SUNDAY 4 AUGUST 2019

The Top 10... objects waved by

politicians in speeches

John Rentoul on props used by history’s attention-seekers

Edwina Currie brandishes a pair of handcuffs at her fellow Tories in 1981 (PA)

Suggested by Jonathan Isaby, after Boris Johnson waved a kipper at his final leadership election hustings.

1. Piece of paper: Neville Chamberlain. Heston aerodrome, 1938. “This morning I had another talk with the
   German chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine.”
   Nominated by Arieh Kovler, Phil Riley and Adrian McMenamin.


2. His shoe: Nikita Khrushchev. He banged it on the desk at the United Nations in 1960. This was while
   making a point of order, rather than a speech, but it counts. Graham Kirby said Harold Macmillan, British
   prime minister, asked for a translation.

The New Review