A new history of the magazine, which has just celebrated its 10,000th issue, relates how successive editors showed their “hatred of shams”.
Never before has so much material been assembled from such a wealth of sources about the Leader of the House.
He made grotesque errors of taste and judgement – see “Rivers of Blood”. But even his critics admit that he was one of the great parliamentarians of the 20th century.
The Somerset MP strongly supports Theresa May, denies anti-Etonian prejudice in public life, and says a Catholic could perfectly well be PM.
He defeated the favourite, Reggie Maudling. And ever since, when offered a choice, the Tories have gone with the less familiar face among the main candidates.
This unusual leader still evokes passions in his Party even decades after his surprise election victory.