September 1 • 2019 The Mail on Sunday^17
How was I meant to cope with those 19-day weeks!
When the news broke, my phone
lit up like a Christmas tree
gear. Up since five that morning
with Finn, now I had to keep the
baby amused without his toys, fed
him without a high chair and put
him down to sleep in an unfamiliar
travel cot.
The rest of the evening was spent
answering calls from those we had
planned to tell, such as the Prime
Minister, the Secretary of State forScotland and their teams – while
dodging journalists. My phone was
lighting up like a Christmas tree.
Thursday morning was no less
chaotic until we managed to get to
the hotel where the announcement
would be made.
I then had a period of stillness,
where I could talk to the team and
thank them for everything they’ddone over the past eight years.
Then it was time to read over the
words again and again so they lost
their meaning and I wouldn’t show
weakness or cry.
Deep breath, and into the flashing
cameras of the press conference.
Once complete, it was out the door,
down the hotel steps and into my
car while television cameras
surged forward. On my way to pick
up Finn, I flicked through Twitter- and that’s when I saw the picture
that nearly set me off.
It was taken on the day of our
2016 manifesto launch and shows
me bending over a flat tyre in the
rain, grunting, changing the wheel.
That had been a make-or-break
campaign. After 20 years of stagna-
tion for the Scottish Conservatives,
the game was over unless we made
a significant breakthrough.
Travelling back from the launch,
a tyre blew out, leaving us on the
hard shoulder in full public view.
The three guys with me admitted
none of them had ever changed a
wheel before.
So, terrified of headlines such as
‘the wheels come off’ or ‘car crash
Tory launch’, I set about changing
it myself with the speed of a For-
mula 1 pit crew. It might have beenchucking it down. I might have
ruined my good suit, but the cheesy
grin on my face showed just how
much I enjoyed that bit of oneup-
manship. Lord, I’m going to miss
moments like that.
Political leadership is so intense
that your co-workers are never just
colleagues. They are also your
friends, your confessors, your
defenders and promoters.
Yes, I am leaving the leadership
of the party in Scotland in large
part because of my family. But in
many respects, there’s another
family I’m breaking up, too.
And I still have to work out how to
better combine motherhood with
being ‘just’ a Member of the Scot-
tish Parliament, which is, in itself,
way more than a full-time job.
Kirstie Allsopp: Page 22THE Minister slapped down
by No 10 for suggesting that
the PM was suspending
Parliament because he has
‘no majority’ had been
appointed as the new ‘Boris
tsar’ for shipbuilding shortly
before his gaffe.
Defence Secretary Ben
Wallace was recorded telling
his French counterpart
Florence Parly that Boris
Johnson had made his move
because ‘we’ve suddenly
found ourselves with no
majority and a coalition, and
that’s not easy for our system’.
His remarks contradicted
Mr Johnson’s insistence on
Wednesday that it was
‘completely untrue’ that
Brexit was behind his
decision to prorogue the
Commons for five weeks in
the run-up to the October 31
deadline for EU withdrawal.
No 10 responded by
announcing that Mr Wallace
had ‘misspoke’. It added
that he was not involved
in discussions about the
Queen’s Speech.
Shortly before the slap-
down, Mr Johnson had
written to Mr Wallace to say
that he was appointing him as
a ‘naval shipbuilding tsar’,
reporting directly to him.
The move is likely to herald
the start of a series of other
appointments to tackle issues
and sectors which Mr
Johnson feels have been
neglected by previous
administrations.
Mr Johnson told Mr
Wallace: ‘The shipbuilding
industry is an integral part
of UK manufacturing,
sustaining thousands of
high-skilled, well-paid jobs.
‘But there are problems
of poor productivity in
naval yards and a record of
underinvestment by specific
firms. Thank you for agreeing
to lead this important
national endeavour.’By Glen Owen
political editorMinister who
was slapped
down over
gaffe is first
Boris tsar
Sacked
Penny
wooed back
into fold over
dinner date with
Boris and Carrie
FORMER Defence Secretary
Penny Mordaunt looks set for a
swift return to the Cabinet after
being invited to dinner at No 10 by
Boris Johnson and his girlfriend
Carrie Symonds.
Ms Mordaunt, who lasted only 85
days in her ‘dream job’ as Defence
Secretary before being fired by Mr
Johnson on his first day as Prime
Minister, was said by friends to be
‘very chipper’ after the dinner.
The move is part of what is being
described as Mr Johnson’s ‘rap-
prochement drive’, with senior
Tories claiming the Prime Minister
is even considering inviting George
Osborne to join his Government.
The former Chancellor, now editorof London’s Evening Standard, was
a leading player in the 2016 Remain
campaign, but threw the weight of
his newspaper behind Mr Johnson’s
bid to become Tory leader.
Mr Johnson is understood to have
confided that he could use Mr
Osborne’s electioneering skills – he
was the brains behind the Tories’
majority in the 2015 General Elec-
tion – but that ‘Dom [Cummings]
would not allow it’.
Mr Johnson is said to have been
impressed by the calm and loyal
way in which Ms Mordaunt, a
former naval reservist, reacted to
her shock sacking in July.
She restricted herself to a maga-
zine article in which she wrote: ‘I’m
fired. Job done. Ours is not to rea-
son why. Good command cheerfully
accepts all missions with humourand loyalty.’ No 10 is conscious that
out of Mr Johnson’s top eight Cabi-
net Ministers, only one is female –
Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Ms Mordaunt was appointed by
Theresa May as Britain’s first ever
female Defence Secretary.
Although the 46-year-old Ports-
mouth North MP backed Jeremy
Hunt for the Tory leadership fol-
lowing Mrs May’s resignation, as a
Brexiteer she had thought that her
job was safe.
In the event, it was first offered to
Mr Hunt, before being given to BenWallace, a veteran ally of Mr John-
son. Former Tory leader William
Hague warned Mr Johnson that he
could regret sacking Ms Mordaunt
because she could have been a
‘useful ally in the tempestuous
weeks to come’.
First elected to Parliament in
2010, Ms Mordaunt is probably best
known outside Westminster for
donning her swimsuit in the TV
show Splash! in 2014, when she
joined celebrities to be trained by
Olympic diver Tom Daley.
The daughter of a paratrooper-turned-teacher, she served as an
acting sub-lieutenant of the Port-
smouth-based HMS King Alfred.
Her mother, a teacher, died from
breast cancer when Ms Mordaunt
was 15.
Educated at a local comprehen-
sive, Ms Mordaunt later studied
philosophy at Reading University.
She was once accused of trivialis-
ing Parliament after admitting that
she had smuggled repeated men-
tions of the word ‘cock’ into a
Commons speech as part of a bet
with fellow reservists.By Glen Owen
‘RAPPROCHEMENT’: The PM and
girlfriend Carrie Symonds were hostsLOYAL: Mr Johnson was impressed by the way Penny Mordaunt dealt with her surprise sacking earlier this year‘I’m fired. Job done. Ours
is not to reason why’
REX