Hamiltonian revisionism

In a darned odd piece in The Spectator, the cartoonist Martin Rowson declares his love for Christine Hamilton. I certainly won't criticise him for this, and will tread softly sooner than tread on his dreams. But this is something else:

I got the impression that Neil relishes the showbiz life less than his wife. He was once a serious politician, albeit with some pretty unsavoury views, whose behaviour may or may not have contributed to his own political destruction. Either way (and though I contributed gleefully to his harrying) he never started any illegal wars, and the bile that was heaped on him was out of proportion to what he was alleged to have done.

I need not even dispute Rowson's allusion to the Iraq War and legality - an issue of greater complexity than he appears to realise - to describe this as baloney. I played a minuscule supporting role in the political defeat of Neil Hamilton by Martin Bell more than a decade ago, and I have not the slightest doubt that Hamilton's humiliation was self-inflicted and unsought by his electoral opponent. Given that Hamilton was determined to defend his seat rather than stand down, it was also necessary for the health of British politics.

A few months ago, the author of a forthcoming book on independent politicians contacted me to ask what I thought was the significance of the defeat of Mr Hamilton by an independent candidate. I speak for no one but myself on this (and Martin takes public issue with my view that the British polity is far from corrupt), but this was my reply:

Martin will occupy an enduring significance in British politics in one specific but far from trivial respect. I don’t see him as the progenitor of a movement of independents eroding the party system, nor do I think it would be a good thing if he were. But he played a central role in remedying a blemish on that system when it was needed. The British polity is far from corrupt, but at the end of a long period of single-party dominance in the mid-1990s, some MPs had confused public service with personal interest. Martin’s intervention demonstrated that no MP could rely on the notional safety of a large parliamentary majority, but that a politician had to earn public respect.

If there is anyone who deserves sympathy in the Hamilton affair it is the national Conservative Party, which suffered severe damage to its reputation by Neil Hamilton's behaviour. Hamilton plainly did not represent the difference between electoral defeat and victory for the Tories nationally; but he may have been the difference between heavy defeat and total catastrophe, and John Major's perceived weakness in the affair compounded the damage.

But it needed to be done, and I fear that Martin Rowson has allowed the state of his emotions to overwhelm his judgement. It happens to all of us from time to time, though not - I hope - necessarily in print.

Comments

[arnoldo]

Rowson is only one of many to assume universal belief in the illegality of the Iraq war. The failure of the Labour Party in general, and Tony Blair in particular, to counter the burgeoning Asch effect of this claim (together with the equally mendacious "Bliar" campaign) between 2003 and 2005 was the major factor which led to Blair's early departure.
Those who represented Labour on "Question Time" during this period may now wish to reflect on the contribution that their weasel words on Iraq have made to the party's current dire electoral position.

[Miv Tucker]

When I saw "Hamiltonian" in the heading, I thought that we were perhaps to be treated to a learned disquisition on Alexander Hamilton, the Federalist Papers and the American Constitution, and their lessons for contemporary society - the kind of thing Mr Kamm can do so well.

Instead, we had the tired old business of Neil and Christine.

Mr Kamm, I can appreciate your loyalty to uncle Martin, but you've flogged this dead old horse long enough, don't you think?

And don't you think that their petty larceny really pales into insignificance when compared with the wholesale governmental corruption of the past decade?

I appreciate that your starting point was the New Statesman article, but even so, let it lie, let it lie.

[dirigible]

I appreciate that your starting point was the New Statesman article, but even so, let it lie, let it lie.

I always enjoy stories about the Hamiltons. Jeffrey Archer and Maggie are also good.

[Bookmaker Arbiter]

Has Sonic paid off his debts yet?
What was the original bet please.