SIR MARK THATCHER is at the racier end of political offspring, someone who seems to inhabit worlds the rest of us must read about in novels by Frederick Forsyth. Allegations that the second baronet, who inherited the title on the death of his father, Denis, funded a suspected coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea are the latest chapter in a life mired in intrigue and mystery, its subject resembling an upmarket Arthur Daley.
Thatcher’s Gold: Life and Times of Mark Thatcher by Paul Halloran and Mark Hollingsworth (Simon & Schuster) attempts to shed light on a complex adulthood, one that began straightforwardly enough, with accountancy, but quickly spun into misdirectional rally driving and considerable wealth from unclear sources.
Carol Thatcher is more used to writing than being written about. She works as a journalist and produced Diary of an Election: With Margaret Thatcher on the Campaign Trail (Sidgwick & Jackson), a personal account of the 1983 poll, as well as Below the Parapet: The Biography of Denis Thatcher (HarperCollins), an affectionate insight into a private man from a favoured child.
There seems to be some law that politicians, who must by necessity embrace the lofty, are invariably brought down to earth by their relations, including ones they inherit. Tony Booth, one of whose children happened to marry Tony Blair, is a gloriously blunt communicator. His autobiography, What’s Left? (Orion) tells his story — alcoholism, acting and all. Its ambivalent title hints at the politicised content. Booth, the “Scouse git” as he was known to his father-in-law, Alf Garnett, in the classic comedy ‘Til Death Us Do Part. Booth is a proud, voluble old-fashioned socialist, who first canvassed for Labour at the age of 14 and counts Michael Foot and Tony Benn as close friends.
Randolph S. Churchill battled less successfully with drink and wanted to emulate his famous father, Winston. It wasn’t to be. In fact, his only electoral success was an uncontested seat, quickly lost. But despite a reputation for being spoilt, drunk and malign, he did inherit the Churchill writing flair, publishing five serious family histories before dying at the age of 57. Winston S. Churchill: Road to Victory 1941-1945 (Houghton Mifflin) is probably the most resonant.
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In the end, books by family members can offer an intimate insight into politicians lost to historians. On that basis, Buster’s Diaries (Little, Brown) as told to Roy Hattersley is perfect. Buster is an exuberant, goose-chasing Staffordshire bull terrier and alsatian cross. But he has many things to reveal about his doting master, the prominent Labour politician who, generously, records it all in a funny and engaging way.
TOBY MOORE