Beyond a Fringe: Tales From a Reformed Establishment Lackey by Andrew Mitchell

Author:Andrew Mitchell [Mitchell, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Political, Personal Memoirs, history, Europe, Great Britain, 21st Century, General, political science
ISBN: 9781785906992
Google: -Mw6EAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Published: 2021-10-12T23:28:53.979449+00:00

Back in the UK, the 2010 election campaign was upon us. Together with my team, I visited eighty-four marginal constituencies, sleeping for only four nights out of a four-week campaign back in Sutton Coldfield. CCHQ billeted us in Premier Inns whose bedrooms were all configured in precisely the same way throughout the country, with exactly the same framed pictures on the wall. Frequently when I woke up I hadn’t a clue where I was.

On election night, the good people of Sutton Coldfield returned me to Parliament with an increased majority, suggesting that the less they saw of me, the more supportive they became.

It was clear the next day that we had fallen short of a majority. Labour attempted to hang on, followed by five days of negotiations with the Liberal Democrats which were an agony of waiting. At one point it looked all but lost. I called William Hague, but he was optimistic: ‘One more turn of the wheel should do it.’ And so it was that the coalition was born.

David Cameron started to assemble his Cabinet. After a sleepless night, I had concluded that if the Lib Dems were to have five Cabinet positions, one of those must surely be DfID.

I sat in my office with a clear desk; all our preparatory work for government had been completed. Five years of work. We were ready to hit the ground running, but would I get the chance? I sat watching the television screen with Richard Parr and Philippa Buckley, my two key long-serving staff members. The first two Liberal Cabinet ministers were appointed: Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister, followed by David Laws as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Then number 3, Vince Cable, to Business. Danny Alexander, Secretary of State for Scotland, number 4. We sat in silence, sure that number 5 would be DfID.

Shortly after 2 p.m., Chris Huhne, the senior Liberal Democrat who had so nearly beaten Nick Clegg for the leadership, was appointed to Energy and Climate Change. The phone rang and Laurence Mann, the new Prime Minister’s political secretary, laughing down the line, asked me to come over to No. 10 at 3.30 p.m.

It is hard to describe the feeling of elation as I walked over Whitehall and up Downing Street to No. 10. The journalists and photographers shouted across genially (or asked each other who I was). The door opened and I walked down to the Cabinet Room. Jeremy Heywood, the Downing Street Permanent Secretary, and David Cameron were seated at the table. ‘Andrew, I want you to be my Development Secretary – you’ve done a great job in opposition and now I want you to do it for real.’ I felt the blood pounding in my head as my eyes started to water. ‘Thank you, Prime Minister; I think I may be going to blub. I will give it everything I’ve got and do my very best to fulfil your confidence in me.’

And with that I walked out of the famous door, waved

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