Although he studied law and received a respectable degree, much of his time was spent in non-academic pursuits: he was active in campus Conservative (Tory) politics, serving as chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association in 1961 and, at the national level, as chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students from 1963 to 1965. He also was involved in the famous university debating society, the Cambridge Union, and in 1963 was named its president.
While at Cambridge Clarke met Gillian Edwards, a brilliant graduate student in medieval history, and the two were married in 1964. Like Clarke, unconventional in appearance, Gillian gave up her studies and devoted herself to making a home for Clarke and, later, their two children, a son and a daughter; to needlecraft (she was a national champion quilter); to gardening; and to philanthropy.
Clarke Enters Politics
In 1963 Clarke was admitted to the bar, and he was a practicing barrister from 1963 to 1979. Specializing in criminal cases, he was able to utilize his skills in debate and soon established a flourishing career. His goal, however, was a political career, and he remained active in the Conservative Party. In the general election of 1970 he was elected member of Parliament for Rushcliffe, in Nottinghamshire, a seat he held well into the 1990s.
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