Assassination of UK PM remembered

THE only British prime minister to be assassinated has been remembered as Parliament revived the spot near where he was shot.

SPENCER Perceval is said to have uttered "Oh, I have been murdered" after he was gunned down by John Bellingham on May 11, 1812 in the lobby of the House of Commons while on his way to attend an inquiry into the recent Luddite riots.

Four patterned floor tiles in Parliament thought to mark where Perceval fell were removed by workmen during recent renovations, leaving the historic event unmarked in the Palace of Westminster.In another quirk of parliamentary history, North West Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham is a descendant of the assassin.And on Monday, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow insisted no grudges were held against Bellingham as he helped unveil a new plaque in St Stephen's Hall, near to the location thought to mark the spot of the assassination.Bercow also joked it would be wrong to suggest the wicked behaviour of John Bellingham had been passed on to Henry.The plaque was installed following efforts by Northampton North MP Michael Ellis, as Perceval was previously an MP for Northampton.Northampton South Tory Brian Binley joined Ellis, Bellingham and a gathering of parliamentary officials to unveil the new plaque.Ellis said the new memorial was a "fitting tribute" and long overdue in memory of Perceval's public service."People know more about the assassination of (US presidents) John F Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln than they do about our own prime minister - maybe because it was so long ago, perhaps because he was short-lived as prime minister but it's right near where he fell we do mark that occasion," he said.Speaking at the unveiling, Bercow said: "Fully 214 years before Michael Ellis was elected for his Northampton constituency, Spencer Perceval was elected to represent not Northampton North or Northampton South but, as I understand it, the entirety of Northampton."So in terms of political and historical lineage, Michael and also (Mr Binley) can lay claim and say there is a link between Spencer Perceval and themselves."For those of you who don't know the significance of Henry Bellingham, it is said that John Bellingham - and I assume the evidence is pretty watertight - was responsible for the assassination of Spencer Perceval, the only prime minister in office to be assassinated."Henry is a descendant of John Bellingham. However, I think it would be wrong to suggest moral turpitude afflicted family or should be regarded as a hereditary, immediately transmissible characteristic. No grudges bore."Even if you think Henry has been afflicted by part of the gene, I've seen no evidence of it myself."Michael, in the best traditions of parliamentary forgiveness and possible intra-party cordiality, forgives you, Henry, if you need to be forgiven.

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