This Was a Man (The Clifton Chronicles #7)(15)

The veteran Labour agent collapsed in his chair and didn’t speak for some time. ‘A formidable opponent,’ he eventually managed. ‘And to think I taught her everything she knows. Not least how to fight a marginal seat.’

‘It gets worse. She’ll be staying with me in Smith Square for the duration of the campaign.’

‘Then throw her out on the street,’ said Griff, sounding as if he meant it.

‘I can’t. She actually owns the house. I’ve always been her tenant.’

This silenced Griff for a few moments, but he quickly recovered. ‘Then we’ll have to take advantage of it. If Karin can find out in the morning what she’s up to that day, we’ll always be one move ahead.’

‘Nice idea,’ said Giles, ‘except I can’t be sure whose side my wife is on.’

‘Then throw her out on the street.’

‘I don’t think that would get the women’s vote.’

‘Then we’ll have to rely on Markham. Get him to listen in on her phone calls, open her mail if necessary.’

‘Markham votes Conservative. Always has.’

‘Isn’t there anyone in your house who supports the Labour party?’

‘Silvina, my cleaner. But she doesn’t speak very good English, and I’m not sure she has a vote.’

‘Then you’ll need to keep your eyes and ears open, because I want to know what your sister is up to every minute of every day. Which constituencies she’s targeting, which leading Tories will be visiting those constituencies and anything else you can find out.’

‘She’ll be equally keen to find out what I’m up to,’ said Giles.

‘Then we must feed her with false information.’

‘She’ll have worked that out by the second day.’

‘Possibly, but don’t forget, you have much more experience than her when it comes to fighting elections. She’s going to be on a steep learning curve and relying a lot on my opposite number.’

‘Do you know him?’

‘John Lacy,’ said Griff. ‘I know him better than my own brother. I’ve played Cain to his Abel for over thirty years.’ He stubbed out his cigarette before lighting another one. ‘I first came across Lacy in 1945, Attlee versus Churchill, and like a Rottweiler he’s been licking his wounds ever since.’

‘Then let’s take Clem Attlee as our inspiration, and do what he did to Churchill.’

‘This is probably his last election,’ said Griff, almost as if he was talking to himself.

‘Ours too,’ said Giles, ‘if we lose.’





‘If you’re living in the same house as your brother,’ said Lacy, ‘we must take advantage of it.’

Emma looked across the desk at her chief of staff and felt she was quickly getting to know how his mind worked. Lacy must have been around 5 foot 7 inches and, although he’d never participated in any sport other than baiting the Labour Party, there wasn’t an ounce of spare flesh on him. A man who considered sleep a luxury he couldn’t afford, didn’t believe in lunch breaks, had never smoked nor drunk, and only deserted the party on Sunday mornings to worship the only being he considered superior to his leader. His thinning grey hair made him look older than he was, and his piercing blue eyes never left you.

‘What do you have in mind?’ asked Emma.

‘The moment your brother leaves the house in the morning, I need to know which constituencies he plans to visit, and which senior Labour politicians will be accompanying him, so our workers can be waiting for them as they get off the train.’

‘That’s rather underhand, isn’t it?’

‘Be assured, Lady Clifton—’

‘Emma.’

‘Emma. We are not trying to win a baking competition at your local village fete, but a general election. The stakes couldn’t be higher. You must look upon any socialists as the enemy because this is all-out war. It’s our job to make sure that in four weeks’ time, none of them are left standing – and that includes your brother.’

‘That may take me a little time to get used to.’

‘You’ve got twenty-four hours to get up to speed. And never forget, your brother is the best, and Griff Haskins is the worst, which makes them a formidable combination.’

‘So where do I start?’

Lacy got up from behind his desk and walked across to a large chart pinned to the wall.

‘These are the sixty-two marginal seats we have to win if we hope to form the next government,’ he said, even before Emma had joined him. ‘Each of them needs only a four per cent swing or less to change colour. If both the major parties end up with thirty-one of these seats’ – he tapped the chart – ‘it will be a hung parliament. If either can gain ten seats, they will have a majority of twenty in the House. That’s how important our job is.’

‘What about the other six hundred seats?’

‘Most of them have already been decided long before a ballot box is opened. We’re only interested in seats where they count the votes, not weigh them. Of course there will be one or two surprises, there always are, but we haven’t the time to try to work out which ones they’re going to be. Our job is to concentrate on the sixty-two marginals and try to make sure every one of them returns a Conservative Member of Parliament.’