ANDREW PIERCE: Ted Heath’s mega sulk over Mrs Thatcher hits the stage
Ted Heath, in the longest sulk in political history, could never bring himself to be polite to Margaret Thatcher after she ousted him from the Tory leadership in 1975.
Now the relationship between Heath and the Iron Lady is to be the subject of a West End play. Maggie And Ted is being staged at London’s Garrick Theatre for two nights next month.
It examines the feud between Heath and Lady T, the longest serving 20th century PM who never lost an election, and Heath who won one and lost three.
Now the relationship between Heath and the Iron Lady is to be the subject of a West End play
It examines the feud between Heath and Lady T, the longest serving 20th century PM who never lost an election, and Heath who won one and lost three
The cast includes rising star Oli Higginson who was in Bridgerton, the period drama which was Netflix’s biggest ever show.
Jon Glover is doing 30 characters including ten different PMs. He was Prince Philip in Spitting Image. Maggie And Ted was showcased for a week in October 2019 in a small theatre in South London. The audience included Lord Heseltine, who brought down Lady T, Lord Baker, who was in her Cabinet, and Lord Dobbs, her chief of staff.
It’s written by Michael McManus, who worked for Thatcher and Heath and wrote the biography Edward Heath: A Singular Life.
Says McManus: ‘It tells the truthful history of two extraordinary people and their no less extraordinary relationship. People think of Ted as a grumpy old man but he had a dry sense of humour that comes through in the play.
‘Mrs T could be extremely funny, too, assuring a studio audience she is always on the job.
‘She had a rare gift for double entendres — all the funnier as she would invariably feign innocence as her audiences erupted in laughter.’
Labour’s Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham writes a column in the London Evening Standard. London Mayor Sadiq Khan spends a day in Yorkshire, one week after his re-election, and writes an article in the Yorkshire Post. Anyone would think senior Labour figures, with an eye on the party’s leadership, are on manoeuvres.
MP who rocked the Commons
Weatherley first got involved in politics as a result of Labour MP Leo Abse trying to ban Cooper (pictured) from Britain in 1973
Heavy metal fan Mike Weatherley, the former Tory MP for Hove who has died aged 63, was barred from wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt in the Commons.
He then wore it under his shirt. Weatherly set up the Rock the House competition for up-and coming bands and brought 1970s glam rock star Alice Cooper into the Commons for the first time.
He was one of the first to warn that online sharing would threaten the royalties of musicians and songwriters.
Weatherley first got involved in politics as a result of Labour MP Leo Abse trying to ban Cooper from Britain in 1973.
Abse claimed songs such as Dead Babies were ‘an attempt to teach our children to find their destiny in hate, not in love’.
Labour MP Jess Phillips has the answer to UK’s latest humiliation in the Eurovision Song Contest with a nul point score. ‘My husband says we should send for Ozzy Osbourne next year,’ she tweeted. He couldn’t do any worse.
Embarrassment for former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson when he appeared on Celebrity Mastermind at the weekend. He was asked which President in the 1980 election Ronald Reagan defeated. Johnson hesitated and then said Gerald Ford, who replaced Richard Nixon when he was impeached. The right answer was Jimmy Carter who beat Ford in the 1976 presidential election.
Pravda raps Comrade Meghan
Pravda, once the fearsome mouthpiece of the Soviet Communist Party, really has embraced the British monarchy. First it praises the Duke of Edinburgh and Duchess of Cambridge. Now it has published an outspoken attack on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
‘Meghan failed miserably at the job [of being royal] because she does not have the personal skills to do it,’ says the paper’s online edition. ‘Perhaps she would rather have sat on a chair complaining about everything and giving Harry orders. Strange how a couple who say they hate the media make a point of basking in its limelight.’
Is this the thanks that Harry and Meghan get for adopting at least one of the methods of the Soviet state — children denouncing their parents?
Source: Read Full Article