PUBLISHED: 23:45, 29 September 2024 | UPDATED: 00:14, 30 September 2024
During his record-breaking 14 years as chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 committee, Graham Brady endured some bruising encounters with prime ministers.
But one PM proved to be more difficult than any of the others. Brady, who worked with David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, reveals in his new book Kingmaker that the most tricky of the five was May.
Brady, a Brexiteer, recalls that he was so appalled by the terms of May's proposed deal for exiting the EU in January 2019, he went to see her privately in No 10 to tell her it would not get through Parliament.
'She looked at me as if I was mad,' says Brady, who stood down at the election after 27 years as an MP.
May duly sent two senior advisers to Brady's Commons office and they took him through a slideshow of the terms of her deal. 'It was even worse than I thought,' said Brady. 'I saw the prime minister again to tell her it would not secure the support of my colleagues.'
But renowned for her stubbornness and lack of emotional intelligence, May pushed her deal to a Commons vote. It was rejected by 230 votes, the largest defeat ever inflicted on a serving government.
Brady also reveals in Kingmaker how he urged Boris Johnson to sack chief adviser Dominic Cummings over a breach of lockdown rules. Cummings had claimed he drove 30 miles to Barnard Castle to test whether his eyesight was good enough to drive back to London. Brady says: 'I told Boris: 'No sane person drives 30 miles to test their eyesight.' To which Boris replied: 'But Cummings isn't sane'.'
The Life of Brian (the other one)
Sir Michael Palin has been recalling how his hopes of meeting one of his heroes were dashed as he waited to board a helicopter to take him and the singer Chrissie Hynde to a birthday party for Billy Connolly.
'We were told we are just waiting for Brian Wilson. I said: 'Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, my God, the chance to meet him.' '
Except it wasn't the ageing Beach Boy. It was Brian Wilson the now long-forgotten Labour MP. Palin adds: 'He wasn't very good at Good Vibrations.'
JOKE OF THE WEEK: The winter fuel allowance row has spawned some brutal jokes at the PM's expense. Take this one: 'Keir Starmer saw an old lady struggling to carry two shopping bags along the street. So to help her he slashed her pension and cut her winter fuel allowance. Now she can only afford one bag of shopping.' Ouch!
A car-crash moment for the BBC on its flagship Question Time programme. After Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf said the UK spent more per capita than France on refugees and asylum seekers, he was slapped down by host Fiona Bruce.
'France takes more per capita,' she said confidently. But a few minutes later, she was forced to swallow humble pie: 'Before we move on, I want to say, Zia, you are right. France takes fewer asylum seekers per capita than the UK.' BBC fact-checkers now appear to be correcting its own stars. Not before time.
Silver-tongued Sir John
When Sir John Major was in No 10, he was never regarded as much of an orator. But two famous women who know a lot about performing are big fans of the former PM's speaking style.
Hollywood legend Dame Joan Collins told me this week: 'Shirley Bassey and I were at Downing Street when he was making an off the cuff speech about something very serious.
'Shirley and I were saying, 'He's brilliant, he's brilliant.' And he was. He and I were on the talk show circuit last year and bumped into each other. He's a very, very good speechmaker.'
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