He Was Sacked by Blair, He has Split From His Wife and Now Travels by Bus. So What Went Wrong for Derry Irvine? ; the Former Lord Chancellor's Fall From Grace Was Spectacular. Now, After a Year in the Wilderness, He Is Desperate to Regain His Place in Public Life

Evening Standard - London › June 18, 2004

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Summary

THE lovely 16th century castle at Walmer in Kent, surrounded by mature ornamental gardens, looking out over the Channel to France, has been home to the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother.

But now, Walmer Castle may finally be able to shed the legacy of these essentially minor, transient figures in British public life and welcome a tenant of real historical importance. It is preparing itself for a possible role as the new official residence of the former Lord Chancellor, Derry Irvine.

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He Was Sacked by Blair, He has Split From His Wife and Now Travels by Bus. So What Went Wrong for Derry Irvine? ; the Former Lord Chancellor's Fall From Grace Was Spectacular. Now, After a Year in the Wilderness, He Is Desperate to Regain His Place in Public Life

It is almost a year since his brutal sacking from the Government. Once vastly powerful, Lord Irvine is now virtually invisible. He sat on 10 Cabinet committees, spoke constantly about his friendship with "young Blair", was called a "colossus of domestic policy" by the press. Now, the man who once compared himself to Cardinal Wolsey has become New Labour's Norma Desmond. He may, as they say, still be big. But the parts have got small.

Many had expected him to make a swift transition to some sort of consolationprize pub...

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