Portillio on Thatcher:The Lady's Not For Spurning
This reminded me of the Kenneth More film A Night To Remember, you know the Titanic is going to hit the iceberg but you keep watching because of the star turn and the strong supporting cast of great British character actors. With Michael Portillo's film you knew what was going to happen to the SS Thatcher but you had to see which of her former supporters were in the lifeboats and which ones were metaphortically ramming her head repeatedly against the iceberg.
Michael Portillo loves Maggie Thatcher could have been the subtitle, with William Hague, Chris Patten, John Major and the bloke who is the current leader of her majesty's opposition close behind in the j'adore stakes. Portillo came from a labour background, had a poster of Harold Wilson on his bedroom wall. What is it with wannabe politicians and there choice of wall coverings? William Hague had Mrs T on his when most young boys of that era would have had Debbie Harry or Farrah Fawcett. And so, having helped Labour win an election by handing out leaflets, Portillo went to University and instead of becoming a long haired, lager drinking, Keir Hardie reciting, member of the Labour party he became a long haired, lager drinking, Mrs Thatcher worshipper.
Anyway Portillo's rise through the ranks of the Conservative Party seemed to coincide with the slow demise of Mrs Thatcher - although I am not for a minute suggesting they were connected in anyway. Portillo comes across as an intelligent man, although it was interesting to contrast his opening piece to camera with the statement he made last Sunday night on The Week with Andrew Neil, Peter Hitchens and Diane Abbott. Last night he began by saying: "Until recently I didn't believe that the Conservative Party could win another election, but now I do," this contrasts with Sunday nights, " I don't believe the Tory party can win the next election or the one after that or the one after that." Never has the experession, "a week is a long time in politics," seemed so redundant, "forty eight hours is a long time for some."
What came through loud and clear was that Mrs Thatcher was a conviction politician and a confrontation politician and when those targets (or dragons as they were referred to by Portillo and his colleagues) had been achieved she was lost. In order to satisfy her political drive she invented more 'dragons' which unfortunately for the long term well being of the Conservative Party turned out to be the Poll Tax and the European Union. In both cases the dissent and in-fighting within her own party ultimately did more to keep the party out of power for so long than anything the Labour party could have dreamed-up.
As the Conservative Party divided along the lines of ideology and bizarre haircuts, the scene was set for some back stabbing that would have been familiar to Caesar himself. Caesar would later be quoted, wrongly as it happens, by David Mellor in connection with the end of John Major's reign when he said that Major went around with a persecution complex that was best summed up by the line, "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me," it wasn't Carry on Caesar David, it was Carry on Cleo. But back to the plot. The removal of Mrs Thatcher whilst in office was something that Chris Patten and Michael Portillo regarded as both a 'disaster' and 'political suicide' because all that happened was that the divisions within the party that she had managed to keep under wraps were suddenly exposed for all to see.
Her final hours in Downing Street seemed to mainly consist of grown men crying, it was also the moment when Michael Portillo's destiny took the wrong turn and rather than becoming Prime Minister he became forever associated with the rhetorical question, "were you up for Portillo," when those of us still awake in the early hours of the 1997 General Election celebrated his demise, along with that of a dozen or so of his cabinet colleagues. Portillo could have stood instead of Major for the leadership but choose to defer, it was one of those classic 'what if?' moments.
Of course the great irony here is that whilst Mrs Thatcher was endorsing John Major's candidacy she was appearing on television saying how wonderful John Redwood was, Redwood in turn was running with Ken Clarke, a natural enemy rather than ally and the Conservative Party was imploding.
The slow lingering death of the Conservative Party was extraordinary. Mrs Thatcher was replaced by John Major a man who tried to please both friend and foe to such a degree he must have had splinters in his arse from spending so much time on the fence. David Mellor made the observation that cabinet meetings would drag on for hours because John Major had to make sure that everybody had their say, he would spend hours dithering over the smallest item on the agenda. John Major asked Ken Clarke and Michael Heseltine their thoughts on the ERM rather than Norman Lamont, his chancellor! Poor old Norman was not a happy bunny at all, even after all these years.
After Major there was William Hague who was Mrs Thatcher but without the balls, in fact as he himself pointed out his association with the Iron Lady was such that posters appeared of his face superimposed on her hair. William complained that too many people within the party couldn't accept that the Conservatives could be a young party that they didn't have to be seen as just an old people's party.
Of course, whilst all this was happening in the blue corner, over on the opposition benches big changes were taking place. After the debacle of Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock the Labour Party finally had a genuine contender for the big job. Blair saw off Major, Hague, Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. Blair arrived in 1997 just as Thatcher had in 1979, same numerals just a different order - spooky or what? He was everything Thatcher had been, dynamic, thrusting, ideological, a conviction politician. Just as Mrs T had won successive elections on the back of an economic agenda so Blair won on social issues.
It makes you wonder where both parties go from here, the Conservatives are not 11 points ahead in the polls and there is a feeling once more that it is there's to lose. The question is what will their agenda, their manifesto be? Having lost three elections on the promise of tax cuts, and 'Labour isn't safe with the economy' message the opposition are once again faced with a challenge of convincing the electorate that they can be trusted in the role of Government. What the events of 1979 and 1997 showed is that a strong leader, with the public backing of their party, and definite policies will win, a weak leader on the other hand will last only as long as it takes to be found out.
A funny thing happened to me near the end of the programme, at about five minutes before the end I must have drifted off to sleep because I awoke fifteen minutes later to hear, "shortly afterwards Hugh Gaitskell lost the leadership," bloody hell I thought, the Conservative's really are in trouble. Luckily for all involved it was a different programme, about a different party.
Michael Portillo loves Maggie Thatcher could have been the subtitle, with William Hague, Chris Patten, John Major and the bloke who is the current leader of her majesty's opposition close behind in the j'adore stakes. Portillo came from a labour background, had a poster of Harold Wilson on his bedroom wall. What is it with wannabe politicians and there choice of wall coverings? William Hague had Mrs T on his when most young boys of that era would have had Debbie Harry or Farrah Fawcett. And so, having helped Labour win an election by handing out leaflets, Portillo went to University and instead of becoming a long haired, lager drinking, Keir Hardie reciting, member of the Labour party he became a long haired, lager drinking, Mrs Thatcher worshipper.
Anyway Portillo's rise through the ranks of the Conservative Party seemed to coincide with the slow demise of Mrs Thatcher - although I am not for a minute suggesting they were connected in anyway. Portillo comes across as an intelligent man, although it was interesting to contrast his opening piece to camera with the statement he made last Sunday night on The Week with Andrew Neil, Peter Hitchens and Diane Abbott. Last night he began by saying: "Until recently I didn't believe that the Conservative Party could win another election, but now I do," this contrasts with Sunday nights, " I don't believe the Tory party can win the next election or the one after that or the one after that." Never has the experession, "a week is a long time in politics," seemed so redundant, "forty eight hours is a long time for some."
What came through loud and clear was that Mrs Thatcher was a conviction politician and a confrontation politician and when those targets (or dragons as they were referred to by Portillo and his colleagues) had been achieved she was lost. In order to satisfy her political drive she invented more 'dragons' which unfortunately for the long term well being of the Conservative Party turned out to be the Poll Tax and the European Union. In both cases the dissent and in-fighting within her own party ultimately did more to keep the party out of power for so long than anything the Labour party could have dreamed-up.
As the Conservative Party divided along the lines of ideology and bizarre haircuts, the scene was set for some back stabbing that would have been familiar to Caesar himself. Caesar would later be quoted, wrongly as it happens, by David Mellor in connection with the end of John Major's reign when he said that Major went around with a persecution complex that was best summed up by the line, "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me," it wasn't Carry on Caesar David, it was Carry on Cleo. But back to the plot. The removal of Mrs Thatcher whilst in office was something that Chris Patten and Michael Portillo regarded as both a 'disaster' and 'political suicide' because all that happened was that the divisions within the party that she had managed to keep under wraps were suddenly exposed for all to see.
Her final hours in Downing Street seemed to mainly consist of grown men crying, it was also the moment when Michael Portillo's destiny took the wrong turn and rather than becoming Prime Minister he became forever associated with the rhetorical question, "were you up for Portillo," when those of us still awake in the early hours of the 1997 General Election celebrated his demise, along with that of a dozen or so of his cabinet colleagues. Portillo could have stood instead of Major for the leadership but choose to defer, it was one of those classic 'what if?' moments.
Of course the great irony here is that whilst Mrs Thatcher was endorsing John Major's candidacy she was appearing on television saying how wonderful John Redwood was, Redwood in turn was running with Ken Clarke, a natural enemy rather than ally and the Conservative Party was imploding.
The slow lingering death of the Conservative Party was extraordinary. Mrs Thatcher was replaced by John Major a man who tried to please both friend and foe to such a degree he must have had splinters in his arse from spending so much time on the fence. David Mellor made the observation that cabinet meetings would drag on for hours because John Major had to make sure that everybody had their say, he would spend hours dithering over the smallest item on the agenda. John Major asked Ken Clarke and Michael Heseltine their thoughts on the ERM rather than Norman Lamont, his chancellor! Poor old Norman was not a happy bunny at all, even after all these years.
After Major there was William Hague who was Mrs Thatcher but without the balls, in fact as he himself pointed out his association with the Iron Lady was such that posters appeared of his face superimposed on her hair. William complained that too many people within the party couldn't accept that the Conservatives could be a young party that they didn't have to be seen as just an old people's party.
Of course, whilst all this was happening in the blue corner, over on the opposition benches big changes were taking place. After the debacle of Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock the Labour Party finally had a genuine contender for the big job. Blair saw off Major, Hague, Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. Blair arrived in 1997 just as Thatcher had in 1979, same numerals just a different order - spooky or what? He was everything Thatcher had been, dynamic, thrusting, ideological, a conviction politician. Just as Mrs T had won successive elections on the back of an economic agenda so Blair won on social issues.
It makes you wonder where both parties go from here, the Conservatives are not 11 points ahead in the polls and there is a feeling once more that it is there's to lose. The question is what will their agenda, their manifesto be? Having lost three elections on the promise of tax cuts, and 'Labour isn't safe with the economy' message the opposition are once again faced with a challenge of convincing the electorate that they can be trusted in the role of Government. What the events of 1979 and 1997 showed is that a strong leader, with the public backing of their party, and definite policies will win, a weak leader on the other hand will last only as long as it takes to be found out.
A funny thing happened to me near the end of the programme, at about five minutes before the end I must have drifted off to sleep because I awoke fifteen minutes later to hear, "shortly afterwards Hugh Gaitskell lost the leadership," bloody hell I thought, the Conservative's really are in trouble. Luckily for all involved it was a different programme, about a different party.
(The programme was shown on BBC4 last night)
4 comments:
I never knew that Portillo had ever been a Labour supporter. I didn't stay up long enough to see him ousted in 1997 but his demise was welcomed in so many places, wasn't it?
A Labour supporter I used to know went to watch the count at Sunderland South that night. The BBC were there because it's been the first constituency to declare for a while now. Anyway, my mate Bill gets totally pissed and tries to chat up the BBC reporter, Juliet Morris. Bob, another mate, eventually drags Bill away from Ms Morris but Bill is later found semi-conscious (by drink, not violence) on the footpath nearby and is duly delivered to the local A&E department.
Yes, that night means different things to different people!
Les Paul......I TOOK THAT PHOTO OF ..THATCHER AT A TORY PARTY CONF. FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES.
HOW DID YOU FIND IT?????????
sorry the message was for Baldi.
in picture is Ian Gow....and Edward Du Cann...both dead.
WOW! Rupe...nice one!...every picture tells a tale.
Baldy...excellent post, really. Haven't 'been in' here for a couple of weeks and so have missed a lot.
I did post on a couple of sites re this programme (one being Conservative Home...now linked via my sidebar as I look in there a lot) I also started a thread about this programme a day or so befor eit was on...unfortunate the twofold disaster of it being hidden by the mods and me saying it was on Radio 4 and not BBC 4 sent the thread into a nose dive!
The great what-ifs for me are "What if MT wasn't 'betrayed'"...how would the 90's have unfolded? and my dream team was Portillo and Redwood...what if indeed!
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