The Benn Diaries: 1940-1990 by Tony Benn

and we went to the cinema together. Without his recommendation I should never have got Bristol SE and without the redistribution in my favour he would never have lost South Gloucestershire. He is unusually gifted as an economist and has a very clear mind with a very great faith in the power of reason. But the proof of his unhappiness is his curious death wish, which he showed when in the Commons, and which now takes the form of affecting to be bored with current politics. If he gets back into Parliament he will get high office. If he does not, then his life could be a very tragic one.
    Friday 31 May
    This evening Caroline and I went to Hampstead to a party given by the Gaitskells. Adlai Stevenson was the guest of honour and he had been there for dinner. It was very crowded and we stayed from 9.30 until about 1.45. It was amusing to see who had been invited. Nye was not there but most other members of the Parliamentary Committee were. The only trade union leader was Frank Cousins with his wife.
    There was dancing in one room and people got slightly tight. In many ways it was a little depressing to see the Leader of the Party halfway to being sozzled. But it might have been a great deal worse and certainly Winston always looked that way from lunchtime onwards so it can’t be a complete bar to a successful premiership.
    Monday 15 July
    Although I have forgotten to mention it in the last few days Lords’ Reform is coming back into the news.
    Father and I agreed that it would be worth asking for an interview with Macmillan. Accordingly I rang his Private Secretary, and asked whether the PM could spare a few mintues of his time. He said that I would hear in due course. Today I had a message to go and see Ted Heath, the government Chief Whip. He is a most amiable and friendly soul whom I have known casually since very early 1951. I had then been in Parliament about two months and he about eight months. He has done brilliantly well to have risen to his present position of eminence within such a very short period.
    Anyway that is all by the way. He told me that the PM was too busy to see me before the recess and was in any case doubtful about forming a precedent in agreeing to see an Opposition backbencher on a point ofpolicy. He would, however, be glad to receive a letter from me ‘which would then be sent to the right people’.
    Thursday 18 July
    To the Buckingham Palace Garden Party this afternoon. What an occasion it is. The spacious royal park with its ornamental lake and bridges and the splendid front of the Palace dominating it. There in the private enclosure are the royal family surrounded by the Diplomatic Corps and the ‘distinguished’ guests. Outside promenading on the lawns are 9,000 more guests. The occasional bishop, the invariable sultan with his umbrella, the sprinkling of turbans, saris and white duck jodhpurs, the grey toppers and the flowery dresses with the wide-brimmed hats. The two Guards bands under their tents blowing for all they are worth in their scarlet tunics. The whole pattern is like a gigantic ballet – a Cecil B. de Mille crowd scene.
    There is a secret way of eating two teas. One at the beginning when the royal family are arriving and everyone is crowding for a peep, leaving the tea tent deserted, and the other at the end when they’re leaving and the same thing happens. In the middle when everyone else is jostling, pushing and shoving, you promendade yourself looking disapprovingly at those who seem ‘only to have come for the food’. Actually Joe Lyons and Co. do quite a good job with the catering, though the bridge rolls were soggy.
    But like the story of Cinderella the romance evaporates. At the end hundreds of people were waiting for their cars to be called over the loudspeaker. You could see the guests still immaculate, if a little tatty. And you would hear: ‘The Town Clerk of Little Chippings’ – that tall figure whom you thought was a central European Ambassador (at least)