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But her personal affection for Cherie who could barely contain her misery at the rejection that had

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But her personal affection for Cherie, who could barely contain her misery at the rejection that had been delivered to her husband, was ample and deeply felt. Poor Cherie, it has to be admitted, looked as though she could bear the blow less well than even her husband, who seemed absolutely stunned that he was no longer the nation's favourite social democrat.Yet the smallest hint that perhaps the premier had got what was coming to him was not welcomed by Ms Booth. When he announced he would resign from the Conservative leadership, Michael Howard was acting out of humility. In 1997, when he made his first bid to become Tory leader, his ambitions were very different from those of his rivals. They were all hoping to become Prime Minister at the next election Mr Howard knew that was impossible. He understood that the scale of Tony Blair's success in 1997 virtually guaranteed him a second election victory.So he was prepared to be the Tory party's Moses. He would lead the trek through the wilderness, undertaking the necessary reforms and the policy review, to prepare the party for the long march back to power.With that in mind, he tried to recruit William Hague as his deputy and eventual successor.Mr Hague initially accepted Mr Howard's offer Then he had second thoughts He decided history was beckoning him He obeyed it.

He discovered, like many before him, that when history is still in flux, opportunities can rapidly turn into delusions.So Mr Howard's attempted self-sacrifice was spurned But, six years later, he had a second chance This time, he did not need to exert himself. A broken-hearted voter hopes to support Labour again - one day A broken-hearted voter hopes to support Labour again - one day Sir: I have just voted Liberal Democrat for the first time in my long life I felt sad as I did it, but I had to. The sneering remarks of ministers about people at dinner parties drinking Chardonnay and deciding to vote Liberal as an anti-Iraq war protest were shameful. Go and sit down again, I suppose.Howard Jacobson is away More from Brian Viner. I haven't yet decided what I might do if and when I find my Holy Grail.

I did meet someone the other week who very gratifyingly said that he'd been reading it on the Tube and had to put it down because he was laughing so much I told him that he should have held it up, not put it down. He said he had, on a train, and that it was a most uplifting experience. If the American author Dan Brown ever feels the need to be similarly uplifted, he should spend a week travelling between Worcester and Paddington. I can hardly remember the last time I saw less than one person reading The Da Vinci Code, even though, in my view, it is a load of semi-literate poppycock.My mean-spiritedness stems from having just written a book myself for the first time, and because I have yet to see somebody reading it on a train. Anyway, it is my view that there should not be one carriage reserved for those who do not like to listen to mobile phone conversations. There should be a carriage reserved for those who wish to make them, and you can all bellow together."With all this going on, Howard Jacobson had rather faded from my mind, but he reappeared on the 17.52 back to Worcester Shrub Hill, the reason being that I once asked him whether he had ever seen someone reading one of his books in public.

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