Must Be Seen

I laughed at Simon Hoggart's sketch of the Thatcher Funeral in The Guardian today - on the importance of being seen at such public events.

Since the networking opportunities are great and, for some people at least, not to be invited - would be a shattering blow to their self-image and social standing.  

Here are the first few paragraphs of what Simon Hoggart has to say: 

"It was, probably, the last great commemoration of politicians, for politicians, by politicians. Everything about the funeral screamed, "yes, we matter too! We can get the Queen, and the archbishop, and the choirs, and even a bunch of foreigners!"

No wonder Gordon Brown was one of the few who arrived with a smile on his face, laughing and chatting as if waiting for a Raith Rovers match. The whole ceremony had been part-organised and signed off by him while he was still in Downing Street. No wonder either that much of Labour's frontbench had turned up too, including those who were years away from becoming MPs when she was forced out.

There was a sprinkling of backbenchers as well, including Keith Vaz, but then Vaz is everywhere. If man ever lands on Mars and shakes hands with the Martian leaders, Vaz will be hovering in the background, offering sound bites at dictation speed."

I remember the funeral of Labour's 'lost leader' - John Smith - very well because the service was held in a church only two hundred yards from where I lived, at the time.

Now John Smith was only ever a leader of the Labour opposition and in 1994 - if I remember correctly - died very suddenly as a result of a massive heart attack.

But I recall a colleague saying to me that the Labour Party had finally 'arrived' and was now a force to be reckoned with - as a very senior police officer saluted the coffin as the hearse pulled away from the church - with motorbike outriders leading the way.

Afterwards, at the reception in the library of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh - the mood was solemn but the air thick with talk of Labour's succession.

The 'smart' money was on Gordon Brown yet in the weeks that followed Tony Blair established himself as man more likely to win the next general election - and Gordon didn't even enter the contest to become Labour leader.