David Evans 1935-2008

I'm very sad to hear that former Tory MP David Evans has died. He was Tory MP for Welwyn & Hatfield between 1987 and 1997 and was, shall we say, a larger than life character. Possibly best known for his chairmanship of Luton Town FC, he was an uncompromising right winger who seemed to love Margaret Thatcher as much as his oft quoted wife Janice. A full obituary has appeared in The Times.

I have two memories of David. One revolves around one of the most hilarious dinners I have ever had in the Commons. It was in 1991 and I was lobbying on something or other and I met David along with his great chum Barry Field, the undertaker-turned-MP from the Isle of Wight. By the end of the dinner, my cheekbones were aching having laughed so much.

He was very taken with a female colleague of mine when I was working at Charles Barker and invited the two of us to a Luton Town match in 1990 - against Notts Forest and a 0-0 draw I seem to remember. He really was terrific company, even if he did have some fairly outlandish views.

Francis Pym Dies

Francis Pym has died. He was one of the leading Conservative politicians of the 1970s and early 1980s, ending up as Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Secretary following the Falklands War, a position he held until the 1983 General Election. It is true to say that he was never 'one of us' and was seen as one of the leading Tory wets. A chivalrous man, he could never quite bring himself to say what he really thought about Margaret Thatcher's brand of politics, and this was never more true than when he launched his Centre Forward pressure group after his departure from office.

His heyday was under Ted Heath when he was Chief Whip and Northern Ireland Secretary. From 1979-81 he held the post of Defence Secretary. He never really recovered from a gaffe on BBC's Question Time in 1983 when he said that large majorities were a bad thing and led to bad government. When Margaret Thatcher said she thought she would be able to cope with a large majority, it signalled the end of Francis Pym's cabinet career. John Biffen was to suffer a similar fate a few years later.

Pym's memoirs were a slim volume and very disappointing. He was a decorated war hero, serving in North Africa and Italy during the war and he was awarded the Military Cross. He entered Parliament in 1961 at a by-election and served as MP for Cambridgeshire, and then South East Cambridgeshire until 1987.

He died today, at the age of 86, after a lengthy illness.

Ian Richardson is Dead

I know I am a bit late with this but I wanted to pay tribute to the actor Ian Richardson who died earlier today. His performance as Francis Urquhart in the House of Cards trilogy is one of the most memorable in any political drama of modern times. He was a brilliant character actor and his delivery of Michael Dobbs's memorable line "You might say that; I couldn't possibly comment", has ensured its entry into any book of political quotations.

UPDATE: A reader has corrected me. The "You might say that line" was not written by Michael Dobbs. It was in the screenplay. Apologies for the error.