Edward Pearce has had the excellent idea of writing biographies of three outstanding postwar politicians who failed to become prime minister-RA Butler, Denis Healey and Iain Macleod. Nearly 20 years ago Richard Thorpe had a similar idea; his The Uncrowned Prime Ministers contains studies of Austen Chamberlain, Curzon and Butler. Pearce does it differently, but equally well.
He has always been a vivid writer, sometimes, perhaps, too colourful-but here he has his virtuosity under full control. His judgements, too, are sharp, causing heavy casualties among those politicians he dislikes. He sensibly does not produce a general thesis on why some people become prime minister and others, often more gifted, do not. Yet his studies of the two Tory politicians whom he does like imply the question: does the Conservative party invariably choose the wrong leader?
Although William Hague is a highly intelligent man, Kenneth Clarke was the only fully qualified candidate this year, an obvious leader to virtually everyone but the besotted anti-European majority of the truncated parliamentary party. Equally clearly, John Major was the least qualified of the candidates on offer in 1990. Both Douglas Hurd and Michael Heseltine would surely have made far better leaders. Yet unerringly, a large majority of the party plumped for Major.
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