Another one for Hacker. He is getting good at out swindling the civil servants. I almost burst out laughing when he tore up his speech and congratulated the speaker for his speech.
At 3:29 we see Paul Eddington at his best. No one could do mock sincerity better than Paul in a simple facial expression, and here is one, nodding in agreement.
Poor Paul Eddington was probably quite unwell by this time. Speaks to his consummate dedication and professionalism he never allowed his performance to falter.
It is interesting, as he was diagnosed with his skin cancer long before this series aired. He was officially diagnosed in 1955 but there was no cure or even treatment. Paul said that he felt as long as the symptoms remained stable, weak and confined to his chest area, he would be alright. Just think, even when he was in The Good Life, he had this cancer, very very slowly progressing inside him. It was only after they concluded recording the first series of Yes Prime Minister that the cancer "took a giant leap" as Paul it it, and it "started to gallop along much faster than ever before" that he had to get more serious treatment, which made him look weaker. Also come 1987, the cancer was starting to approach his face. Slow at first, but the red blotches and scars would start to appear. The make up team at the BBC did a brilliant job, and Paul commended them for it. However it was not until around 1993 that his condition worsened so much, that the scarring of his face became very noticeable.
Although I don't agree with Mr. Eddingtons political stance - he was a pacifist - as an old soldier I must salute his strength and attitude. "Oh, I'm slowly dying, but as long as you film me sitting down, it'll be fine."😢
@@LanternOfLiberty His father returned from the First World War "emotionally shattered". This suggests that the assumption his stance was political rests on shaky ground.
Paul Eddington was diagnosed with skin cancer long before this series aired. He was officially diagnosed in 1955 but there was no cure or even treatment. Paul said that he felt as long as the symptoms remained stable, weak and confined to his chest area, he would be alright. Just think, even when he was in The Good Life, he had this cancer, very very slowly progressing inside him. It was only after they concluded recording the first series of Yes Prime Minister that the cancer "took a giant leap" as Paul called it, and it "started to gallop along much faster than ever before" that he had to get more serious treatment, which made him look weaker. Also come 1987, the cancer was starting to approach his face. Slow at first, but the red blotches and scars would start to appear. The make up team at the BBC did a brilliant job, and Paul commended them for it. However it was not until around 1993 that his condition worsened so much, that the scarring of his face became very noticeable.
The main reason why Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister was superb was it was written by two great comedy writers who came from both sides of the political spectrum. Jonathan Lynn was a left wing Labour supporter, Anthony Jay was a conservative Thatcher supporter. A well balanced writing partnership.
Funny enough, Lynn was in a few pollical clubs at Cambridge during his first few months since he wanted to get in politics, in fact, several of the men he was with ended up being in Thatcher and Major's cabinets like Kenneth Baker. He quickly realized he had nothing to offer the groups other than making fun of them and we see where that led to.
@@danieldickson8591 I don't think they had worked in government at that time, but they did have inside sources that told a lot of stories (like the communications room in Qumran, which happened in Pakistan if I'm not mistaken)
Remember that Hacker's plan for the National Theatre was not his plan, but the idea of his political adviser Dorothy Wainwright. Hacker was the master of passing off other people's great ideas as his own.
So, he’s a career politician… Behind all great (or at least long lasting or professional) politicians are an army of advisors and admins who’s job it is to give their boss help in passing policies.
@@juansantos-lq2kz Yes, I was not questioning that at all, I was trying to give some perspective, as they did not upload the scene where she gave Hacker this idea, so I wanted people to get a full perspective on this scene.
@@novadawg6913 Yes, I was not questioning that at all, I was trying to give some perspective, as they did not upload the scene where she gave Hacker this idea, so I wanted people to get a full perspective on this scene
If you watch the first episode of the second series of Yes Prime Minister you can see a theme about "the north" areas, when in that episode the defence secretary wanted to send a large portion of defence staff to live "up north", much to the horror and disgust of the Ministry of Defence and Sir Humphrey.
The Right Honourable James Hacker was by this time fully in charge of the Civil Service (with a lot of helpful advice from his political advisor Dorothy Wainwright) & his skillful out-witting the combination of Sir Humphrey & Simon Monk is much down to her. Paul Eddington was by this time quite ill & that he was willing & able to carry out the superb acting of this part is wonderful.
This part is particularly funny when you can physically see the moment were the theatre manager understands that harker is not bribing him to stay quiet but threatening him
I love Hacker's disdain for the civil service with his tone when he says at 1:10 "instead of .. civil servants". Wonderful timing and delivery from Paul Eddington.
Hacker plays a blinder here as he calls the director of the national theatre's over the grant by threating him with a subtle threat of something worse unless he accepts the grant as it is and makes no disquiet over its small size.
@@johnking5174 No he didn't, but it is his advisors jobs to give multiple options and he machivellianly called the directors bluff with such a tremendous and threatening counter bluff/threat of his own.
@@wedgeantillies66 Well you are against what the writers would say. Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn spoke about how Hacker would take ideas from his adviser and pass it off as his own idea. Part of Hacker's pompous and superiority beliefs. This is why he turns into Churchill mode sometimes.
@@johnking5174 IO agreed he didn't come up with them himself, however as prime minister it his duty to take said ideas and make use of them as best he can. Though your right Hacker had a habit of going very Churchill esk when thinking about putting suggested policy into practice and if he took credit for them. That's just politics for you/
@@wedgeantillies66 As Jonathan Lynn said, this was her job too, to provide ideas but what he said about Hacker is he likes to take credit as if he thought it up all by himself. Sir Anthony Jay agreed, and said Hacker was quick to take ideas from her, Bernard, even Sir Humphrey and then take all the credit. Sir Humphrey actually says this in the Bishop's Gambit episode, where the foreign office permanent secretary suggested Hacker takes the credit for freeing that nurse in a Islamic country, to which Sir Humphrey says Hacker would enjoy taking all the initial credit.
what is it with the 80`s and great television, let alone great comedy`s like this, if you turned the television on during this decade and watched, blackadder, the new statesman, yes minister and yes prime minister, the young ones, only fools and horses, spitting image, french and saunders, alas smith and jones, hale and pace, anything with jasper carrot in it, three of a kind, the lenny henry show, not the nine o`clock news, alexei sayles stuff, red dwarf, the two ronnies, ben elton, a bit of fry and laurie, friday night live, harry enfield, kytv, naked video, rab c nesbitt, the goodies, whose line is it anyway, you knew that you would be in for a treat, let alone why can`t we make tv as good as this to watch these days, and apart from me watching mock the week and qi, i`m not sure that there`s always something on tv that i want to watch.
People tend to forget, not know, or are simply ignorant of the fact that from 1980 - 1990, for the decade of the 80s, Britain had at first three, and then four TV channels. And that was it. Channel 4 launched in 1982. Satellite was only properly launched in 1989 by Sky, cable was weak with very little uptake. The majority of the UK relied on three and then four TV channels for entertainment. This gave a captive audience, and the broadcasters knew this, and so spent money, time and effort on producing high quality television, as it was to their benefit, as there was no competition. No streaming, no online. No internet. No dvds. Videos were just starting off in the 80s. No Amazon - NetFlix - UA-cam - iPlayer etc etc. You sat down, and watched it. If you were lucky, you taped it for safe keeping, or bought the VHS tapes when it came out for sale. Other than that, no other competition. This is why. And people forget this FACT.
Yes prime minister is just as relevant as ever. It was announced recently that a lot of arts funding would be shifted away from central London to other parts of the country.
PrimeMinister Selling the National Theatre | Yes, Prime Minister | BBC Comedy Greats 21.3.22 1821pm a nice... a nice civilized party/meeting.. how marvellous. i must attend one...
@@Bartimayus Selling the National Theatre | Yes, Prime Minister | BBC Comedy Greats 0237am 22.3.22 indeed i will tell you the time and date and the reference to which we refer in conversation. you will be glad of such an innovation one day - as what would seem like mild mannered banter or a light discussion re: comedy is then deemed to be some seditious slur or rank curse upon the pox ridden backside of some high falutin' child of the great and the good... it merely covers my own hide should folk with more snide intent make it seem as though any alleged slur was directed at them.. that and it's a remnant of faux-scholarly days wherein if you reference anything it has to be highlighted for future..... errrr reference...
This is one of the highlights of the series. One of those eps that Appleby thought that he had Hacker over a barrel and bit like "The Key" teaches him not to undervalve or try to control Hacker.... as it could majorly backfired......
"Oh What A Tangled Web" - the very last episode of Yes Prime Minister (the proper version, not the horrid 2013 version) was the best one ever, where Hacker had Sir Humphrey where he wanted him. A perfect end to the series in my opinion.
@@johnking5174 I would totally agree with that one John... Still it in a way on that one it looked like Bernard had agreed with Hacker that again Humphrey needed to be put back in his place and be punished when he went too far.... (ie the bugging case etc)
My province has had a lot of their government works privatized/sold to supposedly save on upkeep (a toll highway, utilities, etc.) and it's ended up costing the government and the taxpayers a lot more in the long term. So, while it was nice to see Hacker use it as a tactic, it's actually a very bad idea for everyone involved.
@@TheRandCrews It hasn't been re-nationalized yet. However, we do spend more on government subsidiary now its privatized, then we did when it was public owned. Its genuinely shocking when you compare the state of rails in the UK to the rest of the continent.
Personally, I feel it was a poor decision to use this idea to simply put the theatre official in a tough position. I say Hacker should've gone through with it 🤔
Selling of the very ugly building that is the National Theatre and having the saved money spent on National plays housed in regional theatres? That is not a bad idea
Surely it can't be that ba.... dear god that looks ugly. It looks okay in principle but surely some greenery would make it at least pleasant to look at
@@AzguardMike Asda did it for £12 for both YM and YPM and no they won't upload full episodes to UA-cam because of video piracy and also because there is money in the sales on dvd's.
Not at all. Jim is written as a relatable politician who is rather bumbling but reasonably competent at his job, not (entirely) corrupt, and he is willing to listen to good advice.
Sweet Satan No! The writers Jonathan Lynn (Labour - left wing supporter) and Anthony Jay (Tory - right wing Thatcher supporter) ensured Jim treaded a middle line. Hacker was a centrist politician. Never too right wing or left wing.
@@johnking5174 Hacker was a vote chasing politician. He did not care for right or left. What mattered was would it win votes... In all honesty is that not what a democracy should expect of it's politicians?
Another one for Hacker. He is getting good at out swindling the civil servants. I almost burst out laughing when he tore up his speech and congratulated the speaker for his speech.
Yes , watching the series when first aired, it was great to see Hacker mature and get the occasional win.
Earlier in this episode his political advisor give him this brilliant idea.
@@nicholashylton6857 yeah "that Wainwright female" was probably the MVP in beating Sir Humphrey - made "Weasel" seem very amateur".
@@quintuscrinis8032 Absolutely!
At 3:29 we see Paul Eddington at his best. No one could do mock sincerity better than Paul in a simple facial expression, and here is one, nodding in agreement.
Paul Eddington's expression during the speech was a masterclass in acting. Marvellous.
A truly fantastic actor! A big loss for all of us.
I love it when Hackers wins - it happens so infrequently that I savour them all.
"What's the difference between an actor and a politician?"
"One of them knows what a screwdriver is, and the other one knows how to use it."
Poor Paul Eddington was probably quite unwell by this time. Speaks to his consummate dedication and professionalism he never allowed his performance to falter.
It is interesting, as he was diagnosed with his skin cancer long before this series aired. He was officially diagnosed in 1955 but there was no cure or even treatment. Paul said that he felt as long as the symptoms remained stable, weak and confined to his chest area, he would be alright. Just think, even when he was in The Good Life, he had this cancer, very very slowly progressing inside him. It was only after they concluded recording the first series of Yes Prime Minister that the cancer "took a giant leap" as Paul it it, and it "started to gallop along much faster than ever before" that he had to get more serious treatment, which made him look weaker. Also come 1987, the cancer was starting to approach his face. Slow at first, but the red blotches and scars would start to appear. The make up team at the BBC did a brilliant job, and Paul commended them for it. However it was not until around 1993 that his condition worsened so much, that the scarring of his face became very noticeable.
Although I don't agree with Mr. Eddingtons political stance - he was a pacifist - as an old soldier I must salute his strength and attitude. "Oh, I'm slowly dying, but as long as you film me sitting down, it'll be fine."😢
@@LanternOfLiberty His father returned from the First World War "emotionally shattered". This suggests that the assumption his stance was political rests on shaky ground.
That's why most of his scenes in YPM have him sitting down.
Paul Eddington was diagnosed with skin cancer long before this series aired. He was officially diagnosed in 1955 but there was no cure or even treatment. Paul said that he felt as long as the symptoms remained stable, weak and confined to his chest area, he would be alright. Just think, even when he was in The Good Life, he had this cancer, very very slowly progressing inside him. It was only after they concluded recording the first series of Yes Prime Minister that the cancer "took a giant leap" as Paul called it, and it "started to gallop along much faster than ever before" that he had to get more serious treatment, which made him look weaker. Also come 1987, the cancer was starting to approach his face. Slow at first, but the red blotches and scars would start to appear. The make up team at the BBC did a brilliant job, and Paul commended them for it. However it was not until around 1993 that his condition worsened so much, that the scarring of his face became very noticeable.
Thanks for the info ..its sad to know how he was going through pain and still making us laugh.
The main reason why Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister was superb was it was written by two great comedy writers who came from both sides of the political spectrum. Jonathan Lynn was a left wing Labour supporter, Anthony Jay was a conservative Thatcher supporter. A well balanced writing partnership.
…supported by some superb acting from Eddington, Hawthorne and Fowlds
Lynn and Jay had both also worked in government, so had first-hand experience with the British legislature and bureaucracy.
Funny enough, Lynn was in a few pollical clubs at Cambridge during his first few months since he wanted to get in politics, in fact, several of the men he was with ended up being in Thatcher and Major's cabinets like Kenneth Baker. He quickly realized he had nothing to offer the groups other than making fun of them and we see where that led to.
Lynn went on to direct some films in the US including The Distinguished Gentleman & My Cousin Vinny. The former was a clever satire about US congress.
@@danieldickson8591 I don't think they had worked in government at that time, but they did have inside sources that told a lot of stories (like the communications room in Qumran, which happened in Pakistan if I'm not mistaken)
The great part about this scene is that Hacker's plan for selling the theater is actually a really good idea.
But it would also mean change, anathema to the Civil Service. ;-)
@@danieldickson8591 and lack of centralisation. The horror!
Hacker always fought hard when he was cornered.
He can be a buffoon at times, but when it comes to his political survival he's a shark.
Remember that Hacker's plan for the National Theatre was not his plan, but the idea of his political adviser Dorothy Wainwright. Hacker was the master of passing off other people's great ideas as his own.
So, he’s a career politician…
Behind all great (or at least long lasting or professional) politicians are an army of advisors and admins who’s job it is to give their boss help in passing policies.
Just like every other politician who ever lived.
@@juansantos-lq2kz Yes, I was not questioning that at all, I was trying to give some perspective, as they did not upload the scene where she gave Hacker this idea, so I wanted people to get a full perspective on this scene.
@@novadawg6913 Yes, I was not questioning that at all, I was trying to give some perspective, as they did not upload the scene where she gave Hacker this idea, so I wanted people to get a full perspective on this scene
That's a perfect description of both his job and hers.
He used 'Middlesbrough' as the ultimate threat. Much of the comedy comes from the facial expressions.
If you watch the first episode of the second series of Yes Prime Minister you can see a theme about "the north" areas, when in that episode the defence secretary wanted to send a large portion of defence staff to live "up north", much to the horror and disgust of the Ministry of Defence and Sir Humphrey.
The Right Honourable James Hacker was by this time fully in charge of the Civil Service (with a lot of helpful advice from his political advisor Dorothy Wainwright) & his skillful out-witting the combination of Sir Humphrey & Simon Monk is much down to her.
Paul Eddington was by this time quite ill & that he was willing & able to carry out the superb acting of this part is wonderful.
This part is particularly funny when you can physically see the moment were the theatre manager understands that harker is not bribing him to stay quiet but threatening him
I love Hacker's disdain for the civil service with his tone when he says at 1:10 "instead of .. civil servants". Wonderful timing and delivery from Paul Eddington.
3:14
Love Hackers glare...
Minister is now using the vocabulary of Humphrey.
" Changing the subject completely.."
An all time classic timeless.
Hacker can be truly fearsome!
masters of their craft.. like the two ronnies, moments in comedy time that will never be repeated.
Always love him ❤
Hacker plays a blinder here as he calls the director of the national theatre's over the grant by threating him with a subtle threat of something worse unless he accepts the grant as it is and makes no disquiet over its small size.
Always remember, Hacker never thought of this idea up himself. It was his adviser who gave him the idea. But Hacker delivered the blow perfectly.
@@johnking5174 No he didn't, but it is his advisors jobs to give multiple options and he machivellianly called the directors bluff with such a tremendous and threatening counter bluff/threat of his own.
@@wedgeantillies66 Well you are against what the writers would say. Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn spoke about how Hacker would take ideas from his adviser and pass it off as his own idea. Part of Hacker's pompous and superiority beliefs. This is why he turns into Churchill mode sometimes.
@@johnking5174 IO agreed he didn't come up with them himself, however as prime minister it his duty to take said ideas and make use of them as best he can. Though your right Hacker had a habit of going very Churchill esk when thinking about putting suggested policy into practice and if he took credit for them. That's just politics for you/
@@wedgeantillies66 As Jonathan Lynn said, this was her job too, to provide ideas but what he said about Hacker is he likes to take credit as if he thought it up all by himself. Sir Anthony Jay agreed, and said Hacker was quick to take ideas from her, Bernard, even Sir Humphrey and then take all the credit. Sir Humphrey actually says this in the Bishop's Gambit episode, where the foreign office permanent secretary suggested Hacker takes the credit for freeing that nurse in a Islamic country, to which Sir Humphrey says Hacker would enjoy taking all the initial credit.
what is it with the 80`s and great television, let alone great comedy`s like this, if you turned the television on during this decade and watched, blackadder, the new statesman, yes minister and yes prime minister, the young ones, only fools and horses, spitting image, french and saunders, alas smith and jones, hale and pace, anything with jasper carrot in it, three of a kind, the lenny henry show, not the nine o`clock news, alexei sayles stuff, red dwarf, the two ronnies, ben elton, a bit of fry and laurie, friday night live, harry enfield, kytv, naked video, rab c nesbitt, the goodies, whose line is it anyway, you knew that you would be in for a treat, let alone why can`t we make tv as good as this to watch these days, and apart from me watching mock the week and qi, i`m not sure that there`s always something on tv that i want to watch.
People tend to forget, not know, or are simply ignorant of the fact that from 1980 - 1990, for the decade of the 80s, Britain had at first three, and then four TV channels. And that was it. Channel 4 launched in 1982. Satellite was only properly launched in 1989 by Sky, cable was weak with very little uptake. The majority of the UK relied on three and then four TV channels for entertainment. This gave a captive audience, and the broadcasters knew this, and so spent money, time and effort on producing high quality television, as it was to their benefit, as there was no competition. No streaming, no online. No internet. No dvds. Videos were just starting off in the 80s. No Amazon - NetFlix - UA-cam - iPlayer etc etc. You sat down, and watched it. If you were lucky, you taped it for safe keeping, or bought the VHS tapes when it came out for sale. Other than that, no other competition. This is why. And people forget this FACT.
When television was worth watching. Now we're reduced to clips on UA-cam to see any true and honest acting.
Everyone who wants to be at National Theater should study Paul Eddington for the Comedic Expressions !!!
"kidney machines"
Yes prime minister is just as relevant as ever. It was announced recently that a lot of arts funding would be shifted away from central London to other parts of the country.
I wish they'd included the breadstick scene here, it's important context
It is on UA-cam in it's own video
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
wasn't it Hacker who said in another episode: 'when you got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow'?
I think Hacker was quoting someone else. Maybe Henry Kissinger?
@@RJSRdg In fact in the script Hacker said it was one of President Nixon's henchmen who said it.
Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister Classics from a period when virtually every BBC comedy was classic now its all rubbish
Rip John Bird aka Simon Monk
Only if Jim hacker was our Prime Minister !!
PrimeMinister Selling the National Theatre | Yes, Prime Minister | BBC Comedy Greats 21.3.22 1821pm a nice... a nice civilized party/meeting.. how marvellous. i must attend one...
Will you tell them the time and date as well during your conversation?
@@Bartimayus Selling the National Theatre | Yes, Prime Minister | BBC Comedy Greats 0237am 22.3.22 indeed i will tell you the time and date and the reference to which we refer in conversation. you will be glad of such an innovation one day - as what would seem like mild mannered banter or a light discussion re: comedy is then deemed to be some seditious slur or rank curse upon the pox ridden backside of some high falutin' child of the great and the good... it merely covers my own hide should folk with more snide intent make it seem as though any alleged slur was directed at them.. that and it's a remnant of faux-scholarly days wherein if you reference anything it has to be highlighted for future..... errrr reference...
Hacker, esq.
Funny how that didn't happen.
One of the Hacker's most finest moments.
This is one of the highlights of the series. One of those eps that Appleby thought that he had Hacker over a barrel and bit like "The Key" teaches him not to undervalve or try to control Hacker.... as it could majorly backfired......
"Oh What A Tangled Web" - the very last episode of Yes Prime Minister (the proper version, not the horrid 2013 version) was the best one ever, where Hacker had Sir Humphrey where he wanted him. A perfect end to the series in my opinion.
@@johnking5174 I would totally agree with that one John... Still it in a way on that one it looked like Bernard had agreed with Hacker that again Humphrey needed to be put back in his place and be punished when he went too far.... (ie the bugging case etc)
Not a bad idea actually, but one can see why Hacker didn't pursue it like the defense localization thing.
Either way, great scene!
My province has had a lot of their government works privatized/sold to supposedly save on upkeep (a toll highway, utilities, etc.) and it's ended up costing the government and the taxpayers a lot more in the long term. So, while it was nice to see Hacker use it as a tactic, it's actually a very bad idea for everyone involved.
@@felisd I heard that’s what happened to British Rail being nationalized then privatized but being too expensive so they renationalized it
@@TheRandCrews It hasn't been re-nationalized yet. However, we do spend more on government subsidiary now its privatized, then we did when it was public owned. Its genuinely shocking when you compare the state of rails in the UK to the rest of the continent.
At least this idea of Hacker's (Dorothy's) is better than him contemplating the death of a cabinet colleague accidentally on purpose on the very day 😉
"Could we arrange that??"
Personally, I feel it was a poor decision to use this idea to simply put the theatre official in a tough position. I say Hacker should've gone through with it 🤔
Oh Jezza, surely you joke?!
"When you have them by the b@lls, their hearts and minds will surely follow". Attributed to Richard Milhouse Nixon.
Singularly apt in this case!
Barbarism!
I only went to the National twice. Far preferred the West End theatres and the Barbican
Selling of the very ugly building that is the National Theatre and having the saved money spent on National plays housed in regional theatres?
That is not a bad idea
Exactly why it will never happen.
Surely it can't be that ba.... dear god that looks ugly.
It looks okay in principle but surely some greenery would make it at least pleasant to look at
@@kim2894 "We gave the architect a knighthood so that nobody would ever say that!" - Sir Humphrey
@@kim2894 Brutalism, one of the first major cultural imports from communism.
One of the ugliest buildings I’ve ever seen.
Who is here after the announcement of potential of 100% cut unless national theatre move from London? 🙋
I love Humphrey’s offended face at 1:12
I hope you understand - the tone and delivery of a man with immense power.
I want full episodes of both Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. We had it on Prime Video but they removed it. 🙄🙄
BritBox have them I believe. Uploading full episodes on to UA-cam is simply not commercially viable for BBC Studios.
tesco sometimes sell a boxset with every episode on for £20. Money well spent.
@@AzguardMike Asda did it for £12 for both YM and YPM and no they won't upload full episodes to UA-cam because of video piracy and also because there is money in the sales on dvd's.
Hacker had made the greatest Prime Minister of UK since WW2, definitely...I am not joking.
Times are changing! Today, a check for 3 million GBP would be signed by an under state secretary before lunch without asking what it is for...
I enjoyed Paul Eddington in "Hine". T rifles are dangerous. Without sherry and custard I mean.
This went too far and now we have the National Opera in Manchester. They finally called the bluff!
Why has Paul Eddington got a Mohican?
Jim is trump
Not at all. Jim is written as a relatable politician who is rather bumbling but reasonably competent at his job, not (entirely) corrupt, and he is willing to listen to good advice.
Sweet Satan No! The writers Jonathan Lynn (Labour - left wing supporter) and Anthony Jay (Tory - right wing Thatcher supporter) ensured Jim treaded a middle line. Hacker was a centrist politician. Never too right wing or left wing.
@@johnking5174 Hacker was a vote chasing politician. He did not care for right or left. What mattered was would it win votes...
In all honesty is that not what a democracy should expect of it's politicians?