Frank and the PM he called 'the mad woman in the attic'

Frank Field was a mass of contradictions. A Labour politician who preferred Margaret Thatcher to any Labour prime minister.

- SIMON WALTERS

An antipoverty campaigner who wanted to reduce the amount spent on welfare benefits. A devout Christian affectionately known as “Saint Frank” who loved gossip and was capable of aiming unsaintly barbs at his political foes – as I discovered in my dealings with him over many years as a Westminster journalist.

I vividly recall one of our meetings in early 2007. Tony Blair was coming to the end of his premiership and Field was determined to stop chancellor Gordon Brown succeeding him. He called me over and explained in forthright terms why he considered Brown to be unfit to rule – and why the public should know about it.

One particular phrase in the interview stood out.

Field said: “Allowing Gordon Brown into No 10 would be like letting Mrs Rochester out of the attic. He has no empathy. Tony Blair walks and talks like a PM. Gordon Brown doesn’t. That’s all there is to it.” Brown, chancellor at the time, was reportedly not best pleased to be compared to the insane woman in the attic in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Field decided he had gone a bit far and apologised to Brown.

In the event, it didn’t stop Brown from becoming prime minister – though it could be argued his torrid time in Downing Street and subsequent election defeat bore out Field’s reservations. Field believed he had good reason to be cross with Brown. He blamed him in part for his own failure as a minister.