Charles Clarke - A Tale of Two Pizzas

Few political nicknames are are very kind. Charles Clarke, from his rotund shape clearly has a healthy appetite. Whether he is capable of demolishing two pizzas at one sitting is pure conjecture. Apparently the soubriquet was given by Charlie Whelan, Gordon Brown adviser from the late 90s - they were certainly at a Pizza Express where Clarke made some negative remarks about the Iron Chancellor. Whelan's revenge was to give the press a nickname to savour (with extra toppings).

*

Clarke has been around longer than most people realise. When you think of the post-war speeches which really had any impact on the history of politics, few can compare with Neil Kinnock's attack on Militant at Labour Conference in 1985. Charles Clarke wrote this speech. The most memorable part must be the reference to Liverpool Council under Derek Hatton - "then the grotesque chaos of a Labour council - a Labour council - hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers. You can't play politics with people's lives and people's jobs." If you can trace the seminal moment of the decline of the Tory party from Geoffrey Howe's denunciation of Thatcher, so you can follow the rise of Labour from Kinnock's speech.

At Cambridge University (read Maths) in the mid seventies he became President of the National Union of Students. He was very active and travelled extensively - it is said his Spanish accent sounds has a very distinctve Cuban twang. Later Clarke was elected a Councillor in Hackney and was chair of Housing Committee. From the early eighties, Charles Clarke was the unassuming, bearded chap who with Peter Mandelson and John Reid formed Kinnock's cabal. Between them they took Labour far from Michael Foot's donkey jacket and flying pickets at Orgreave. Labour's communications strategy for the 1987 election was miles ahead of the Tory's but people still recall the Saachi campaigns more clearly.

But failure to win the 1992 election (plucking defeat from the jaws of victory) did for Kinnock and saw the break-up of his backroom team headed by Clarke. Blame for defeat is often put on Kinnock's speech at the pre-election Sheffield rally where Neil seemed to be smugly anticipating victory. In reality the public were hardly aware of it, its significance has increased over time.

Clarke did a bit of political consultancy during the days of John Smith and by the time Blair took over 1997 had eyed the marginal seat of Norwich South.

(Over the last 50 years the constituency has fluctuated between Conservative and Labour. Its only previous MP with much profile is Dr Thomas Stuttaford, Tory member in Heath's Govt of 1970-74. He is still Times medical columnist, known as Thomas Utterfraud in Private Eye. The Doctor's professional noteriety is based on his promotion of alcohol in complementing a healthy outlook on life. Clarke himself may agree.)

Clarke had adjusted to the Blairist 'third way' in his brief wilderness years and soon became viewed as a dependable, talented and persuasive Minister. Although the picture below illustrates his gruff public face.

I met him on several occasions in an official capacity when he was Minister of State in the Home Office, responsible for policing. The first physical feature you notice is his extra-ordinary elephant ears. And he's a big lad, clearly not unknown to the inside of a pub. But overall he was very genial, serious and respectful. Ministers often find this approach pays dividends, the hysterical, rude and arrogant Minister often finds officials going missing at critical events.

Clarke made it to Cabinet in 2002 as Secretary of State for Education and trod the same route as Blunkett from Education to Home Secretary. Like the present Home Secretary, he immediately ordered a review of cannabis in the forlorn hope of providing clarity to the public on the issue.

He was universally praised for his professional handling of the aftermath the 7 July attacks in London. Although the Commons defeat of his subsequent proposal for 90-day detention for terrorist suspects was probably his low point. But just being Home Secretary means you are responsible for many administration disasters which you have no control over. Calls for your resignation are an occupational hazard and you can usually hold on so long until the disaster has a significant impact on the perception of Government's general competence.

Clarke was unfortunate to be Home Sec when a thousand foreign prisoners were released instead of being deported. Blair was not persuaded the crisis would blow over, the charge of incompetence too great. It is rumoured he was offered Defence but wanted the Foreign Office.

Since he left the front bench, Clarke has hit the headlines over the handover to Gordon Brown. He gave a somewhat eccentric interview to the London Evening Standard last year. Sipping red wine, he called Gordon "bloody stupid" in the way he had handled the Blair transition. He called the future PM "deluded""uncollegiate" and "a control freak." And yet GB still made PM.

At 57, Charles Clarke still has a lot to offer and would still make a first class Cabinet Minister. But Gordon is unlikely to invite such dissenting voices back to the core of Government. I would be suprised if he stayed a backbencher beyond the next election. He still has time to achieve much more beyond Westminster.