31 JANUARY 1998, Page 24

Sir: Robert Rhodes James's story of Macmillan receiving a disappointing

tele- phone call recalls an analogous episode which I witnessed in 1957 when Churchill was forming a new administration. Colonel Walter Elliot, a gentlemanly and charming Conservative MP, was attending a dinner at the Maison Rouge Hotel in Strasbourg as a delegate to the Council of Europe. As a senior ex-minister he doubtless hoped for a Cabinet appointment. Accordingly when the manager approached and told him that 'M. Churchill est a l'appareif he rose with alacrity to his feet. Sadly it was only Ran- dolph up to his usual tricks.

Euan Graham

Hill Farm, Heddington, Caine, Wiltshire