My one interview with Mrs T

  I interviewed Maggie Thatcher only  once. As you see from the photograph (check out my dodgy fringe and dodgy dress)  it was very early in my journalistic career when I was still in  newspapers.
 What I remember most clearly is  that she ignored every single question that I asked and simply made her own  little speech. This is not, of course, unusual, for a politician and was very
much Mrs Thatcher’s style.  I found  it completely infuriating. Then…and  always.

 Later, as a television reporter, I  was able to interview many of her ministers many times. Cecil Parkinson.  Geoffrey Howe. Douglas Hurd. Norman Tebbit. Broadcasting allowed me , at least,
the option to leave my questions in the edit so that Thames TV viewers could   see when a legitimate question was
being unreasonably blanked.
 This is not the time to say what I  thought of Mrs Thatcher’s politics. There are hours of programming reviewing her legacy. What I will say is that it feels a little  spooky to confirm that she was the age I am now when she came to power. 

Putting aside all political  differences, I have not the foggiest notion how she found the energy! I may well
remind myself of that the next time I feel “too tired” to work on a  manuscript.


 

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