“Can there be a more stunning view from a British embassy anywhere in the world?” We were looking out of the window of the late medieval Thun Palace in the heart of Malá Strana, Prague. Ambassador Matt Field is of course biased, but who am I to disagree? I’ve been speaking to Czech guests at the embassy in Prague about the best and worst prime ministers in history. When I showed a photograph of Neville Chamberlain, who spoke of “a faraway country” in a quarrel between people “of whom we know nothing”, and then put up JD Vance beside him, there was an intensely diplomatic silence and nodding of heads.
I have been walking across Germany and the stunning Czech Republic from kilometre zero to Auschwitz, in Poland, for a book to be published in Remembrance Week. It will celebrate those who displayed courage and compassion during the Second World War. Prague is full of such heroes, not least those who protected the wounded in Lidice, the village destroyed on the orders of Hitler as vengeance for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, his “protector” of Bohemia and Moravia.
The Nuremberg trials play a big part in the book. Who better to discuss it with than William Shawcross, son of chief prosecutor Hartley Shawcross? Captivated by his father’s 78rpm records of the trial, William learned from them about Hermann Graebe, the only German to give evidence voluntarily for the prosecution at Nuremberg. Graebe, a Christian, went to great lengths to save Jews. “He bears comparison to Oskar Schindler: he risked his own life and saved hundreds of others,” William told me. His father, a cabinet minister in Labour’s historic postwar government, asked Clement Attlee’s wife, Violet, to be William’s godmother.
Premier league
Back in London, I have lunch with David Cameron, who entered the world almost exactly one year before Attlee left it. Guests at nearby tables are puzzled to see various upward arm movements as we discuss intently optimal positions for the plank, a necessary conversation for men of a certain age. We talk over his period as foreign secretary. Sunak’s team was not sure Cameron would accept a subordinate job but he served well. Post-premierships reveal much about the character of the former incumbents in No 10. The rules are simple: don’t cash in ostentatiously on the former office, and leverage your authority in public service. The majority of the eight living post-premiers have been forces for good. Two have not, their names too obvious to mention. Still time to get it right?
Lucky generals
Attlee was Labour’s most successful prime minister. Keir Starmer is going to be pressing for second place if he continues his commanding leadership. What is the most important quality in a prime minister? The ability to learn. Starmer began terribly, having listened to the wrong people. Now, global politics has forced him to assert his authority. What’s the next most important quality of a successful prime minister? Luck, in having a major disruption occur during your premiership, and having the skill to exploit it. It’s no coincidence that Britain’s best prime ministers were in power at times of conflict – especially when, as with Starmer, they came to power without a strong story to tell.
The ages of man
As artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company for ten years, Greg Doran had a very clear agenda, putting Britain’s greatest writer back at the heart of national life and overseeing all the plays. I talked to him at the Jewish Book Festival in London’s King’s Cross in early March. With Britain’s creative industries under threat from AI, there is no more important topic than cherishing our arts, as the RSC does so brilliantly.
What does it mean to be human in a world of AI? This is the most important question of our time. We need to pivot our schools away from obsessing over the skills on which AI will always outperform humans, to focus on developing human intelligence, human empathy, human identity and human relationships. No British prime minister has understood this better than Sunak, the subject of my next biography.
Heritage foundations
Prime ministers seem to be a theme of this diary. The most exciting news of the week is that the Museum of the Prime Minister, a long-term obsession of mine, has received a significant grant to support the development of digital content ahead of us opening our temporary exhibition in Westminster Hall. The glaring gap of having nowhere in Britain to learn about the longest-serving leaders’ office in the world is closing.
Anthony Seldon’s “Truss at 10: How Not to Be Prime Minister” is published by Atlantic
[See also: The Tories still have a Liz Truss problem]
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This article appears in the 26 Mar 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Putin’s Endgame