View source for Anthony King (political scientist)

{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  =
| name              = Anthony King
| honorific_suffix  = [[Fellow of the British Academy|FBA]]
| native_name       =
| native_name_lang  =
| image             = Professor Anthony King.jpg
| image_size        =
| alt               =
| caption           = King giving a talk on "The Blunders of our Governments" at the [[Essex Book Festival]], 2014
| birth_name        = Anthony Stephen King
| birth_date        = {{birth date |df=yes|1934|11|17}}
| birth_place       = Canada
| death_date        = {{death date and age |df=yes|2017|01|12 |1934|11|17}}
| death_place       =
| death_cause       =
| nationality       = Canadian-British
| fields            = Government, psephology
| workplaces        = [[University of Essex]]
| alma_mater        = [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]], [[Ontario]]<br>[[University of Oxford]]
| thesis_title      = Some aspects of the history of the Liberal Party in Britain, 1906–1914
| spouse            = {{marriage|Vera Korte|1965|1971|end=her death}}<br>{{marriage|Jan Reece|1980}}
| children          =
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
'''Anthony Stephen King''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|commas=on|FBA}} (17 November 1934 – 12 January 2017) was a Canadian-British professor of government, [[psephology|psephologist]] and commentator. He taught at the Department of Government at the [[University of Essex]] for many years.
== Early life ==
King was born in Canada<ref name="theguardian"/><ref name="bbc"/> on 17 November 1934,<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sR4Ch1dMe8IC&q=Britain+Says+Yes%3A+the+1975+Referendum+on+the+Common+Market |title=The International Who's Who 2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2003 |isbn=9781857432176 |page=889}}</ref> the son of Marjorie and Harold King.<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/> He gained a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in History and Economics at [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]], Ontario.<ref name="essex">{{cite web|title=Professor Anthony King|url=https://www.essex.ac.uk/government/staff/profile.aspx?ID=397|publisher=[[University of Essex]]| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114024115/https://www1.essex.ac.uk/government/staff/profile.aspx?ID=397 | archivedate= 14 January 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="gazette">{{Cite news |url=http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/15019347.Giant_amongst_political_commentators_Prof_Anthony_King_dies__aged_82/ |title=University of Essex professor Anthony King dies |work=Gazette |date=12 January 2017 |access-date=12 January 2017}}</ref> In the 1950s, he moved to UK as a [[Rhodes Scholar]]<ref name="theguardian"/> to study [[Philosophy, Politics and Economics]] at the [[University of Oxford]], after which he gained a [[Doctor of Philosophy|D.Phil.]]<ref name="essex"/><ref name="bbc"/> with thesis titled "Some aspects of the history of the Liberal Party in Britain, 1906–1914".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=OXVU1&docId=oxfaleph015314068 | title = Some aspects of the history of the Liberal Party in Britain, 1906–1914 | first = A. S. | last = King | publisher = University of Oxford SOLO catalogue }}</ref>
==Career==
He initially taught at [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], before transferring to Essex, from which he never officially retired.<ref name="theguardian" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.essex.ac.uk/government/staff/profile.aspx?ID=397|title=Academic Staff: Professor Anthony King|accessdate=8 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120184340/http://www.essex.ac.uk/government/staff/profile.aspx?ID=397|archive-date=20 November 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> From 1969, he was Professor of Government at Essex, where he also led a Wednesday brainstorming class of selected bright students from the Department of Government.<ref name="essex-news" /> King taught the course ''GV100 – Introduction to Politics''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.essex.ac.uk/courses/default.aspx?coursecode=GV100&level=4&period=FY|title=University of Essex :: Module Directory detail|accessdate=13 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021235523/http://www.essex.ac.uk/courses/default.aspx?coursecode=GV100&level=4&period=FY|archive-date=21 October 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also taught at [[Princeton University|Princeton]] and the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]], in the United States.<ref name="essex-news" />
He regularly appeared on election results programming and analysed their implications. For each UK General Election from 1983 to 2005, he was BBC television's analyst on their election night programming.<ref name="bbc"/> On a monthly basis, he analysed political opinion polls on voting intentions for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''.<ref name="bbc"/> He also wrote many books on politics and was co-editor of the ''Britain at the Polls'' series of essays and, in 2008, ''The British Constitution''.<ref name="gazette"/>
King was co-author with [[David Butler (psephologist)|David Butler]] of two [[Nuffield College]] election studies (those for 1964 and 1966) and author of ''Britain Says Yes: the 1975 Referendum on the Common Market'' and ''Running Scared: Why America's Politicians Campaign Too Much and Govern Too Little''.<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/> He was also co-author with [[Ivor Crewe]] of the semi-official ''SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party''<ref name="SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party">{{Cite book |title=SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party |last1=Crewe |first1=Ivor |last2=King |first2=Anthony |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780198293132 |edition=illustrated, reprint, revised}}</ref> and ''The Blunders of our Governments''.<ref name="theguardian"/><ref name="gazette"/> He edited ''The New American Political System'',<ref name="The New American Political System">{{cite book|editor1-last=King|editor1-first=Anthony|title=The New American Political System|date=1990|publisher=AEI Press|isbn=9780333550533|edition=2, illustrated, revised}}</ref> ''New Labour Triumphs: Britain at the Polls 1997'',<ref name="gazette"/><ref name="New labour triumphs: Britain at the polls">{{cite book|editor1-last=King|editor1-first=Anthony Stephen|title=New labour triumphs: Britain at the polls|date=1998|publisher=Chatham House Publishers|isbn=9781566430579|edition=illustrated}}</ref> ''Britain at the Polls 2001''<ref name="gazette"/><ref name="Britain at the polls, 2001">{{cite book|editor1-last=King|editor1-first=Anthony Stephen|title=Britain at the polls, 2001|date=2002|publisher=Chatham House Publishers|isbn=9781889119748|edition=illustrated, revised}}</ref> and ''Britain at the Polls 2005''.<ref name="gazette"/>
King was a member of the [[Committee on Standards in Public Life]] and the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords (the [[Wakeham Commission]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.public-standards.gov.uk/About/Previous_members.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328235142/http://www.public-standards.gov.uk/About/Previous_members.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 March 2010 |title=Standards in public life – Previous members |accessdate=13 October 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm45/4534/prelims.pdf |title=Royal Commission on Reform of the House of Lords: A House for the Future |date=January 2000 |publisher=HM Government |accessdate=13 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924175533/http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm45/4534/prelims.pdf |archivedate=24 September 2006 }}</ref> In 2010, he was elected as a Fellow of the [[British Academy]].<ref name="essex-news">{{cite web | url=http://www.essex.ac.uk/news/event.aspx?e_id=2039 | title=Professor Anthony King elected Fellow of the British Academy | accessdate=13 March 2011 | date=23 July 2010 | publisher=[[University of Essex]], UK | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925201448/http://www.essex.ac.uk/news/event.aspx?e_id=2039 | archive-date=25 September 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britac.ac.uk/fellowship/elections/2010.cfm|title=Results of 2010 Fellowship Elections|publisher=British Academy|accessdate=13 October 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924210235/http://www.britac.ac.uk/fellowship/elections/2010.cfm|archivedate=24 September 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also served as an associate at the [[Institute for Government]], a non-partisan charity that aims to improve the effectiveness of central Government in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ourpeople/|title=Our people|publisher=Institute for Government|accessdate=13 October 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916150412/http://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ourpeople/|archivedate=16 September 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the latter part of his life, his research focused on: the changing British constitution; the [[British prime minister]]ship; [[American politics]] and government and the history of democracy.
King was also a member of the [[Academia Europaea]], a foreign honorary member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], and an honorary life [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts]].<ref name="essex-news" />
==Personal life==
King married twice.<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/> His first wife Vera Korte, whom he married in 1965, died in 1971.<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/> He married his second wife Jan Reece in 1980.<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/>
King lived at [[Wakes Colne]] in Essex.<ref>https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/15019347.university-of-essex-professor-anthony-king-dies/</ref> He died on 12 January 2017 at the age of 82.<ref name="theguardian">{{Cite web|last=Kettle|first=Martin|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/12/anthony-king-face-of-bbc-election-night-coverage-dies-aged-82|title=Anthony King, face of BBC election night coverage, dies aged 82|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=12 January 2017|accessdate=12 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-38596584 |title=Political expert Professor Anthony King dies aged 82 |work=BBC News|date=12 January 2017 |access-date=12 January 2017}}</ref>
==Publications==
* ''British Members of Parliament: A Self-portrait'' (1974)<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/>
* "The View from Europe" with David Sanders in [[Charles O. Jones]], ed., ''The Reagan Legacy: Promise and Performance'' (1988)<ref name="essex"/>
* "Margaret Thatcher as a Political Leader" in [[Robert Skidelsky]], ed. ''Thatcherism''. {{ISBN|0-701-13342-2}} (1988)<ref name="essex"/>
* ''Britain at the Polls 1992'' (editor)<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/>
* ''The New American Political System''. {{ISBN|0-333-55053-6}} (editor) (1990)<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/>
* ''SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party'' with [[Ivor Crewe]] (co-winner of the 1996 [[W.J.M. Mackenzie]] Prize awarded by the [[Political Studies Association]] for the best book in the field of political science) (1995)<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/><ref name="essex"/>
* ''Running Scared: Why America's Politicians Campaign Too Much and Govern Too Little'' (1997)<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/>
* ''New Labour Triumphs: Britain at the Polls'' (editor) (1998)<ref name="New labour triumphs: Britain at the polls"/>
* ''The British general election of 1966'' with [[David Butler (psephologist)|David Butler]]. {{ISBN|0-333-77870-7}} (1999)<ref name="The British general election of 1966">{{Cite book |title=The British general election of 1966 |last1=Butler |first1=David |last2=King |first2=Anthony Stephen |publisher=Macmillan |year=1999 |isbn=9780333778708 |edition=illustrated, reprint}}</ref>
* ''Does the United Kingdom Still Have a Constitution?'' {{ISBN|0-421-74930-X}} (2001)<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/>
* ''Leaders' Personalities and the Outcomes of Democratic Elections''. {{ISBN|0-198-29791-2}} (editor) (2002)<ref name="The International Who's Who 2004"/>
* ''The British Constitution''. {{ISBN|0-199-23232-6}} (2007)<ref name="The British Constitution">{{Cite book |title=The British Constitution |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780199232321 |edition=illustrated, reprint}}</ref>
* ''The Founding Fathers v. the People: Paradoxes of American Democracy''. {{ISBN|978-0674045736}} (2012)<ref name="The Founding Fathers v. the People: Paradoxes of American Democracy">{{Cite book |title=The Founding Fathers v. the People: Paradoxes of American Democracy |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2012 |isbn=9780674045736 |edition=first}}</ref>
* ''The Blunders of Our Governments'' with [[Ivor Crewe]]. {{ISBN|1-780-74405-6}} (2014)<ref name="The Blunders of Our Governments">{{Cite book |title=The Blunders of Our Governments |last1=King |first1=Anthony |last2=Crewe |first2=Ivor |publisher=Oneworld Publications |year=2014 |isbn=9781780744056 |edition=revised}}</ref>
* ''Who Governs Britain?'' {{ISBN|0-141-98066-4}} (2015)<ref name="theguardian2">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/08/who-governs-britain-anthony-king-review-politics |title=Who Governs Britain? review – a timely examination of how the distribution of power has shifted |work=The Guardian |date=8 April 2015 |access-date=13 January 2017}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Sources ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101120184340/http://www.essex.ac.uk/government/staff/profile.aspx?ID=397 Staff Profile: Anthony King – Department of Government – University of Essex]
*''Who's Who 2007''
== External links==
* [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/15/anthony-king-obituary Anthony King obituary] at ''[[The Guardian]]''
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Anthony}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Canadian Rhodes Scholars]]
[[Category:Psephologists]]
[[Category:British political scientists]]
[[Category:Canadian expatriate academics in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Canadian political scientists]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Essex]]
[[Category:Fellows of the British Academy]]
[[Category:Members of Academia Europaea]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford]]