Winston on Democracy
I was in Bolton today for the Conservative Party's North West conference, which was a positive and useful exercise. On the way back I listened to a Radio 4 programme presented by John Cole about the 1945 General election. One item from the broadcast which particularly impressed me was an account by a cabinet office official who had to take Winston Churchill some early results. (I didn't catch the name but checking against Martin Gilbert's biography of Churchill on my arrival at home I presume it must have been Captain Pim, the head of the Map Room staff.) Churchill was actually in the bath when the results came through. Ten Conservative seats had fallen to Labour. It was obvious from these early results that there was a massive swing against the Conservative/Liberal National government and that Churchill had lost the election. According to tonight's Radio 4 broadcast, after having heard the results, Churchill pondered for a few moments and then stuck out his chin and sa...