ISBN 0 7206 1203 9
History
256pp
Cased
£18.95
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Prime Ministers’ Wives – and One Husband

Mark Hichens

‘Mark Hichens throws a great deal of light upon the wives (and in one case husband) of those who have guided the political destiny of the country . . . He has wisely avoided the fictions of Press cuttings and made a genuine attempt to get behind the public façade. He paints a sympathetic and convincing picture of Prime Ministers’ spouses from Catherine Walpole to Cherie Blair’ - Norma Major, Mail on Sunday

Much is required of a prime minister’s wife. As a hostess, sympathetic ear and adviser, she must ensure her husband never puts a foot wrong (and never do so herself). Arguably she has one of the hardest jobs in politics - without ever stepping into the House of Commons.

Of the wives from the past two centuries featured in this book, nearly all have given their husbands unqualified support in political matters, two notable exceptions being Emily Palmerston and Clementine Churchill, who were always ready to dissent. And, until Audrey Callaghan and Cherie Blair, none had careers of their own.

They came from a variety of backgrounds: some, such as Emily Palmerston, Caroline Lamb, Catherine Gladstone and Dorothy Macmillan, from the ruling classes. Two - Clementine Churchill and Margot Asquith - had aristocratic connections, while Lucy Baldwin’s father was a scientist, Mary Ann Disraeli’s was a junior naval officer and Margaret Lloyd George’s a Welsh hill farmer. In terms of their marriages, some were secure, some wobbly and one actually broke down. In the case of Clementine Churchill, her marriage to Winston of fifty-seven years was a particularly remarkable achievement.

Mark Hichens examines these women - and one husband, Denis Thatcher - in the light of their personalities and achievements as well as the roles they have indirectly played in British history in this timely volume.

‘Well-written and well-researched . . . Prime Ministers’ wives are generally far nicer people than their husbands.’ - Sunday Telegraph

‘Readable and entertaining without being trivial, this book weaves together the great perspectives of politics and the homely. Nowhere is this better done than in the chapter on Clementine Churchill. The world already knows how much it owed to Winston. Hichens makes clear how much Winston owed to Clementine’ - Scotland on Sunday

‘Prime ministerial consorts beware of a new book called Prime Ministers’ Wives - and One Husband . . . no skeletons left unrattled.’ - Independent

'Prime Ministers' Wives is a jolly read and should be compulsory reading for spouses of any would-be Prime Ministers.' - Keith Simpson, MP

MARK HICHENS is a biographer, historian and retired teacher. His publications include Oscar Wilde’s Last Chance: The Dreyfus Connection, of which the Spectator wrote: ‘His narrative is fresh . . . he writes with clarity, pace, wisdom and wry humour’.