Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography

by Charles Moore

  * Adam Butler (1931–2007), educated Eton and Pembroke College, Cambridge; Conservative MP for Bosworth, 1970–92; Minister of State, Department of Industry, 1979–81; Northern Ireland Office, 1981–4; Defence Procurement, 1984–5; knighted, 1986.

  † If this had happened, history might have been different, since Morrison would not have been available to become her PPS in 1990.

  ‡ John Stanley (1942–), educated Repton School and Lincoln College, Oxford; Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, from February 1974; Minister for Housing and Construction, 1979–83; Minister of State for the Armed Forces, 1983–7; Northern Ireland Office, 1987–8; knighted, 1988.

  * He may have meant Shostakovich.

  * John Stonehouse (1925–88), educated Tauntons School, Southampton and LSE; Labour MP for Wednesbury, 1957–74; for Walsall North, February 1974–6; Postmaster-General, 1968–9; Stonehouse was at the time an agent of the Czech security and intelligence service, the StB; he had faked his own death by leaving his clothes on a beach in Miami in 1974 in order to escape creditors and probable arrest in Britain. He resigned the whip to join the English National Party, and shortly afterwards went to prison for theft and fraud.

  * Mrs Thatcher recalled visiting Macmillan for a talk about these matters at this time at the house of his son, Maurice. She said she heard the old man asking his son, ‘Has the call come?’ – meaning was there a move to ask him to lead a national government. (THCR 4/4.)

  * Frank Johnson (1943–2006), educated Chartesey Secondary School, Shoreditch and Shoreditch Secondary School; parliamentary sketch-writer of the Daily Telegraph, 1972–9 and 1999–2006; staff of The Times, 1981–8; deputy editor, Sunday Telegraph, 1993–5; editor, Spectator, 1995–9.

  * One of Mrs Thatcher’s assistants met Maudling as he was leaving the Commons and asked him why he was not listening to Denis Healey’s Budget statement. ‘I practically went to sleep in my own Budget speeches,’ Maudling told him. ‘I’m f***ed if I’m going to sit through anyone else’s.’ (Private information.) On one occasion during the Heath government, the Prime Minister was out of the country and Maudling was deputizing for him. He returned to work at 4 p.m. after a convivial lunch: ‘What’s the sentence for being drunk in charge of a government?’ he was heard to ask a secretary.

  † David Howell (1936–), educated Eton and King’s College, Cambridge; Conservative MP for Guildford, 1966–97; Secretary of State for Energy, 1979–81; for Transport, 1981–3; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, 2010–; created Lord Howell, 1997.

  * Friedrich von Hayek (1899–1992), educated University of Vienna; Tooke Professor of Economic Science and Statistics, University of London, 1931–50; Professor of Moral and Social Science, University of Chicago, 1950–62; Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences (jointly), 1974; Companion of Honour, 1984.

  † Milton Friedman (1912–2006), educated Rutgers, Chicago and Columbia universities; economist and writer; Professor of Economics, University of Chicago, 1948–82; Professor Emeritus from 1982; economic columnist, Newsweek, 1966–84; Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, 1976.

  ‡ In her memoirs Mrs Thatcher records that she read The Possessed on the recommendation of her country neighbour, the journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, who told her that it would give her an understanding of the Communist frame of mind (see The Path to Power, HarperCollins, 1995, pp. 309–10).

  * Shirley Robin Letwin (1924–93), educated Chicago University and LSE; philosopher and historian of ideas; author of The Anatomy of Thatcherism (1992). Her husband Bill, Professor of Political Science, LSE, 1976–88, also contributed advice and help with speeches to Keith Joseph and Mrs Thatcher. Their son, Oliver, worked in Mrs Thatcher’s Policy Unit, and, at the time of writing, is a member of the Coalition government.

  † Peter Bauer (1915–2002), educated Scholae Piae, Budapest and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge; Professor of Economics, LSE, 1960–83; best known for his work on international development and his scepticism about government aid to developing countries; created Lord Bauer, 1982.

  ‡ Robert Skidelsky (1939–), educated Brighton College, and Jesus College and Nuffield College, Oxford; Professor of Political Economy, Warwick University, 1990–2007; biographer of Oswald Mosley and of Keynes; created Lord Skidelsky, 1991.

  * Gordon Pepper (1934–), educated Repton and Trinity College, Cambridge; partner, Greenwell’s, 1962; chairman, Lombard Street Research, from 2000.

  † Gordon Richardson (1915–2010), educated Nottingham High School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge; Governor, Bank of England, 1973–83; created Lord Richardson of Duntisbourne, 1983.

  ‡ John Sparrow (1933–), educated Stationers’ Company’s School and LSE; head of Central Policy Review Staff, 1982–3; chairman, Horserace Betting Levy Board, 1991–8; knighted, 1984.

  * Woodrow Wyatt (1918–97), educated Eastbourne and Worcester College, Oxford; journalist; Labour MP for Aston Division of Birmingham, 1945–55; for Bosworth Division of Leicester, 1959–70; chairman, Horserace Totalisator Board, 1976–97; created Lord Wyatt of Weeford, 1987.

  † Brian Walden (1932–), educated West Bromwich Grammar School and Queen’s College and Nuffield College, Oxford; Labour MP for Birmingham All Saints, 1964–74; for Birmingham, Ladywood, 1974–7; presenter, Weekend World, 1977–86.

  ‡ Reg Prentice (1923–2001), educated Whitgift School and LSE; Labour MP for East Ham North, 1957–74; for Newham North East, 1974–7; Conservative MP for Newham North East, 1977–9; for Daventry, 1979–87; Secretary of State for Education and Science, 1974–5; Minister for Overseas Development, 1975–6; Minister of State for Social Security, DHSS, 1979–81; created Lord Prentice, 1992.

  * Hugh Thomas (1931–), educated Sherborne, Queens’ College, Cambridge and Sorbonne, Paris; Professor of History, University of Reading, 1966–76; chairman, Centre for Policy Studies, 1979–90; author of The Spanish Civil War (1961); created Lord Thomas of Swynnerton, 1981.

  † Leon Brittan (1939–), brother of Samuel Brittan; educated Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, Trinity College, Cambridge and Yale University; Conservative MP for Cleveland and Whitby, February 1974–83; for Richmond, Yorkshire, 1983–8; Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 1981–3; Home Secretary, 1983–5; Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, 1985–6; European Commissioner, 1989–99; knighted, 1989; created Lord Brittan of Spennithorne, 2000.

  ‡ Leonard Schapiro (1908–83), educated St Paul’s and University College London; Professor of Political Science with special reference to Russia, LSE, 1963–75.

  § Michael Howard (1922–), educated Wellington and Christ Church, Oxford; president, Wolfson College, Oxford, 1966–75; Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford University, 1980–89; Professor Emeritus, from 1989; knighted, 1986.

  ¶ Isaiah Berlin (1909–97), educated St Paul’s and Corpus Christi College, Oxford; Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, Oxford, 1957–67; President of the British Academy, 1974–8; Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; knighted, 1971.

  * John O’Sullivan (1942–), educated St Mary’s College, Crosby and London University; special adviser to the Prime Minister, 1986–8. His journalistic positions have included: parliamentary sketch-writer, Daily Telegraph; associate editor, The Times; editor, National Review.

  † T. E. (Peter) Utley (1921–88), educated privately and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; journalist; leader writer, 1964–80, and chief assistant editor, 1980–87, Daily Telegraph; obituaries editor and columnist, The Times, 1987–8; contested (Unionist) North Antrim, February 1974.

  * Roger Scruton (1944–), educated Jesus College, Cambridge; lecturer in philosophy, Birkbeck College, London, 1971–9, reader, 1979–85, Professor of Aesthetics, 1985–92; Professor of Philosophy, Boston University, Massachusetts, 1992–5; editor, Salisbury Review, 1982–2000.

  † John Casey (1939–), educated King’s College, Cambridge; lecturer, Cambridge University, and Fellow of Gonville and Caius College; founder (with Roger Scruton) Conservative Philosophy
Group (1975).

  ‡ Edward Norman (1938–), educated Chatham House School, Ramsgate and Selwyn College, Cambridge; priest in the Church of England, 1971; lecturer in history, University of Cambridge, 1965–88; Dean of Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1971–88; historian of Church and society in Victorian England, and of modern Ireland; Reith Lecturer (published as Christianity and the World Order, 1979), 1978; Chancellor, York Minster, 1999–2004.

  * John Vaizey (1929–84), educated Colfe’s Grammar School, Lewisham, Queen Mary’s Hospital School, Carshalton and Queens’ College, Cambridge; economist and educationalist; Professor of Economics, Brunel University, 1966–82; created Lord Vaizey of Greenwich, 1976.

  † David Dilks (1938–), educated Royal Grammar School, Worcester, and Hertford College and St Antony’s College, Oxford; Chancellor of Hull University, 1991–9; biographer of Neville Chamberlain.

  * Arthur Cockfield (1916–2007), educated Dover Grammar School and LSE; director of statistics and intelligence, Board of Inland Revenue, 1945–52; managing director, Boots, 1961–7; chairman, Price Commission, 1973–7; Minister of State, Treasury, 1979–82; Secretary of State for Trade, 1982–3; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1983–4; Vice-President, European Commission, 1985–8; created Lord Cockfield, 1978.

  † Peter Cropper (1927–), educated Hitchin Grammar School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge; special adviser to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 1979–82; to Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1984–8; Conservative Research Department, 1951–3, 1975–9, director, 1982–4.

  * Peter Rees (1926–2008), educated Stowe and Christ Church, Oxford; Conservative MP for Dover, 1970–74; for Dover and Deal, 1974–83; for Dover, 1983–7; Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 1983–5; created Lord Rees, 1988.

  * Norman Strauss (1936–), educated Kilburn Grammar School; worked for Unilever, 1961–81; part-time member, Prime Minister’s Policy Unit, 1979–82; co-founder, Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme, 1982.

  * Barney Hayhoe (1925–), educated state schools and Borough Polytechnic; Conservative MP for Heston and Isleworth, 1970–74; for Brentford and Isleworth, 1974–92; Minister of State, Treasury, 1981–5; Minister of State for Health, DHSS, 1985–6; created Lord Hayhoe, 1992.

  * The evening was not helped by the fact that, at one point, the cat stroked Norman Strauss’s leg and then Mrs Thatcher’s. She started, apparently thinking for a second that Strauss had been stroking her leg, and was then embarrassed. (Interview with Norman Strauss.)

  * Michael Portillo (1953–), educated Harrow County Boys’ School and Peterhouse, Cambridge; Conservative MP for Enfield, Southgate, 1984–97; for Kensington and Chelsea, 1999–2005; Secretary of State for Employment, 1994–5; for Defence, 1995–7; unsuccessful candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party, 2001.

  * Early in Mrs Thatcher’s leadership, Jonathan Aitken got into trouble for his joke at a dinner in Beirut that Mrs Thatcher ‘probably thinks Sinai is the plural of sinus’. This got back to Airey Neave, who made Aitken apologize to her. (Interview with Jonathan Aitken.)

  † Mrs Thatcher’s first visit to Communist China, in April 1977, was not politically eventful, but it made an impression. Because of extreme Chinese hostility to the Soviet Union at that time, she was welcomed with some pomp by the party leadership. She gave a reception for which the invitation read:

  Margaret Thatcher

  At Home

  In the Great Hall of the People

  But she did not feel at home at all. John Gerson, the official who accompanied her and briefed her, recalled that ‘To say she was open-minded would be an insult. She understood they were Communist, and she hated Communism’ (interview with John Gerson). In background conversation with journalists, she predicted that ‘the spark of human spirit’ would be the undoing of China and would eventually make India a more successful country (Sunday Times, 12 April 1977). In public, she described the Chinese approach as ‘wholly alien to us. They have a correct view, and they hand down that correct view … Fortunately, we don’t have a correct view’ (BBC Television interview, 14 April 1977). She was accompanied by Douglas Hurd, who had served as a diplomat in China before entering politics. After she had been up the Great Wall, she asked him, ‘Did I get to the top quicker than Ted?’ (George Gale, Spectator, 23 April 1977.)

  * According to the late John Carbaugh, at that time aide to the right-wing Senator Jesse Helms, there was a concerted effort by Carter’s people to prevent senior staff in the administration seeing Mrs Thatcher. Helms threatened to put Senate approval for some appointments to the executive branch ‘on hold’ unless Carter and his Defense Secretary, Harold Brown, agreed to see Mrs Thatcher. No corroboration of this account has been found.

  † David Owen (1938–), educated Bradfield and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton, 1966–74; for Plymouth Devonport, 1974–81; SDP MP for Plymouth Devonport, 1981–92; Foreign Secretary, 1977–9; Leader, SDP, 1983–7; created Lord Owen, 1992.

  * George Bush (1924–), Vice-President of the United States of America, 1981–9; President, 1989–93.

  * Robert Mugabe (1924–), educated Kutama Mission School, Rhodesia and Fort Hare University, South Africa; co-founded Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), 1963; detained in Rhodesia, 1964–74; led insurgency from Mozambique, 1975–9; Prime Minister, Zimbabwe, 1980–87; President 1988–.

  * Alick Buchanan-Smith (1932–91), educated Trinity College, Glenalmond, Pembroke College, Cambridge and Edinburgh University; Conservative MP for North Angus and Mearns, 1964–83; for Kincardine and Deeside, 1983–91; Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 1979–83; Department of Energy, 1983–7.

  * Malcolm Rifkind (1946–), educated George Watson’s College and Edinburgh University; Conservative MP for Edinburgh Pentlands, February 1974–97; for Kensington and Chelsea, from 2005; Secretary of State for Scotland, 1986–9; for Transport, 1990–92; for Defence, 1992–5; for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 1995–7; unsuccessful candidate for leadership of the Conservative Party, 2005; knighted, 1997.

  † Teddy Taylor (1937–), educated Glasgow High School and Glasgow University; Conservative MP for Glasgow Cathcart, 1964–79; for Southend East, 1980–97; for Rochford and Southend East, 1997–2005; knighted, 1991. Despite his shadow role, Taylor never held office in any of Mrs Thatcher’s administrations.

  * Taylor’s prediction was correct. The Conservatives gained seven Scottish seats from the SNP in the 1979 general election. The only one they lost was his, to Labour. So the Conservative net gain in Scotland was six.

  * Some Tories had this worry at the time. The late R. A. Butler told the present author in 1978 that he had threatened to write ‘Scotland’ on Mrs Thatcher’s breast with a piece of chalk. When she asked why, he said, ‘Because a queen of England had “Calais” written on her heart, and you should have “Scotland” written on yours.’ In another version of this story, also told by Lord Butler, he wrote ‘Scotland’ on the suit of his son Adam, Mrs Thatcher’s PPS. The truth of either version has not been established. Adam had no memory of the incident.

  * Politicians at the time often referred to joining the EMS when they meant the ERM.

  * Andrew Mackay (1949–), educated Solihull; Conservative MP for Birmingham, Stechford, 1977–9; for Berkshire East, 1983–97; for Bracknell, 1997–2010; Deputy Government Chief Whip, 1996–7; senior political and parliamentary adviser to the Leader of the Opposition, 2005–9. He was forced to resign his post in the expenses scandal which engulfed Parliament in 2009.

  * An interesting example of Mrs Thatcher’s personal attitude to immigrants was noted by the young Michael Portillo when, as a member of the Research Department, he attended part of a Shadow Cabinet meeting in the summer of 1976. In the middle of a discussion of immigration, the division bell rang. Mrs Thatcher asked what the vote was about and was told that it was about giving Sikhs special exemption from wearing crash helmets on their motorbikes, so that they could keep their turbans on. Car
rington made some sotto voce remark about the piquancy of this vote at this precise moment. Mrs Thatcher said sharply, ‘What did you say?’ Carrington said, ‘It was a joke, Margaret,’ and explained. She replied, ‘Well, it’s not very funny. These people fought for us in the war.’

  * Maurice Saatchi (1946–), educated LSE; co-founder, Saatchi & Saatchi, 1970, chairman, 1985–94; partner, M&C Saatchi, from 1995; Co-Chairman, Conservative Party, 2003–5; created Lord Saatchi, 1996.

  † Charles Saatchi (1943–), educated Christ’s Hospital; co-founder, Saatchi & Saatchi, 1970; partner, M&C Saatchi, from 1995; noted collector of contemporary art.

  ‡ Tim Bell (1941–), educated Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Barnet; managing director, Saatchi & Saatchi, 1970–75; chairman and managing director, Saatchi & Saatchi Compton, 1975–85; chairman, Bell Pottinger, from 1987; created Lord Bell, 1998.