Crossing continents and moving through centuries, the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations tracks the latest changes in the political landscape, offering a wealth of inspiring speeches, disastrous gaffes, and momentous asides.
Since the previous edition we've had 9/11, the war on terror, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, elections in the US ('I earned political capital...and I intend to spend it' - George W. Bush; 'You can be certain and you can be wrong' - John Kerry) and the UK ('I, we, the Government' - Tony Blair), and a European referendum ('I do not understand this fear' - Jacques Chirac trying to win the youth vote).
The heir to the throne remarried and the debate echoed Stanley Baldwin's view in the Abdication crisis of 1936, 'In the choice of a Queen, the voice of the people must be heard'. House of Lords reform was initiated but not completed, and Tony Benn commented 'The Cecils always end up on top'.
The Hutton and Butler Reports ('More weight was placed on the intelligence than it could bear') have appeared, and the proposed legislation on terrorism evoked the protest to the Lord Chancellor: 'It is a pretty pass when the headline in the Morning Star reads "Back the Law Lords"'.
Political leadership, as Charles Kennedy has discovered, is always a hot issue. Michael Howard ('I have said that if people don't deliver they go...I didn't deliver' and the Scottish Liberal Democrat Jim Wallace ('there is always a problem that party leaders have - of not quite knowing when you have overstayed your welcome') took the initiative in resigning.
For some, the position of leader can be constantly debated; the saying 'Vote Blair, get Brown' may be seen as either a promise or a threat. Description of the fundamental difficulties links two rather unexpected figures: the 17th-century Cardinal de Retz ('the head of a party may do what he pleases; as long as he retains the confidence of his own friends,') and, from our own time, John Prescott, 'when plates appear to be moving, everyone positions themselves for it'.
But is the personal always political? In the last few years, cutting remarks have included references to surrounding yourself with 'short grasses' (Michael Portillo on Iain Duncan Smith), and 'attack dogs' and a 'Scottish Raj' (Jeremy Paxman on John Reid). Thabo Mbeki seen as successor to Nelson Mandela drew the comment from Tokyo Sexwale: 'The president's shoes are huge and Thabo has tiny feet'. In Canada, Stephen Harper said of his defecting MP Belinda Stronach, 'I've never really noticed complexity to be Belinda's strong point'.
Claire Short branded Tony Blair 'extraordinarily reckless'; John Pienaar described Claire Short as 'a loose cannon with a sense of direction'. Winston Churchill, considering Clement Attlee's command of his Cabinet, once warned, 'While the mouse is away the cats might play'. More positively, we have Lord Woolf on Lord Falconer, 'that engagingly friendly and cheerful chappie'. And then there is Margaret Thatcher on Tony Blair: 'he has a long way to come to be purely Thatcherite'.
Antony Jay says, "There are many new quotations that reflect events, ideas, and arguments in this edition, though I confess it is the new discovery of old quotations which give me the greatest pleasure: the tracking down and digging up of quotations from past generations, quotations which illuminate and enrich our current political communication."
With over 5000 quotations by 1500 authors, the Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations is a trove of the most notable sayings by and about politicians of past and present, covering the forever changing political landscape.
About the Editor
Sir Antony Jay has spent 50 years travelling in the realms of government and politics as a television writer and producer. The journey has included the editorship of Tonight, writing the two royal TV documentaries Royal Family and Elizabeth R, and many programmes with Sir David Frost, including the twelve interviews with Harold Wilson in A Prime Minister on Prime Ministers. In the 1980s he wrote the hugely successful comedies Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister.
Publishes on 9 March 2006, price £18.99 hardback
For more information, or to interview Antony Jay, please contact Kate Farquhar-Thomson on 01865 353423 or email kate.farquhar-thomson@oup.com