Henry Collingridge, MP
Henry 'Hal' Collingridge (David Lyon) is the successor to Margaret Thatcher in House of Cards.
Collingridge is portrayed as being a decent man and a passive indecisive leader who relies heavily on the support of his most trusted cronies and Cabinet Ministers Francis Urquhart and Lord 'Teddy' Billsborough. At the start of the novel (and TV adaptation) he has just led his party to victory in a general election (albeit with a very reduced majority).
In his first reshuffle he makes the decision not to make any changes to the government, arguing that a massive shake-up could be misconstrued as panic. This enrages Urquhart, who longs for revenge after being passed over for a promotion to the Cabinet.
Collingridge's brief time in office proves difficult for him thanks to Urquhart, who embarrasses his boss by leaking delicate information to the press and one of the Labour Party backbenchers, Stephen Kendrick. A fabricated scandal concerning Collingridge's alcoholic brother forces him to resign after a short period in office.
He is succeeded by Urquhart, whom, in a final twist of irony, Collingridge offers to support.
Read more about this topic: List Of House Of Cards Trilogy Characters
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“The hope, and not the fact, of advancement, is the spur to industry.”
—Sir Henry Taylor (1800–1886)