Churchill Still Looms Large Over Britain Of 2015

Naomi O'Leary, Business Insider
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 1:12am

London (AFP) - Fifty years after Winston Churchill's death, the wartime prime minister remains a touchstone of British political life -- and a reminder of a faded age of global influence.Top politicians will be among those attending a re-enactment of his funeral procession in London on Friday, 50 years to the day since it was watched on television by 350 million people, complete with a gun salute and the raising of Tower Bridge."His enduring legacy and influence on political life and British culture is testament to his formidable strength of character and remarkable achievements," Prime Minister David Cameron, who will also attend a wreath-laying ceremony at parliament, said.His Conservative colleague Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has just penned a biography entitled "The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History".To this day, British politicians often evoke Churchill to add weight to their arguments, tapping into a deep attachment felt by many who were alive during World War II, according to University of Exeter historian Richard Toye."For many people he's not a historical figure -- people continue to feel an emotional connection to him," Toye said.Before World War II, Churchill was seen as a maverick, discredited by the huge loss of life caused by the poorly planned World War I landings at Gallipoli and regarded as a political opportunist for switching from the Liberal Party to the Conservatives and back.But the image that endures of Churchill was forged in 1940, when he was appointed prime minister: a charismatic figure in a bowler hat, bow tie, wrinkled brow and fat cigar, defying Adolf Hitler.Chris Ryland, 65, hitchhiked to London aged 15 to see him lying in state."It was a sombre moment.

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