CHERIE Blair, the wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, was in Swindon yesterday to support Anne Snelgrove’s campaign for re-election.

Before her appearance at the Wyvern Theatre as part of the literature festival, she spoke to party activists in The Mail Coach, a gay bar in Fleet Street, she praised Labour’s record on equalities and in particular the number of women MPs it has had.

She also revelealed that almost her whole family had been out on the campaign trail in recent weeks, saying sons Euan and Nicholas had been out knocking on doors as well as her and Tony, while daughter Kathryn was currently studying in Strasbourg.

She said: “Kathryn has been less interested in politics than her brothers but since she has been out there and met other students she just can’t help herself.”

Joking with Labour supporters she added: “With their boyfriends and girlfriends, all my children know they can bring home whoever they like, but if they brought home a Tory supporter, that would be it!”

She insisted that despite Labour’s disastrous last week of campaigning, when Gordon Brown was overheard to call a widow and lifelong Labour supporter a ‘bigoted woman’, the election was still wide open.

“I think there is everything still to play for in this election,” she said.

“I think the electorate is starting to think seriously not just about who’s winning this talent contest, but who has got the right team for taking us through this difficult period.

“There are going to be some hard choices to make and do you want them done by the people with experience and a party committed to protecting ordinary working families or people who look like the new kid on the block but who actually want to protect people just like them?”

She argued that if the Conservatives were voted in there would be far fewer women MPs in parliament.

“One of the things I have been trying to do is look to support women candidates,” she said.

“I think of the important differences that the Labour government has made, some of those differences have been made because women MPs. Women are hard-working and comitted Members of Parliamnt and you couldn’t get that more than in Anne Snelgrove.”

Back to choosing cushions...
THE BEST thing about life after 10 Downing Street is being able to decorate your own home, according to Cherie Blair.

Mrs Blair was talking to an audience at the Wyvern theatre on the first day of the Swindon Festival of Literature, which began the same year as her husband Tony took office in 1997.

Her 1998 autobiography, Speaking for Myself, which has just been released in paperback, explores her family life, the British legal system and 10 years at number 10 Downing Street.

She talked about her humble beginnings growing up in Liverpool and starting out as a barrister when less than 10 per cent were women.

She also spoke at length about the British Press’s coverage of her appearance and its reaction to her decision to continue to work as a barrister while also being the Prime Minister’s wife.

“I think you have to be realistic,” she said. “If you volunteer for public life you have got to expect Press scrutiny. Not everybody’s going to like you.

“Of course I wanted to correct things that were written about me but the government needs the Press and so I was advised not to.

“One of the nicest things about not being in Number 10 now is that whenever they write something about me I challenge it.

“But one of the nicest things for me was for 10 years I lived above the shop in rented accommodation and I couldn’t so much as buy a cushion.

“Suddenly having a home of my own again is great because I get to decide what it should look like.”