Tears and fears of a broken Chancellor

THE Crying Game has always been part of British politics. Winston Churchill, our greatest national leader, was famously lachrymose whether in adversity or triumph, while the departures of Margaret Thatcher in 1990 and Theresa May in 2019 were both accompanied by reddened eyes and cracked voices. Less upset was Wiliam Gladstone, who was disgusted by the "blubbering" of colleagues at his last Cabinet in March 1894.

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Earlier in the 19th century, Viscount Goderich acquired the nickname "The Blubberer" after he cried in front of King George IV on his dismissal as prime minister in 1828.

The first Labour PM Ramsay MacDonald was a romantic Scot, whose public life was tragically blighted by the death of his wife in 1911. "He was in tears a lot of the time," recalled his son.

Another Scottish leader, Robert Maclennan, who was in charge of the SDP in its final days, cried so regularly that, according to a colleague, there were "concerns about his mental stability". Similar anxieties were expressed during the Suez Crisis in 1956 when the PM Sir Anthony Eden broke down in a Cabinet meeting and wailed at his colleagues, are all "You deserting me." Weeping uncontrollably, he fled to his upstairs flat in Downing Street. Within two months, he had resigned as Prime Minister.