Ayesha Hazarika
(Picture: Daniel Hambury)The one silver lining about “partygate” is that we’re all learning a lot about politics. And how cake can ambush you. So do look out. We all remember that time. Sir Winston Churchill was pounced on by a couple of French Fancies and a giant Colin the Caterpillar singing Happy Birthday in the Cabinet Room. I’m still surprised that scene was dropped from Darkest Hour. It reminded me of Ed Balls’s five-point flan for jobs and growth.
We’ve recently had a crash course in the dark arts of the Whips’ Office. Accounts range from whips offering nothing more than gentle pastoral care to tales of MPs getting grabbed by their political kumquats in the voting lobbies. It’s probably somewhere in the middle. Another aspect of the murky world of Westminster is the role of the special advisers, known as Spads. Spads have been the subject of intrigue, suspicion and contempt for a while now. From the days of Alastair Campbell under New Labour to the explosive era of Dominic Cummings. Spads are political appointments and while you often don’t know their names, they can wield a huge amount of influence.
