So that's why Sunny Jim was so perky!
THE GREAT POLITICAL MEMOIR QUIZ - PART 2
Urinating by a roadside next to James Callaghan in the Sixties, the Labour MP Tom Driberg stole a glance at the future Prime Minister and said...?
More questions to tie in with the latest spate of political memoirs and biographies. All the answers, it might be worth adding, are true.
1 According to Charles Moore’s new authorised biography, who did Mrs Thatcher privately call ‘a very nasty, spiteful person’?
a) Jim Callaghan
b) Willie Whitelaw
c) Edward Heath
d) Arthur Scargill
e) Mark Thatcher
2 Which politician told Brian Walden of Mrs Thatcher’s sex appeal in these words: ‘The whiff of that perfume, the sweet smell of whisky. By God, Brian, she’s appealing beyond belief.’
a) Geoffrey Howe
b) Dr David Owen
c) Shirley Williams
d) Cecil Parkinson
e) David Mellor
3 Urinating by a roadside next to James Callaghan in the Sixties, the Labour MP Tom Driberg stole a glance at the future Prime Minister and said:
a) ‘I bet you can’t write your name in the snow’
b) ‘My, isn’t Audrey the lucky one!’
c) ‘Your tie’s crooked, Jim’
d) ‘You’ve got a pretty one there’
e) ‘No wonder they call you Sunny Jim’
4 In his Diaries, how does Tony Benn describe Gerry Adams?
a) A passionate freedom-fighter
b) Very Welsh
c) Immensely sensitive
d) A fine water-colourist
e) Most unpleasant
5 In the same Diaries, how does Benn describe Edward Heath?
a) An attractive old boy
b) A grumpy old has-been
c) A fascinating fund of stories
d) Full of beans
e) Secretly a little in love with Margaret Thatcher, if truth be told
'Shifty little bureaucrat.' 'Jarringly ghastly.' 'Awful little git.' Which politician is described in these terms by Alan Clark MP (pictured) in his diaries?
6 ‘I have known few more congenial experiences in my life . . .’ begins a sentence in Paddy Ashdown’s memoirs. How does this sentence end?
a) ‘. . . than strangling an enemy insurgent with my bare hands and enjoying a decent cup of hot coffee afterwards’
b) ‘. . . than sitting on the lap of Cyril Smith during rush-hour in a crowded train’
c) ‘. . . than listening to the keynote speech by Charles Kennedy at our 1999 Liberal Democrat party conference’
d) ‘. . . than sitting every morning in the company of my fellows, over a 20ft-deep latrine’
e) ‘. . . than getting to grips with the most workable form of proportional representation over a series of sessions with the redoubtable Simon Hughes’
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7 ‘I will have a crack at the leadership as soon as I can, partly because I am in touch with real people, partly because I can offer some leadership.’ In whose diaries does this sentence appear?
a) Edward du Cann
b) John Stonehouse
c) Edwina Currie
d) Jonathan Aitken
e) Barbara Castle
Mo Mowlam's autobiography contains a photograph of the author relaxing on a bed at Stormont Castle with 12 houseguests including...?
8 Which former MP confesses in his diaries to having once been propositioned by Frankie Howerd, who apparently said: ‘It’s my groin. No, ooh, aw . . .apply the ointment, rub it in. Haven’t you seen one before?’
a) Michael Spicer
b) Gyles Brandreth
c) Chris Mullin
d) Peter Mandelson
e) Lord Rennard
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9 ‘Shifty little bureaucrat.’ ‘Jarringly ghastly.’ ‘Awful little git.’ Which politician is described in these terms by Alan Clark MP in his diaries?
a) John Selwyn Gummer
b) George Osborne
c) David Steel
d) Jack Straw
e) William Hague
10 Mo Mowlam’s autobiography contains a photograph of the author relaxing on a bed at Stormont Castle with 12 houseguests including:
a) John Humphrys and Jeremy Paxman
b) Jimmy Savile and Dave Lee Travis
c) Ken Clarke and Tom King
d) Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness
e) Bono and Elton John
11 In his autobiography Prezza, John Prescott confesses that ‘what I did was stuff my face with anything around . . . till I felt sick — but at least I’d had the pleasure of stuffing my face and feeling really full. Then there would be a weird kind of pleasure in vomiting and feeling relieved.’ Which of these does he not include in his list of items with which he would ‘stuff my face’?
a) Burgers
b) Crisps
c) Chocolate
d) Sherry trifle
e) Fish and chips
12 Which politician’s autobiography contains this passage, in which he describes losing his virginity to an older woman? ‘I felt her breasts brushing my shoulders . . . she arrived with her top button carelessly undone and her bosoms more than usually visible . . . she unbuttoned her blouse and, gently taking my hand, placed it on her breast.’
a) Paddy Ashdown
b) Alan Clark
c) John Selwyn Gummer
d) Denis Healey
e) Norman Fowler
Answers: 1a; 2b; 3d; 4c; 5a; 6d; 7c; 8b; 9e; 10a; 11d; 12a.
