Weddings are a fine source of gossip, especially when the best man’s speech contains mischievous jokes about the bridegroom’s past. Euan Blair’s recent nuptials, when he married Oxford- educated Suzanne Ashman at Tony and Cherie’s country pile, Wotton Underwood in Buckinghamshire, were no exception.
The American best man, who met the bridegroom when they were both students at Yale, had guests open-jawed with astonishment when he ribbed Euan about his ambitions to be an MP.
It is widely spoken in Labour circles that Euan has his eye on the Labour seat of Coventry North West, which may or may not be vacated by Geoffrey Robinson in 2015. But for which party?
The best man suggested in his speech that it may not be an easy decision.
“The thing about Euan is he doesn’t know which party he could belong to,” said Euan’s friend, whose name was lost to our source in the brouhaha. Could Euan be a closet Tory? Was this a joke? Americans do not usually favour irony.
There are some in the Labour Party who believe that Tony Blair, as the heir to Thatcher, has secret Tory sympathies. He often told party conferences that while other delegates were born Labour, he chose it.
When Tony and Cherie were married at St John’s College, Oxford, Derry Irvine, the future Lord Chancellor, teased young Blair in a speech that he was a closet Tory. Blair had not shown an active interest in politics at that time and it’s widely believed to have been Irvine, Cherie and Tony Booth who persuaded him to be serious about Labour politics. Let’s hope Suzanne puts some steel into Euan.
