Saint or Sinner?

As we celebrate All Saints' Day, I take a look back to this day in 1990. That was the day which marked the beginning of the end for the late Margaret Thatcher as British Prime Minister. Her former Chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, took a swipe at her from the safety of the back benches which ultimately led to her departure from office after an 11 year tenure.

The killer blow was landed over the vexed question of our memebership of the European Union which continues to cause divisions throughout British political life to this very day. Baron Howe of Aberavon as he now is had been Thatcher's longest serving cabinet minister having served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, Leader of the House and Deputy Prime Minister. It was once said that all political careers end in failure and his speech of 23 years ago became true for both himself and the woman who had been so loyal to him.

There is an irony that such an action was executed on the very day when we celebrate the lives of all the saints who are thought to have attained the beatific vision. Political careers can only ever be assessed with hindsight and Baron Howe's doesn't look all that great. In the aftermath of the Toxteth riots in Liverpool, he advised Mrs Thatcher not to overly commit resources to Liverpool as they vcould be better spent elsewhere. That letter was made public recently and it will surely haunt him for the rest of his days. Hell hath no fury like a politician spurned it seems.

It's surprising how often the assassin fails to achieve his or her objective and this was a good case in point. Before his speech, the Tory party was trailing Labour by a mountain but the departure of Thatcher saw an immediate change in their fortunes which brought John Major to power in 1992. Although he only did so with a slender majority, he remains the last Tory leader to win an elction outright. But for the machiavellian scheming of Geoffrey Howe, he may never have had that opportunity. There was also the small matter of a Labour leader who cut the figure of a Shakespeare tragedy as he stumbled on the shoreline in a publicity shot. Like Kinnock, Howe was also Welsh and both men must now look back on what might have been as their peers received the plaudits while their own careers faded in to oblivion.