The onlie begetter
Sir : Mr J. W. M. Thompson has got it wrong ('Spectator's notebook,' 12 April). Mr Quintin Hogg did not write that slogan. I did. And the exact words were: 'Life's better with the Con- servatives—don't let Labour ruin it.' ('Life's better under the Conservatives . . forsooth!
What kind Of preposition is that for a sovereign electorate?) And yes, Mr Geoffrey Tucker, the Tory party's new publicity chief, does take credit for the slogan too. At that time he was the account executive for the Conservative Central Office at their advertising agency, and I was the copywriter. Advertising is a collaborative business, and the copywriter is not the onlie begetter.
Not that any of this matters vastly. But Mr Thompson has an air of putting advertising men in their place as he sets the record straight; so I thought it might just be worth setting the record properly straight.
Maurice Smelt 89 Gunterstone Road, London W14
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