House of Cards (33 page)

He
extended
his
hand
towards
Urquhart.
'Francis,
I'm sorry
to
cut
this
short;
Humphrey
will
be
waiting
outside.
I shall
have
to
consult
him
as
Chairman
of
the
Backbench Committee,
but
the
final
choice
on
timing
is
entirely
in
my hands.
I'm
going
to
think
very
carefully
overnight
about what
you
have
said,
and
let
you
know
in
the
morning
what I
decide.'

He
led
the
Chief
Whip
towards
the
door.
'I'm
so
grateful, Francis.
It's
really
comforting
to
have
a
source
of
advice with
no
axe
to
grind.'

Daily
Telegraph
.
Wednesday
27th
October.
Page
1
.

Samuel
is
favoured
candidate
-takes
early
lead
in
party
soundings

Michael
Samuel,
the
youthful
Environment
Secretary,
was
last
night
emerging
as
the
early
front
runner to
succeed
Henry
Collingridge
as
Party
Leader
and Prime
Minister.

In
a
poll
conducted
during
the
last
two
days
by
the
Telegraph
amongst
212
of
the
337
Government
MPs eligible
to
vote,
24
per
cent
nominated
him
as
their first
choice
in
the
forthcoming
party
leadership election,
well
ahead
of
other
potential
candidates.

While
Samuel
has
yet
to
announce
his
candidature, he
is
expected
to
do
so
soon.
Moreover,
he
is
expected to
get
the
backing
of
influential
party
figures such
as
Lord
Williams,
the
Party
Chairman,
whose influence
as
the
Party's
elder
statesman
could
be crucial.

No
other
name
attracted
more
than
18
per
cent. Five
potential
candidates
obtained
between
12
per cent
and
18
per
cent,
including
Patrick
Woolton
the Foreign
Secretary,
Arnold
Dollis
the
Home
Secretary, Harold
Earle
the
Education
Secretary,
Peter
McKen
zie
the
Health
Secretary,
and
Francis
Urquhart
the Chief
Whip.

The
inclusion
of
Urquhart's
name
in
the
list
at
14 per
cent
caused
something
of
a
surprise
last
night
at Westminster,
as
he
is
not
even
a
full
member
of
the Cabinet.
As
Chief
Whip
he
has
a
strong
base
in
the Parliamentary
Party
and
could
be
a
strong
outside candidate.
However,
sources
close
to
Urquhart
last night
emphasised
he
had
made
no
decision
to
enter the
contest,
and
he
would
clarify
his
position
sometime
today.'

'Mattie,
I
think
I've
got
it!'

Krajewski
was
striding
across
the
room
as
if
he
had discovered
a
blazing
fire
in
his
pocket.
He
was
breathless with
excitement.
As
he
reached
Mattie's
desk
in
the
Telegraph
news
room,
he
pulled
a
lOx
12
colour
photograph
out of
the
large
manila
envelope
he
was
clutching,
and
threw
it on
her
desk.
The
face
of
the
driver
stared
at
her,
slightly blurred
and
distorted
from
the
lines
of
the
video
screen,
but nonetheless
clearly
recognisable.

‘F
reddie
came
up
trumps.
He
took
this
along
to
his meeting
of
AA
last
night,
and
the
group
leader
recognised
it immediately.
It's
a
Dr
Robert
Christian,
who's
a
well known
authority
on
the
treatment
of
drug
and
alcohol addiction.
Runs
a
treatment
centre
in
a
large
private
house near
the
south
coast
in
Kent.
That's
where
our
Charlie
is bound
to
be
’
He
was
flushed
with
triumph.

'Johnnie,
I
could
kiss
you
-
but
not
in
the
office!'

His
face
contorted
into
a
picture
of
mock
misery.

'And
there
I
was
hoping
you
would
want
to
sleep
your way
to
the
top...'
he
said
mournfully.

The
Prime
Minister
read
all
the
newspapers
that
morning. He
smiled
ruefully
as
he
read
the
commentaries
which
a week
before
had
been
excoriating
him
and
for
the
most
part were
now,
in
their
fickle
and
inconstant
fashion,
lauding him
for
his
statesmanlike
and
responsible
action
in
allowing
the
Government
to
make
a
fresh
start
-
'although
he must
still
resolve
many
outstanding
personal
and
family issues
to
the
public's
satisfaction',
thundered
The
Times.
As
always,
the
press
had
no
shame
in
playing
both
sides.

He
read
the
Telegraph
particularly
carefully,
and
twice. Their
prompt
polling
of
Government
MPs
had
given
them a
lead
over
the
other
journals,
many
of
which
were
forced
to refer
to
the
poll
findings
in
their
later
editions.
The
consensus
seemed
to
be
emerging:
it
was
an
open
race
but
Samuel was
clearly
the
front
runner.

He
summoned
his
political
secretary.

'Grahame.
I
want
you
to
send
an
instruction
to
Lord Williams,
with
a
copy
to
Sir
Humphrey
Newlands.
Party headquarters
are
to
issue
a
press
release
at
12.30
this afternoon
for
the
lunchtime
news
that
nominations
for election
as
Leader
of
the
Party
will
close
in
three
weeks' time,
on
Thursday
November
18,
with
the
first
ballot
to take
place
on
the
following
Tuesday
November
23.
If
a second
ballot
is
required
it
will
be
held
as
prescribed
by
the Party's
rules
on
the
following
Tuesday,
November
30,
with any
final
run-off
ballot
two
days
later.
Have
you
got
that?'