A surprisingly large number of men from across the political spectrum indulged sexual fantasies about Margaret Thatcher. Jon Snow, the journalist, described his interviews with her as a “pseudo-sexual experience.” Francois Mitterand, the former French president, said she had “the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe”.
So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that a biography of Britain’s first female prime minister, to be released on what would have been her 100th birthday, alleges that she was a wanton adulterer.
Tina Gaudoin, author of The Incidental Feminist, claims that the Iron Lady had two affairs. Gaudoin told the Cheltenham Literature Festival that multiple sources that she cited in her book, including Jonathan Aitken, the former Conservative minister, revealed Thatcher had been involved with an unnamed man, “very early on in her parliamentary career”.
The second affair was allegedly with Sir Humphrey Atkins, the MP for Spelthorne, later in her life. She made him secretary of state for Northern Ireland, and he was later given a life peerage.
Mr Aitken was also one of the sources for this gossip: “There were knowledgeable rumours to that effect at the time. His good looks might have appealed to her but his political brain was hopeless.” Some wags might say, perhaps, that a man imprisoned for perjury after his dodgy dealings with Saudis might not have too great a political brain either, but there we go.
Now, I love gossip more than most. Whether it’s about my friends, celebrities, MPs, or even people I don’t know, I’m insatiable. I was a tabloid gossip columnist for four years, so you could say it’s both a profession and personal habit that I still hold to.
The day when it was revealed that John Major had had an affair as prime minister with Edwina Currie, his minister, or when the revelations about Princess Diana’s affairs came out, not to mention the Oprah interview with Prince Harry and Meghan – these were heavenly days bathed in wonderful gossip.
But even for me, these allegations about Thatcher seem desperate, tawdry and, I’m sorry to say, vulgar. They also fail to fit the rules of proper gossip.
In the first instance, you need more than just vague allegations. Second, you need some evidence. Hearsay and speculation are fine, but you need something more substantial than the idea posited by Gaudoin’s sources that, because Sir Humphrey was over-promoted and good-looking, she must have been sleeping with him. It’s not like we haven’t seen over-promoted politicians before.
And third, you need to have asked at least one of the people gossiped about. In this case, everyone involved is either no longer with us or not named. So, unless anyone close to them confirms it, it can only ever be speculation.
And in this case, I’d be particularly wary. Yes, politicians of all stripes seem an amorous lot (that image of Matt Hancock and his special aide canoodling behind the door during Covid comes to mind – another delicious day of gossip!), while the scandals that characterised Major’s “back to basics” era in the 1990s still leave me giggling.
And there’s no doubt that Thatcher, who was often the only female in the room, knew how to use her sexuality, with sometimes devastating effect.
But when I think of Thatcher, who was PM when I was a child and showed me that women could be anything, I think of the image of her first cabinet as PM when she was the only woman in the room. I think of all the misogyny and gossip that she must have faced as she – this ultimate lower middle-class outsider – climbed the rungs of the snobbish male establishment.
And I think about the fact that, even today, it’s often crassly assumed that a powerful woman must have slept with someone to do well.
There’s still so much to say about this woman who was born 100 years ago – whether you love her or hate her – but if you are going to gossip like this, you need to make sure it’s based on more than intangible and tasteless whispers.
