ALL THE EX-PRIME MINISTER'S MEN

Peter Oborne on the small group of younger Tory

front-benchers who spend time with Lady Thatcher — and why

LAST WEEKEND William Hague osten- tatiously announced his intention to model himself on Margaret Thatcher. 'She led. So will I,' proclaimed the Tory leader in his speech to the Conservative Central Council at Harrogate. There were those who raised their eyebrows at this contemptuous sideswipe at John Major. Some even ven- ture the opinion that it is always better to let others make such grandiose and flatter- ing comparisons rather than sound off on the subject oneself. Besides, there are a number of members of the shadow Cabinet who feel they know and understand Lady Thatcher rather better than Mr Hague does.

Despite her frequent travels abroad — she has just returned from a tour of the Middle East — Lady Thatcher makes it her business to keep in touch with British politics. She has assem- bled around her a coterie of rising Tory politicians, whom she sees regularly and upon whose political judgment she has come to rely. In return, these men hang onto almost her every word. In so far as she exercises influence on day-to- day British politics, it is exer- cised through them. Since the general election the former prime minister has invited a highly select number of these senior front-bench Tories to intimate evening events in her house off Chester Square. Dinner is too formal a term. Supper — served after drinks presid- ed over by Sir Denis in the drawing-room — is often brought in on trays. It amounts to nothing special and can be close to ined- ible. But the conversation, largely dominat- ed by Lady Thatcher herself, is serious.

Since the former prime minister has been away, the most recent of these occa- sions came at the end of January. Present were the Social Security spokesman lain Duncan Smith and two members of Mr Hague's Treasury team, David Heathcoat- Amory and Michael Fallon. Lord Tebbit was there too. But they are far from the only members of `Lady Thatcher's coven', as this secretive group is sometimes referred to at Westminster.

Francis Maude, shadow Culture Secre- tary, is often welcome at Chester Square. So is Oliver Letwin, the clever new Tory MP who worked for her in Downing Street during the 1980s. Bernard Jenkin, MP for Colchester, is a visitor. John Whittingdale, a Tory whip who served as her political sec- retary, is instrumental in bringing right- wing Tory MPs in to meet her.

A number of common interests bind Thatcher's coven together. Most belong to the No Turning Back group, formed in the 1980s to stiffen her spine and provide ideo- logical impetus for her government. Just as important from her point of view, they were all rebels during the Major years. And none more so than Mr Duncan Smith, indisputably her current favourite.

In the words of one appreciative Thatch- er loyalist, Mr Duncan Smith is 'unsullied' by contact with John Major's government. The whip's office tried to buy his loyalty with job offers on numerous occasions after his election to Parliament in 1992, but on each occasion he turned the approach down. The son of a Battle of Britain war hero, his stance of proud and principled opposition was faultless. Not so Mr Heathcoat-Amory, who served in both the Treasury and the For- eign Office, and most damningly of all as deputy chief whip when the Maastricht Bill was being pushed through Parliament. But he redeemed himself by resigning from the front bench six months before the last elec- tion in protest against government policy on the single currency.

There is still a lingering doubt as to whether Mr Heathcoat-Amory really did quit on principle. Some former ministers who know him well are still ready to assert that pique at not getting into the Cabinet played a full part in his deci- sion. Be that as it may, his was one of the most effective resig- nations of all time. It trans- formed him practically at a stroke from middle-ranking minister going nowhere to a member of Mr Hague's shadow Cabinet tipped for stardom. `Margaret feels respect for David,' says a Thatcherite, `because he's a reminder of the stand she feels that she should have taken herself.'

There are the strongest fami- ly reasons for Lady Thatcher's affection for Francis Maude. His father, Angus, was one of her most loyal henchmen. As premier, she took a keen interest in the son from the start, and he proved an effective and loyal minister until losing his seat in the 1992 general election. From the point of view of doctrinal purity this was a gigantic piece of luck for Mr Maude, because otherwise he could easily have ended up fatally compro- mised by membership of John Major's Cabinet. He was already showing alarming signs of tractability. Mr Maude will never be allowed to forget, for instance, that his is one of the two British signatures on the Maastricht Treaty (he stepped in for Nor- man Lamont at the last moment). Lady Thatcher rates him highly and is said to be urging that he should be given the job of shadow Home Secretary when Brian Mawhinney steps down, as he has asked to do this summer.

Indeed, she will be looking for big, 101- loping promotions for all of her boys in the reshuffle. There is growing talk from the direction of Chester Square that Iain Dun- can Smith's job is done at Social Security, and that he could make a fine shadow Chancellor, while a failure to reward Heathcoat-Amory with a major promotion would be regarded with some disapproval.

Whether Mr Hague will listen to these entreaties is an interesting point. Although currently in favour at Chester Square Lady Thatcher is said to be 'very, very com- fortable' with his position on the single cur- rency, and she is bound to be flattered by his invocation of her leadership last week- end — he is anything but a member of her close coterie. He has not seen her since before Christmas. It is true that the rela- tionship between Mr Hague and Lady Thatcher is easier by far than the Major- Thatcher one, which went wrong almost from the start. But the reality is that Lady Thatcher barely knows Mr Hague, who was not even a minister when she was deposed from office in 1990. It was only the last- minute pleading of Tory grandees, above all Cecil Parkinson, that flushed her out as a Hague supporter during the leadership contest last summer. She was obliged to take him on trust, as an acceptable alterna- tive to Kenneth Clarke.

Equally, members of the Hague camp view the Chester Square coven with defi- nite suspicion. As things stand, Lady Thatcher exudes only approving noises. But that happy state of affairs could easily change. If Mr Hague struck out on an inde- pendent line on Europe, friendship would turn to hostility in an instant. Mr Hague knows this. Publicly he is happy to praise Margaret Thatcher, but as one of his aides said, 'That was then, this is now.' He is not likely to take Lady Thatcher's advice to promote Mr Duncan Smith for the simple reason that he regards him as a threat. He knows how easily the coven could turn into the enemy within.

Two themes dominate conversation once the former prime minister talks frankly with her friends at Chester Square. The first is the state of the Conservative party. `She feels deeply frustrated at seeing the party in the state it is in today,' says a member of the coven. 'She is deeply upset about it all and wants to do more to help.' But the second concerns her yet more deeply. It is the battle which she realises will be the last major struggle of her politi- cal life; the battle to save the pound. She is ready to throw herself life and soul into the fight, but recognises that she will never be able to take too prominent a role for fear of scaring away more people than she attracts.

Recent meetings have been driven by her urgent concern that the campaign may be lost through default. She believes that while the 'yes' campaign is already well financed and going full steam ahead, the `no' campaign is in danger of becoming a shambles. There are a small number of lit- tle groups dedicated to its preservation, but so far they are incoherent and poorly financed. She regards finding what Norman Tebbit calls an 'Eisenhower' figure, capable of leading all the different camps to victory, as an absolute necessity. She is dismayed that one has not already been found. The coven will be called upon to play its full part in the battle, and woe betide William Hague if he does not do the same.

The author is political columnist of the Express.

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