’s Press via Amazon During the 1980s, Satanists were everywhere. Not only was professional wrestler Kevin Sullivan portraying one on Florida television, but other devil worshipers were popping up in movies, on television, and in music videos. The glut of satanism in the 1980s was largely inspired by the so-called “ satanic panic ,” which created an entire industry dedicated to ferreting out devil worshipers, whether criminals or white-collar professionals. Of all the major accusations against Satanists, none was more damning than the assertion that they were in charge of day cares and schools.

This theory took off in 1980 with the publication of Michelle Remembers, a book cowritten by a young girl and her psychiatrist. In the book, Michelle Smith of Victoria, British Columbia, claimed that she and other children had been subjected to sexual abuse rituals at the hands of a local satanic cult. Michelle claimed that a large portion of the town’s adult population, including her mother, were in the cult . The fact that her ordeal had occurred during the 1950s did little to calm society’s collective nerves. Michelle Remembers became an instruction manual on how to deal with abused children and spot potential Satanists within the community. Thirty-six years later, allegations of satanic ritual abuse continue, often with the fear that pedophiles are a contributing factor. At the heart of Michelle Remembers is the practice of recovered memory therapy, a highly controversial process that is designed to uncover “ repressed memories ” that are harming the patient in the present. With questions raised about the legitimacy of recovered memory therapy, many of the abuse claims made during the satanic panic were refuted later on, thus helping the hysteria to die down by the late 1980s.

4 Toledo Photo credit: Washington Allston Eldritch Rites don’t immediately come to mind when you hear the words “Toledo, Ohio.” A grimy, mostly working-class city in northwestern Ohio, Toledo was the home of the satanic Our Lady of Endor Coven. Founded around 1948 by Toledo native Herbert Sloane, the cult enjoyed a long existence until his death in the 1980s. Sloane, who performed black magic rituals in the back of his barbershop, genuinely believed in and worshiped Satan. As such, Sloane and his group were some of the first public Satanists in the US, predating Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan by almost 20 years. Sloane’s coven believed in a Gnostic interpretation of satanism. In their view, the “ Horned God ” of Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden that a supreme God held power over the Judeo-Christian God who had created the universe. Our Lady of Endor Coven—named after the medium responsible for raising the spirit of the prophet Samuel in the First Book of Samuel—was almost entirely mystical and was committed to performing numerous occult rituals to commune more closely with the Horned God.

Such cerebral devil worship tended to keep membership low. As a result, Sloane’s group never achieved the notoriety of the Church of Satan or its many offshoots. 3 San Francisco California Satanism in San Francisco is synonymous with Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan. Later dubbed the “Black Pope,” LaVey was a crime scene photographer, nightclub organist, psychic, and lion tamer before becoming the face of modern devil worship. In 1968, as an example of LaVey’s authority on all things obsidian, he served as a consultant on the set of Rosemary’s Baby . Two years earlier, LaVey and a small group of followers had founded the Church of Satan in San Francisco on Walpurgis Night. Located in the city’s Richmond District, the Church of Satan was operated out of LaVey’s private home—an all-black house located at 6118–6122 California Street. LaVey and his followers conducted highly dramatic rituals , some of which were filmed for posterity.

Thanks to such broadcast footage, as well as the publication of LaVey’s The Satanic Bible in 1969, the Church of Satan enjoyed widespread visibility throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. Many Hollywood celebrities , such as Sammy Davis Jr., became members. San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area have been home to several satanic or possibly satanic serial killers such as the Zodiac Killer and the Night Stalker. 2 Pergamon Ancient Greece The city of Pergamon no longer exists. Located near the modern Turkish city of Bergama, the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Pergamon remain vital to certain strains of evangelical Christianity. In Revelation 2:12, the city’s main temple (today known as the Pergamon Altar) is labeled as Satan’s throne . Indeed, the entire city of Pergamon is called satanic by John of Patmos, the author of the Book of Revelation. Archaeologists and historians blame this interpretation on the first-century execution of Antipas , the Christian bishop of the city, which did not endear early Christians to the city.

Another interpretation states that Pergamon’s temple, which was a gigantic shrine to the Olympian gods during its heyday, was believed to be satanic because it embodied the morals and practices of the pagan Hellenic religion. Since the Judeo-Christian practice of turning pagan gods and goddesses into demons was already common by the time the Book of Revelation was written, it makes sense that Pergamon’s pagan edifices were translated into satanic shrines by John of Patmos. These days, Pergamon enjoys a second life among conspiracy theorists as the hidden influence behind everything from Hitler’s Zeppelin Field in Nuremberg to the stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2008, where Barack Obama was given the party’s nomination before winning the presidential election later that year. 1 Lalish Photo credit: Ger Al Hamud Ser bahger The Kurdish Yazidi community in northern Iraq has long been the target of religious persecution. The source of this hatred comes from the widely held belief that the Yazidis are devil worshipers. Recently, this idea was invoked by ISIS, who began targeting the secretive community as part of a genocide campaign that has included mass murder and mass sexual slavery.

For the most part, the Yazidi connection to Satan began with Melek Taus, the “ Peacock Angel ” whom the Yazidis worship as the supreme God and the creator of the universe. According to their Christian and Muslim neighbors, Melek Taus is none other than Satan—a fallen angel who has come to Earth to lead men and women astray. Unlike many of the religions around them, the Yazidis are open about the pagan elements contained within their syncretic religion. As a result, the important shrine at Lalish, an ancient center of worship with possibly Sumerian roots, is seen as the seat of Yazidi devilry. In 1927, the American travel writer William Seabrook helped to further perpetuate this stereotype by calling Lalish one of the seven towers of satanism run by the Yazidis in Asia. Around the same time, this belief was echoed by H.P. Lovecraft in “The Horror at Red Hook,” which calls the Yazidis “ Persian devil worshipers .” Currently, Lalish is a gathering place for the Yazidi resistance against ISIS in northern Iraq. Although old superstitions die hard, the old distaste for the Yazidi community may finally be turning a corner.

Benjamin Welton is a freelance writer based in Boston. His work has appeared in The Weekly Standard, The Atlantic, Listverse, Metal Injection, and others. He currently blogs at literarytrebuchet.blogspot.com . Skinner, Dennis | newruskinarchives newruskinarchives Known names / nicknames: ‘the Beast of Bolsover’ Date of birth: 11/02/1932 Life before Ruskin Date and place of birth: 11 February 1932, ?Clay Cross? Derbyshire Family: Father, Edward, a miner. Mother, Lucy (Dudley) took in washing. Married Mary Parker, 1960, three children – Dawn, 1962, Dennis, 1963, Mandy, 1966. (Separated from Mary in 1989) Work: Miner. From leaving school Parkhouse Colliery, after its 1962 closure Glapwell Colliery Politics/Trade union activity: TU politics since entering mines. Joined Labour Party 1956.

Education: Derbyshire NUM course at Sheffield University: political theory, economics etc Trade Union membership (at time of entry to Ruskin) NUM Life at Ruskin Dates at Ruskin: entered 1967 Source of funding: Work: Miner until elected MP for Bolsover in 1970 Politics/trade union activity: Family: Separated from wife Mary 1989. Lived since 1993 with his researcher/parliamentary assistant, Lois Blasenheim Place & date of death: n/a Date of death: Achievements / Publications President of the Derbyshire NUM in 1966 MP for Bolsover since 1970, Labour Party National Executive Committee 1978-92, 1994-98 and datae unknown-1st July 2014. Vice-chairman of Labour Party 1987-88.

Chair, Labour Party 1988-89 Material in archives or already published articles Image By Duncan Harris [CC-BY-2.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons Gallery of images at Dennis Skinner at 80, theguardian.com , Sunday 12 February 2012 Comment of contributor/s and sources Entry by Dr Stuart Thomson for ‘Dictionary of Labour Biography’, editor Greg Rosen, Politico’s, 2001 On the origin of the nickname, from Dennis Skinner at 80: still awkward after all these years, The Observer, Saturday 11 February 2012 Indeed the genesis of the Beast of Bolsover nickname sums up Skinner’s propensity for independent bloody-mindedness. The former prime minister Anthony Eden, author of the ill-fated invasion of Suez in 1956, had died and parliament was going to break early after a tribute debate, he explains. “They were making speeches about the wonder of Anthony Eden, so I got up and talked about miners and people seriously injured and dead in the pits and the £200 given to the widow,” Skinner growls. “There was booing and then all the Tories left and the papers had a go, some serious ones.

That’s where it came from.”; Dennis Skinner voted off Labour national executive committee, The Guardian, Wednesday 2 July 2014 Politicians' nicknames | TotalPolitics.com Politicians' nicknames Written by 14 Jan 2014 on 14 January 2014 in Interview Interview Tarzan. Thrasher. Mr Tumnus. Only a select few honourable gentlemen and ladies acquire unofficial titles to go with the baubles of their parliamentary careers. Total Politics rounds up some of the best known, and lesser-heard, political nicknames Teflon Tony Self-explanatory: durability to be tested as publication of Chilcot report into Iraq war looms David Miliband Brains Given to him by Alastair Campbell in honour of the smartest Thunderbird. Now works for International Rescue Committee… The first two are predictable, but the third followed a famous car-swapping incident. Nick Clegg Cleggover How many women has the deputy PM slept with? “No more than 30”, was his bold answer... A man with a large property empire, and quite a few enemies, too...

Liam Byrne Baldermort Has no hair, rumoured not have been the most popular minister of the Labour government. David Cameron enjoys using this one. The former Speaker from Glasgow hated the derogatory nickname. Charles Kennedy Chat Show Charlie Younger readers won’t remember the days when Kennedy was a star of TV. EastEnders has never been the same. Nanny, The Hon Member for the Early 20th Century, The Mogg The unashamedly old-fashioned Tory MP once took his nanny canvassing. Really. Dennis Skinner The Beast of Bolsover Now well into his hundreds in dog years, Skinner’s bark and bite remain PMQs favourites. Bald, rightwing, once MP for Chingford. Loved a political bust-up. John Bercow The Squeaker He’s short, you see, and Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail is not a fan. Of all the Muppets to look like... And of all the fawns.... A time at Sandhurst teaching military history saw the Tory MP acquire this one Went to Oxford. Didn’t get a 1st. A less-than-aesthetically-pleasing moniker given to him by Tony Blair.

Well, she is rather good, isn’t she? Streatham Obama, Britain’s Obama The last thing Umunna would do is compare himself to Barack Obama, isn’t it? John Whittingdale Whitto It works and it’s apparently how Thatcher referred to her former political secretary behind his back. No head bandage here, just a constituency called Pudsey. Dresses smartly. Grooms well. Tans nicely. Ed Miliband Red Ed or The Emissary from Planet F**k The first is because he’s seen to be on the left of New Labour, ergo a frothing Marxist. The second is a remnant from No 10 when Miliband worked in the Treasury. Inevitable, really, if you’re called Ming. The Tredegar-born former Labour leader was occasionally prone to lengthy speeches lacking in excitement. Because of her resemblance to EastEnders’ Natalie Cassidy, we’re told… She used to be indecisive, but now she’s...not so sure? Cameron’s former press secretary had a tricky relationship with members of the press. Private Eye-inspired nickname for the occasionally gaffe-prone Tory MP Greg Knight Silent Knight Got this one when he was MP for Derby North.

Doesn’t say much, we are told. Osbo probably prefers not to be reminded that his first name is really Gideon. Enjoyed giving out beatings at school. Or did he? Private Eye says so... David Davis Basher, Double D Enjoys hanging out with Mitchell, he was once snapped with a pair of women wearing tight-fitting ‘It’s DD for me’ logo t-shirts. Dawn Primarolo Red Dawn Slightly eclipsed by Red Ed these days, Primarolo was a bit of a lefty in the ‘80s. Paddy Ashdown Paddy Pants Down The Sun at its best, or worst, following revelations of the former Lib Dem leader’s affair.

Dennis Skinner finds fans in the US after being ejected from Parliament over 'Dodgy Dave' comment | The Independent Dennis Skinner finds fans in the US after being ejected from Parliament over 'Dodgy Dave' comment Americans show their admiration for the 'badass' Beast of Bolsover - and Speaker John Bercow Wednesday 13 April 2016 13:45 BST Click to follow Trump Energy nominee didn't know he'd be managing US nuclear arsenal While Parliament must seem like some sort of bizarre pantomime across the pond, there is one MP in it whose appeal is proving transatlantic: Dennis Skinner . The ‘Beast of Bolsover’ was unceremoniously ejected from the House of Commons for branding David Cameron ‘Dodgy Dave’ and refusing to rescind the adjective during a riotous debate. Their exchange has endeared the yah-boo style of politics to some in the US, with the news and media site Gawker declaring the argument “extremely good s**t” and Mr Skinner’s jab as a “pithy schoolyard nickname”. “It crescendoes in Skinner delivering a thunderous applause line and then being tossed out of Parliament,” writes Gawker . "England is....

great?" David Cameron's biggest controversies 1/8 Pig-gate A book released by Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft alleged that an MP and Oxford contemporary of David Cameron had allegedly seen a photograph of Mr Cameron performing a sex act on a pig while at university. Downing Street did not comment on the allegations and the peer said they could have been a case of mistaken identity David Hartley/REX Shutterstock 2/8 ‘Swarm’ of migrants In July 2015 David Cameron referred to refugees coming into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa as a “swarm”. He was criticised for using the language, which critics said was dehumanising Getty 3/8 Child tax credits In April 2015 David Cameron was asked whether he’d cut child tax credits. “No, I don’t want to do that,” he said, saying that he rejected reports that he would. Shortly after the election the Government unveiled cuts to child tax credits EPA 4/8 Cycling to work As leader of the opposition David Cameron was regularly photographed cycling to work. In early 2006 he was photographed cycling but with a driver in a car carrying his belongings.

It was suggested at the time the cycling was just for show and that having two vehicles on the road instead of one was wasteful Rex 5/8 Andy Coulson David Cameron employed former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as government communications director from 2010. After stepping down from the post due to coverage of the phone hacking affairs, Mr Coulson was later found guilty of conspiracy to intercept voicemails. He served a short prison sentence AFP 6/8 His personal windmill Early in his leadership of the Conservative David Cameron made an effort to change the party’s image by making eco-friendly gesures. As one of these gestures, the future PM put a wind turbine on his house. However, the turbine later had to be removed after neighbours condemned it as an eyesore and the council’s planning committee said it had been put in the wrong place Getty 7/8 Funeral selfie David Cameron was pictured posing for a ‘selfie’ with Danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Barack Obama at Nelson Mandela’s funeral.

Some in the press criticised the prime minister for showing in an inappropriately low level of respect for the gravity of the occasion AFP/Getty Images 8/8 Eating a hotdog with a knife and fork The Prime Minister was pictured eating a hotdog with a knife and fork in the run up to the 2015 general election. He was accused of being “posh”. “I had a very privileged upbringing... I've never tried to hide that,” he said Reuters British Parliament Grills David Cameron On Offshore Tax Connections | KQED Public Media for Northern CA British Parliament Grills David Cameron On Offshore Tax Connections April 11, 2016 — 1:40 PM Listen to the audio: Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR . Source: NPR [ View Transcript ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Members of Britain's House of Commons got the chance today to question Prime Minister David Cameron about an offshore company created by his father and revealed in the Panama Papers leak. Cameron has been under attack for the way he's handled the revelation. He told MPs that he was initially reluctant to comment because he was trying to protect his family.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) DAVID CAMERON: I accept all of the criticisms for not responding more quickly to these issues last week. But, as I've said, I was angry about the way my father's memory was being traduced. I know he was a hard-working man and a wonderful dad, and I'm proud of everything he did to build a business and provide for his family. SIEGEL: We're joined now by political correspondent Michael Wilkinson of the British paper The Daily Telegraph. He's been following this story and joins us via Skype. Welcome, Michael Wilkinson. MICHAEL WILKINSON: Hi, Robert. SIEGEL: Why did David Cameron feel that he had to make this statement to the Commons? WILKINSON: Well, to put it bluntly, he's had the worst week of his prime ministerial career. It has been an absolutely horrid week, and he had to defend himself before MPs today. Today was the first day that they came back from their Easter break, so he had to go before them and explain himself.

SIEGEL: The issue being both that he had at some point benefited from an offshore company, but also that he had spoken out against this sort of corporation in the past. WILKINSON: That's right. Actually, David Cameron is one of the - well, let's put it this way - one of the world's leading politicians to speak out on tax evasion. In fact, next month in London, he will be hosting an anti-corruption summit with global leaders coming to the city, and he'll be leading that to try and push forward the agenda in terms of tax evasion and cracking down on it. So it's actually quite embarrassing, and obviously that's been a focus over the past week. SIEGEL: Well, did MPs seem to accept what he had to say about it today? WILKINSON: Well (laughter), there was some interesting interaction. Let's just say it was high drama in the House of Commons today. One of the opposition MPs who is called Dennis Skinner - he's a labor MP. He also has the nickname of the beast of Bolsover. He's quite notorious. He described David Cameron as dodgy Dave which is a bit of a slur.

But he tried to get away with it in Parliament, but the speaker of the House asked him to withdraw the statement. He refused to withdraw it, saying that this is the man that has done more to divide the nation than anyone else. And so as a result, the speaker then had to expel this MP from Parliament. So this MP had to walk out. So it was a culmination of what's been sort of a - quite an eventful day, really. SIEGEL: What does all of this say about political and social divisions in Britain today? WILKINSON: Well, I think the long and short of it really is that many people have lost trust in politicians. I mean, this is not a new thing. This has been going on over the last few years, and it's been bubbling away. And I think across the world we've seen the rise of a sort of new anti-politics, if you like. And politicians in Britain over the last week have becoming - come under a lot of pressure to release details of their own financial affairs. David Cameron spent a week trying to deflate this issue. But it ended in him releasing his tax returns for the last six years.

And what we've seen today is an absolute flurry over MPs and politicians releasing theirs as well. SIEGEL: Well, by releasing his tax information and by taking it on the chin a few times in the House of Commons today, does David Cameron put all this behind him now? WILKINSON: Well, there were calls for him to resign. And on Saturday, there was a big protest in London. But actually, realistically, that's not really going to come to anything. David Cameron is not going anywhere. But he does have a tough task on his hands in terms of trying to rebuild trust in the Conservative Party. This comes against the backdrop of a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union as well which has been hugely divisive for his party. So he's got his work cut out over the next few weeks to restore trust and get things on an equal footing again. SIEGEL: Michael Wilkinson of The Daily Telegraph in London, thanks for talking with us. WILKINSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. Sponsored by

Question: In British politics, who had the nickname ‘The Beast of Bolsover’?
Answer: Dennis Skinner