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Blair and Thatcher: How Steve Bell saw it |
National saviour or monster from the blue lagoon?
A new exhibition exults in portrayals of Thatcher by the Right and Left, writes Gerald Isaaman
SHE still haunts us.
As the turmoil over MPs’ expenses continues apace with public anger growing exponentially as the Euro elections approach, we can in fact blame Maggie Thatcher.
Partly, that is. If you go back to 1983, you will discover that MPs, as always, were demanding a pay rise to which Mrs Thatcher simply couldn’t say Yes given the economic trouble she faced. Instead, she plumped for a backdoor approach by offering a range of expenses allowances.
In the years that followed, MPs of all parties have flagrantly manipulated them until we have reached today’s parlous state where faith in the political process has plummeted so low you might think it couldn’t sink further. Indeed, the subject is a gift for cartoonists and pundits alike as they depict MPs being dished out dosh for cleaning their moats, putting up chandeliers and replacing light bulbs.
Mrs Thatcher was a wonder in herself for cartoonists, as depicted by Maggie! Maggie! Maggie!, an exhibition at the Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury to mark the election 30 years ago this month of Britain’s first woman prime minister.
Here are 100 cartoons from Left and Right that show Mrs Thatcher, described as Mother of the Nation or Monster from the Blue Lagoon, in her masterful dominance of the country and its men. She left some filled with praise and delight as she regained Britain’s pride from its sobriquet as the “Sick Man of Europe”. Many more, alas, were left reeling under the pain of Tory rule that shook manufacturing industries and the trade unions to pieces, smashed communities and gave us the financial revolution that bowed to greed.
And has just smashed us into recession again.
But you don’t have to agree with any such conclusions. That’s because the beauty of this exhibition is that it has been inspired jointly by Lord Baker, otherwise the benign smiling former Tory education minister Kenneth Baker, and the rough and rude exuberance of Steve Bell, best known for his Guardian cartoons, both patrons of the Cartoon Art Trust.
Their views distinctly clash, as is evident from the cartoons on show, which range from the talents of Cummings and Jak to Scarfe and Steadman, with too few examples of the work of local cartoonists Wally Fawkes, otherwise Trog, and Nicholas Garland.
It is truly fascinating to see how Mrs Thatcher’s hair, her eyes, nose, teeth and formidable physical presence are transformed into weapons of power by the cartoonists. She turns up as Scarfe’s aircraft carrier prow – “Aggression must not be seen to Pay!” is the ironic caption – at the height of the Falklands war, which virtually saved her from self-destruction at the next election.
Yet what is remarkable is the male admiration of one woman’s courage and determination in her bid to transform the nation, the poll tax fiasco included. Michael Foot and later Tony Blair are among her fans.
Indeed, the excellent catalogue quotes Foot’s recollection: “I admired her courage; who couldn’t or wouldn’t? It is the most attractive and indispensable of all political qualities. Only when unallied to a few others, almost equally essential, can it change its character.”
Barbara Castle declared: “She is beset by enemies and has to watch every gesture and word. But she sails through it all looking her best. I understand why. She is in love; in love with power, success – and with herself. If we have to have Tories, good luck to her!”
Steve Bell admits: “For me the only good thing Margaret Thatcher ever did was to abolish free school milk,” and adds: “Apart from that, Thatcherism seems no more than a ragbag of prejudices born on a raft of substantial but essentially rotten planks of policy tied up with some very ropey philosophical contradictions.”
Not much changes, you might think, given the stink of Parliament currently pervading us, too many MPs having abused and insulted the very institution of democracy that was emulated round the world.
Here, however, is a chance to hop out of the high-minded clouds and enjoy the fun, perversely as you will, giggle away to yourself as you recall all those torrid moments we survived during Maggie’s reign, and enjoy the brutal skills of the 35 cartoonists on display. Bring back Spitting Image, I demand.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that here is a wonderful exhibition which, with a few additions, could encourage queues of visitors if staged at one of London’s major museums. But such are the politics of art they haven’t dared to do it, and it has been left to the minor but nevertheless significantly small Cartoon Museum to prove its might – and the power the pen forever holds over the sword.
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Your comments:
The Lenkiewicz exhibition is stunning from the remarkable St Eustace sculpture to the drawings featuring unicorns, tigers and Elvis! The skeletons and skulls were my particular favourite along with the octopus drowning the Titanic. The surroundings are fabulous; the Pite architecture lends itself so well to the mood. I admit I have a particular fondness for
the building having worked there for 26 years.
J. Trend-Hill
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