Teachers of hatred: The drama mistress and the master from Miliband's school who helped organise the Maggie 'death parties'

Special needs teacher Craig Parr, 27, works at Miliband's old school

Organised Brixton 'death party', holding 'Rejoice. Thatcher is dead' placard



Romany Blythe, 45, created 'The Witch Is Dead Party' Facebook group

Invited people to celebrate death of UK's first female Prime Minister



Works with 'potentially criminalised individuals' in drama workshops





Two teachers are today unmasked as key architects of the vile Thatcher ‘death parties’.

One is employed at Labour leader Ed Miliband’s old school and has worked with the youngest and most impressionable pupils there, while the other teaches troubled and vulnerable children.

Yet both were behind disgraceful ‘celebrations’ to mark the passing of Baroness Thatcher.



Scroll down for videos



Sick: Special needs teacher Craig Parr, employed at 'Labour's Eton' in north London, is celebrating the death of Margaret Thatcher in Brixton

The drama teacher, who works with the young and 'potentially criminalised individuals' is believed to have rallied thousands for the 'death parties'

Craig Parr, a teacher at Haverstock School in north London – nicknamed ‘Labour’s Eton’ – was pictured parading with a sick placard which read: ‘Rejoice. Thatcher is dead.’

The 27-year-old special needs teacher and union activist led chants of ‘Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, dead, dead, dead’ at a death party he organised in Brixton, south London, on Monday night which ended in violent scenes.

Meanwhile, drama teacher Romany Blythe, 45, used the internet to encourage thousands to take part in the tasteless celebrations. Miss Blythe, who specialises in teaching troubledchildren at schools in Brighton, wrote of Lady Thatcher: ‘Who wants to p*** on her grave?’

She urged more than 5,000 people to attend a death party in central London by creating an internet page called: ‘The witch is dead.’

Last night critics condemned the pair’s behaviour as ‘revolting’ and ‘offensive’.

Unrepentant: Romany Blythe was behind the macabre 'Witch Is Dead Party!' Facebook groups and said today 'they danced in the streets when Hitler died too' Douglas Carswell, Tory MP for Clacton in Essex, said: ‘We must not have teachers working in schools with young people at the public’s expense who think it’s acceptable to behave like this. Such behaviour is wrong.’ Poll Did Baroness Thatcher face a tougher job as prime minister than David Cameron does today? Yes No Did Baroness Thatcher face a tougher job as prime minister than David Cameron does today? Yes 15926 votes

No 4569 votes Now share your opinion



The fresh revelations about those behind the death parties emerged as: ÷ Sir Mark Thatcher said his mother would be ‘greatly honoured as well as humbled’ by the Queen attending her funeral; ÷ Left-wing MPs, including Glenda Jackson, used a Commons debate to launch vicious attacks on Lady Thatcher; ÷ David Cameron led tributes in the house, saying: ‘She made the political weather, she made history, and – let this be her epitaph – she made our country great again’; ÷ Union leader Bob Crow provoked outrage by saying he hoped Lady Thatcher would ‘rot in hell’; and ÷ Police stepped up their operation to thwart efforts by anarchist groups to disrupt the funeral. Mr Parr, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, joined Haverstock School in September last year and was given the sensitive role of teaching children with special needs. He was also made a form teacher for Year 7 children, who at the ages of 11 and 12 are the youngest and most impressionable pupils. Mr Parr is a member of the Lambeth branch of the National Union of Teachers and has previously urged fellow teachers to strike. Last night headteacher John Dowd said he condemned Mr Parr’s behaviour ‘in the strongest possible terms’. Mr Dowd said Mr Parr had resigned from his post in February after concerns were raised about his conduct. However, he is still employed by the school and will officially remain a teacher at Haverstock until the end of this month. The school, situated in the fashionable London district of Camden, has been described as a finishing school for the Labour politicians of the future.

Hatred: The 45-year-old drama teacher who works with troubled children wrote 'Who wants to p*** on her grave?'

Romany Blythe, pictured here with former Labour politician Tony Benn, is an administrator of the group which wanted to 'celebrate freedom from tyranny'

Its former pupils include Ed Miliband’s brother David, former Labour MP Oona King, Tom Bentley, who is a special adviser to Australia’s Labour prime minister Julia Gillard, and the author Zoe Heller.

Mr Parr, who was brought up in a modest home in Oxford, will have little or no memory of Lady Thatcher’s time in power given that he was just five when she left office.

The teacher was invited to speak at a House of Commons committee two months ago on the issues within schools surrounding same-sex marriage.

Mr Parr, a member of Schools OUT, an association for gay and lesbian teachers, said pupils should be given a ‘balanced view’ of the world.

Wearing a suit and tie, he told MPs that his own beliefs ‘take a back foot’ when teaching.

He said: ‘We have a duty to treat pupils with dignity and build up relationships of mutual respect, and we must also show tolerance and British values.’

Such noble words appeared to be forgotten in the hours after Lady Thatcher’s death on Monday.

Dressed in black, he was reported as saying: ‘We’re here to rejoice the death of Thatcher, but her legacy lives on today.

‘We can see that here in Brixton the poorest are suffering with the bedroom tax and benefit caps.

‘If Thatcher was a good Christian woman then maybe she’ll go to heaven, but I’m an atheist so I won’t worry about that.’

A snapshot of his Facebook page also provides a disturbing insight.

A message written in large letters, which any of his students could find, reads: ‘We don’t need sex, the Government f**** us!’

Mr Parr describes himself as a ‘revolutionary socialist’ and appears to support various anarchist groups who have caused unrest in the past.

When asked about his actions at his two-bedroom flat in a semi-detached Victorian house in West Norwood, south London, he said: ‘Why does it matter if I’m a teacher?’

The Witch Is Dead Party group suggested lots of places for people together and celebrate the death of Baroness Thatcher Last night Mr Dowd said: ‘Craig Parr was employed from September 2012 as a teacher of Special Educational Needs on a one-year fixed term contract. ‘He resigned his post in February 2013 due to concerns that I raised with him about his conduct and he has not attended school since that time. ‘His views and actions are his alone, but I would condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. ‘Our approach to the teaching of politics and indeed to developing an objective understanding of the range of political positions, doctrines and views are fundamental to our ethos.

Margaret Thatcher has been the target of hateful 'death parties'

‘Margaret Thatcher’s death has clearly led to a polarisation of views about her role as prime minister. As a school community we would offer her our respect and offer our condolences to her family as we would for any of our families suffering bereavement.’

Meanwhile Mr Parr’s fellow rabble-rouser Miss Blythe, 45, stoked up anger by creating a Facebook page called ‘The witch is dead’.

On it she called for ‘demonstrations of disapproval’ across the country.

She wrote: ‘So the old bag has copped it finally! Party in the square tomorrow then! Come and celebrate our liberty and freedom from tyranny! On the day Maggie stands down, once and for all!’

A number of places on the list were the locations of the sick ‘death parties’, including Bristol, London and Glasgow.

Miss Blythe is a drama teacher with a workshop company that visits secondary schools.

She specialises in ‘facilitating workshops for young, excluded and potentially criminalised individuals and uses drama techniques she has developed to explore resolution of conflict and oppression’, according to the company’s website.

On Facebook she appears in photographs holding a hammer and sickle flag and posing alongside the former Cabinet Minister Tony Benn.

Miss Blythe, of Worthing in West Sussex, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

However, in an interview last year, she said her dislike of the former prime minister came from being told she might never find work on leaving school in 1984.