For many years Ann Widdecombe was best known as a forthright Member of Parliament and for her broadcasting and journalism. Her popular success on BBC's
Strictly Come Dancing
transformed that perception asliterally millions of viewers followed her each week on the 2010. These are the memoirs of a woman who joined the old Conservative party in 1964, was politically formed by t
For many years Ann Widdecombe was best known as a forthright Member of Parliament and for her broadcasting and journalism. Her popular success on BBC's
Strictly Come Dancing
transformed that perception as literally millions of viewers followed her each week on the 2010. These are the memoirs of a woman who joined the old Conservative party in 1964, was politically formed by the 1970s, and saw Thatcherism from the inside in the 1980s—then ministerial office and later the Shadow Cabinet. It is also a book for people who struggle with moral dilemmas even if they are not converts to Roman Catholicism like Ann: for those who love the countryside and for those who like to be highly entertained by some trenchant views on the Coalition, Fathers 4 Justice, the MPs' expenses scandal, and the state of the nation.
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Ann Widdecombe has had a remarkable and varied career, as a politician, as an author and most recently as a broadcaster and media personality. In this autobiography, her voice comes through clearly as she tells her stories and shares her opinions in the straightforward, no-nonsense way we have all come to love - or hate! This is a linear account of her life with the occasional digression where Widdecombe lets off a bit of pent-up steam on subjects dear to her.
She start
Leading us a merry dance...
Ann Widdecombe has had a remarkable and varied career, as a politician, as an author and most recently as a broadcaster and media personality. In this autobiography, her voice comes through clearly as she tells her stories and shares her opinions in the straightforward, no-nonsense way we have all come to love - or hate! This is a linear account of her life with the occasional digression where Widdecombe lets off a bit of pent-up steam on subjects dear to her.
She starts by telling us about her childhood when, as the daughter of a senior member of the Admiralty, her family moved from posting to posting both in Britain and abroad. She talks about her time as a boarder in a convent school and as a student at Birmingham University. She was clear from an early age that she wanted to go into politics so spent the next several years during the '70s and '80s seeking nomination to a constituency, before eventually becoming an MP in 1987.
Widdecombe is a talented writer and she makes this an interesting tale, filled with anecdotes, both humorous and serious. We get a clear picture of the things that are important to her - family, conservatism with a small as well as a large C, and her strong Christian faith: the influence of which can be seen in every aspect of her life. Pro-life, anti-gay marriage, she eventually found the Anglican church in which she grew up to be veering too far from doctrine in an attempt to placate modern sensibilities; and her conversion to Roman Catholicism took place when the Church of England voted to ordain women priests. Whether the reader agrees with her views or not, she puts forward cogent arguments for her beliefs and actions on all of these divisive questions.
Her political career had its highs and lows and this book concentrates very much on the aspects of government in which she was personally involved, rather than giving a broader picture of the political events of the time. Hence we get a great deal of detail over the prisons debacle that led to her public fight with Michael Howard, for example, but very little about the downfall of Thatcher or the lead-up to the war in Iraq. However, her own career was varied enough to provide plenty of interest and her written style is much like her spoken - forthright, uncompromising and often witty.
Widdecombe spends the last couple of chapters telling us about her life since she left Parliament in 2010 including, of course, her involvement with Strictly Come Dancing, which made her a household name even amongst those who pay no attention to politics. Overall, this book confirms my opinion of her as a woman who would probably be intensely irritating on occasion, difficult to persuade, a bad enemy...but a good and loyal friend, a loving daughter and a witty and sometimes wickedly funny companion. This autobiography isn't just for the political nerds amongst us - there's plenty of politics here, but also a story of a much wider and interesting life before and after her time in Parliament. Recommended.