HIGHLAND PARK SPECTATOR AWARDS
Parliamentarian of the year: the winners
THE F1FIEENTH annual Highland Park/Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards were presented on Wednesday by John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister, the guest of honour at a lunch provided by Highland Distillers plc, distributors of Highland Park single malt Scotch whisky, at the Savoy Hotel, London. The guests were welcomed by Brian Ivory, chairman of Highland Distillers plc. The chairman of the judges, Frank Johnson, editor of The Spectator, read out the judges' choices and the reasons for them.
Parliamentarian of the Year: William Hague, Leader of the Opposition.
'This year's winner on the face of it con- tradicts the judges' view that, for the time being at least, Parliament is not very impor- tant. Because of the office he holds, his per- formance outside the Commons has to be impressive as well. But at the moment, his performance in Parliament is what he is most admired for. The Parliamen- tarian of the Year is a Conservative. He is also yet further proof of how politically unbiased our judges are. Perhaps I could remind you that last year the award was won by Mr Gor- don Brown, Chancellor of the Exche- quer. Mr Hague was the unanimous choice of the judges, who were partic- ularly influenced by a year of watching him during Prime Minister's Question Time.'
Tactician of the Year: Alex Salmond, Leader of the Scottish National party.
'The winner happens not to believe that he should be a Member of Parlia- ment — not of this Parliament. The new government thought it could bury, or marginalise, this Member. That proved impossible. Because of his skill at Question Time, and his use of the procedures of the House, he only has to get to his feet for ministe- rial hackles to rise. One of the judges said he was like a guerrilla leader who, safe in his northern fastness, feels free to cause havoc in the south.'
Debater of the Year: Kate Hoey, Labour MP for Vauxhall.
'Before the speech that won her this award, the recipient was already in an unfashionable minority in the Labour party. She is an Ulster Protestant and a unionist. She won the award because, surrounded by about 400 anti-hunting Labour Members, she made a strong and well argued speech in favour of hunting. It is an interesting example of how the judges are never influ- enced by whether they agree with the politi- cian to whom they make an award. They are guided only by the politician's ability as a parliamentarian. I do not suppose that all the judges are keen hunters. The govern- ment seems to agree with her more than with the 400 since no more will be heard of the anti-hunting bill in this Parliament. Her support for hunting was hardly a result of constituency pressure. She sits for an inner London seat.
Backbenchers to Watch: John Bercow, Conservative MP for Buckingham, and Dr Lynne Jones, Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak.
'The judges' believed that, given the sub- dued state of Parliament during the year, there are not many backbenchers worth watching. But some brave souls have raised the temperature of Parliament, if not always the tone. The judges identified two in particular, and so have made a joint award. Both have been guilty of minister- harassment. One of them is especially admirable because, being a Labour back- bencher, she harasses her own side.'
Minister to Watch: Ian McCartney, Minis- ter of State at Trade and Industry.
'The judges say he looks and sounds Old Labour. In his Who's Who entry he describes himself as being "head of a family of working-class stock". He was once a chef, but it was on a merchant ship, so he wasn't a chef in the way that a diner-out of Mr Mandelson's calibre would understand the term. When he was appointed a minis- ter, it was thought to be an example of tokenism by New labour to Old. But the judges consider him to be as impressive a minister at the dispatch box as almost any in the House.
Inquisitor of the Year: Rhodri Mor- gan, chairman of the Select Committee on Public Administration.
`By common consent, the Commons chamber is not what it was. Doubtless the government whips intend to keep it that way. But this does not mean that Parliament as a whole is not what it was. There is now more to Parlia- ment than the floor of the two cham- bers. Nowadays, there are the back- bench select committees. They now produce more newspaper copy than the floor of the Commons. So this year the judges decided to make an award for Inquisitor of the Year, since skilful committee chairmen can attract more attention than nearly all back- benchers and most ministers. A Com- mons select committee chairman must be reasonably fearless towards his own party, which means that on the whole it is best if he has no future at Westminster. This year's winner has won for being, among other things, tough with a particular committee wit- ness, Mr Alistair Campbell. Since then, like generations before him, he has decided to seek his fortune by going west. Mr Blair is said to be try- ing to stop even that.'
The judges were: Bruce Anderson of The Spectator, Michael Brunson of ITN, Elinor Goodman of Channel 4 News, Simon Hog- gart of the Guardian, Boris Johnson of the Daily Telegraph, George Jones of the Daily Telegraph, Matthew Parris of the Times, Alan Watkins of the Independent on Sunday and Michael White of the Guardian.
Previous page
