Andrew Neil would have met his match as Margaret Thatcher and her handbag as Boris Johnson ducks interview – The Yorkshire Post says

AS ONE of Margaret Thatcher’s iconic handbags goes on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum, it is worth noting how this accessory became a symbol of power that terrified colleagues, opponents and inquisitors alike.
By YP Comment
Published 4th Dec 2019, 16:45 BST
Margaret Thatcher after her election win in 1979 - she came to use her handbags as a symbol of authority.Margaret Thatcher after her election win in 1979 - she came to use her handbags as a symbol of authority.
Margaret Thatcher after her election win in 1979 - she came to use her handbags as a symbol of authority.

“When Maggie was really up against it, she would put her handbag on the Cabinet table and take out a well-crumpled paper,” recalled Ken Baker, the then Education Secretary.

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“This was the brief that came from no-one knew whom – a friend, or someone who had rung her up. Many are the Ministers who have cursed the contents of that wretched blue handbag.”

Unlike Boris Johnson, Margaret Thatcher came to relish TV inquisitions.Unlike Boris Johnson, Margaret Thatcher came to relish TV inquisitions.
Unlike Boris Johnson, Margaret Thatcher came to relish TV inquisitions.

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Yet such reminiscences mask a serious point a week before polling day. Mrs Thatcher would never have shied away from a gruelling TV inquisition. Unlike Boris Johnson, she would have relished the challenge of the interrogation and it would have been Andrew Neil, now the pre-eminent political interviewer, fearing a proverbial ‘handbagging’ from a feared leader who was also a details person.

Related topics:Margaret ThatcherYorkshire PostBoris Johnson