Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A Conservative MP famous for losing his seat in a memorable election moment and later returning to Parliament.
On the island
Eight records
It means the beautiful island. I hope I'll be on a beautiful island, but if it's an ugly one I shall play this and cheer up.
Nights in the Gardens of Spain
This was a great favorite of my father. And later, when I came to make a television programme about my father, this was the theme music in the television programme.
It reminds me of... My mesmerized state with Harold Wilson and my concern about the Vietnam War and some terrific parties.
Madama ButterflyFavourite
Mirella Freni & Luciano Pavarotti
This emphasises my emotional nature, my sentimentality, it's Madam Butterfly.
Violin Sonata No. 23 in D major, K. 306
Hiro Kurosaki & Linda Nicholson
I've always been a huge admirer of creative people, and uh this is a friend of mine, Linda Nicholson, playing the forte piano in one of Mozart's violin sonatas.
String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130
Carolyn and I very often go down to hear a weekend of string quartets at Taunton, and the Lindsays play with fantastic commitment.
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
I I grew up with my mother playing Sebalius on the record player, and uh Sebalius will always remind me of my mother who is a... A wonderful, energetic woman, and still hell and hearty at eighty one.
John Mitchenson & Linda Esther Gray
this reminds me that uh Carol and I drove down to Wales in I think nineteen seventy seven to hear Reginald Goodall conducting Tristan and Isolde.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:28Why weren't you desperately disappointed when you lost your seat [in 1997]?
Now, I'm not saying I was pleased... I'm saying that even then I had a sort of feeling that it was going to be a relief to do something else. And I very often thought after that, you know, if I... went to my death bed, and I looked back and I thought I've only ever done one thing in my life which has been in politics, what a shame that would be
Presenter asks
8:05How did your father react when he saw you become a favourite of Mrs. Thatcher and the darling of the right?
Well, I think he was probably quite amused about it... We very rarely discussed it. We are we are a s a an interesting family, maybe. We are very, very close to each other. We see each other a lot, but we never intrude on each other's private lives. And uh even today my family and I rarely discuss politics, even though we are not politically the same thing.
Presenter asks
18:18Why didn't your concern for dignity and honor stop you plotting to challenge John Major's leadership in the mid-nineties?
I I did not so plot, and when it came to John Major standing aside, or rather contesting the leadership himself, I didn't stand as a candidate... I was not going to contest the leadership with John Major. I would never have done that. I thought there was a pretty good chance there would be a second round, and I was ready for that... But but John Major was, in my view, entitled to the leadership and entitled to my support and had it.
The keepsakes
The book
Marcel Proust
I've read the first thousand pages several times, and now is the moment on this desert island to get to grips with it and finish it.
The luxury
I want to write, so I'm going to take a solar-powered laptop computer and see if I've got a novel in me.
Presenter asks
22:40Who did you discuss it with before you decided to reveal that you had a gay past?
I think only with myself. I just took a decision that the next time somebody asked me one of these impertinent questions, I was just going to tell them the s the truth, just answer them.
Presenter asks
29:53You said a few months ago, 'I feel less vulnerable than I used to.' What do you mean by that?
I mean by that... that if you've been through difficulty and adversity, and you know you can get through it, then you know that you can get through it again and also having spent some some time out of politics, I don't believe that politics is life.
“It is a very abnormal life being in politics, and particularly being in government, and whether you wish to or not, you do become a bit separated from normal existence.”
“I think there would be nothing worse, and in a way nothing more corrupting... than if one thought it's got to be politics or nothing.”
“I may have appeared an arrogant person, but actually, I've always been someone with many... with many self doubts. Um I've often been a very nervous person about many of the things that I've had to do.”