A bag of boiled sweets : an autobiography

by Julian Critchley

Julian Critchley, who first became an MP in 1959, recounts his political and personal life from early school years, and through university and a long career in Parliament, during which he served under no fewer than five Conservative Prime Ministers.

Genres: Politics

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 1994

Reviews

[David Lai]

Julian Critchley got his face on the telly quite a lot during the eighties, and was considered a bit of a character, less Thatcherite and more independent than most of his Tory colleagues. He never made much progress in his political career, as he keeps reminding us in this memoir, and his financial anxiety is a recurring theme. However, despite his humble origins (of which he keeps reminding us) he did have quite a privileged life; son of a famous surgeon, he went to the same prep school as Michael Heseltine, a lifelong friend, then Shrewsbury (which he tells us is not one of the top five public schools -- how humble!) and then Oxford University, entrance to which, he assures us, no doubt correctly, was eased by his having an "old Salopian accent". A faltering political career still afforded him sinecures in Europe; probably the most tedious section of the book details his favourite eating and drinking spots in Strasbourg.

Teresa Gorman accused him of being a snob, an accusation he laughs off, but in truth, all his friends and acquaintances come from Toryland -- colonels and generals, knights of the shires, Tory potential cabinet ministers -- and he speaks snootily of the influx of new Tories who are "estate agents" and the like. He mentions no-one of lower social class who isn't one of his ancestors.

Critchley writes a section about the "hinterland" of various politicians, not all of them household names. His own hinterland is detailed in a few short sentences, and it's noticeable that there is hardly anything in the book about the arts -- apart from his interest in collecting Staffordshire pottery, perhaps mainly for resale -- while he often mentions boxing and frequently gets misty-eyed about food and drink.

Perhaps because of his stiff upper lip, he exudes little warmth and invites little compassion (the last line of the book declares that he has had "precious little" to complain about), though he became disabled through polio which somehow got to him later in life, though not early on. There is perhaps something touching in his being reunited in middle age with his first sweetheart, but he isn't up to describing it in a moving way.

Critchley is praised on the cover as someone who can write -- he wrote a lot for the papers -- but his style isn't particularly lucid, and he litters his prose with references that presumably only posh people would understand -- I had to look up "franc-tireur", among other terms.

This is a fairly interesting book, but I didn't warm to it or its author.

[Lynne]

There are parts of this which I relate to. The old Conservative party. I always enjoyed Critchley's perspectives as a young Tory. But I am beyond that now. Not young. Not a Tory. Critchley's greatest qualities are the self awareness and self criticism he shows and the greatest weaknesses, the things he is aware of that do not make him a 'good' MP. Stocking up on the luxuries in life should not be what MPs do on foreign visits. Accomodation should be paid for and a small allowance paid for overseas trips. MPs shouldn't get money for outside interests (eg writing in newspapers). They should do and, I have little doubt that Critchley did, act as a good constituency MP.
It is a really good read. I just wish that he could have been happy with the fact he was an MP rather than discontented that he didn't achieve high office.

[P. W. Lapwing]

An interesting and enjoyable read.