Alan Clark was the son of Kenneth Clark (later Lord Clark), a famous art historian. He was elected MP for Plymouth Sutton in 1974, and resigned in 1992 but then contested the seat of Kensington and Chelsea at the 1997 election. He was seen as a maverick, and held various junior ministerial posts, in Employment, Trade and Defence, under Margaret Thatcher and John Major. He was a frank man about his beliefs, saying to refugees from Idi Amin, who held residence rights in the UK that "You cannot come here because you are not white". He was also noted for his diaries, the first volume of which were published in 1993.
After his death, his Kensington and Chelsea seat was contested and won by Michael Portillo.