There’s a review by the historian Paul Readman in today’s edition – which you can read online here.

You can read it online here - or see a PDF of the newspaper as it appeared.

Heffer: queen of Las Vegas?

Simon Heffer’s enthusiasm for elected office isn’t entirely new. According to Stephen Parkinson’s delightful work, Arena of Ambition: A History of the Cambridge Union, the straight-laced Telegraph columnist served as the Union’s social fixer. Apparently, the ginger terror would arrange such licentious entertainments as “juvenile delinquents parties” and Las Vegas evenings – for which he “hoped that the subtle combination of vices would secure a large attendance”. Good heavens. Whatever would his employers think?

 

You can read it online here.

In a piece lamenting the poor oratorical skills of Members of Parliament, he says:

One hesitates (though not long) to sound like an elitist but we might have a better standard of oratory from the green leather benches if more MPs had belonged to debating societies such as the Cambridge Union.

… A reasonably interesting history of the Union (Arena of Ambition – A History of the Cambridge Union, by Stephen Parkinson, Icon Books, £20) has just been written. It shows that past generations of undergraduate politicians benefited greatly from their studenty jousts. Those early attempts at building and conveying an argument, sometimes in the face of an over-refreshed throng, helped to create some of the big beasts of Westminster politics.

… Today’s best Commons performers employ the slightly arch style of the university debating parlours for the simple reason that it works … Former Union members know to speak clearly, briskly, without just enough assertion but not too much pomposity, and to leaven it with wit. It’s called “communicating” and it is an awful pity there are not more of them who can do it.

Read the full article online here.

“Stephen Parkinson’s research is meticulous and fascinating, clearly explained for non-Union aficionados …

“Arena of Ambition is a treasure trove of anecdotes and juicy details …well-written and carefully compiled … it should be essential reading for anyone considering a Union career.”

But she gives it a very balanced review. You can read the full thing here.

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