The Will of the People_ Winston Churchill and Parliamentary Democracy - Martin Gilbert [4]
Churchill was already a fluent speaker, despite a lifelong inability to pronounce the letter s: it came out as sh. He learned to minimize the sound, so it was hardly noticed.
While a soldier, Churchill saw military action on the North-West Frontier of India in 1897, in Sudan in 1898, and in South Africa in 1899 and 1900. He fought bravely and won the medals he so wished to win. But a career in the House of Common was always in his mind. His object in writing long descriptive letters about the fighting on the North-West Frontier, for publication in the Daily Telegraph, was, he told his mother, with the aim “of bringing my personality before the electorate” in order to give him “some political advantage.”
If he were to survive the fighting, Churchill wrote to his Marlborough grandmother (Duchess Fanny), “I intend to stand for Parliament at the General Election—so that my sojourn abroad will not be indefinitely prolonged.” He was still twenty-two. The next General Election was expected in 1900, fewer than three years ahead.
Even before he stood for Parliament, Churchill understood the power of oratory, writing at the time of his twenty-third birthday: “He who enjoys it wields a power more durable than that of a great king. He is an independent force in the world. Abandoned by his party, betrayed by friends, stripped of offices, whoever can command this power is still formidable.” A skilful orator, Churchill added, could either “translate an established truth into simple language” or “adventurously aspire to reveal the unknown.”
Churchill saw oratory as an integral part of the parliamentary system. He believed that it must inspire the listener, but it was valueless unless it also reflected the beliefs of the listener. To his brother, Churchill confided another aspect of his understanding of what would make a good parliamentarian. “A good knowledge of history,” he wrote to Jack, “is a quiver full of arrows in debate.”
While still in India, Churchill made a serious attempt to secure a constituency: his father’s last parliamentary seat, in the London district of Paddington. As he told his mother, if she could persuade the existing Member, who was over sixty, to stand down, he would come back to England at once and enter the selection process. His mother did what she could on her son’s behalf. As he later wrote of her efforts for him at that time, “She left no stone unturned, she left no cutlet uncooked.” At the suggestion of Conservative Central Office, Churchill sent them an election address, should Paddington unexpectedly fall vacant, but before any election could be called the sitting member decided to stay put—and did so for another thirteen years.
Churchill was ready and eager for parliamentary life, writing to his mother: “Introductions, connections, powerful friends, a name, good advice well-followed, all these things count, but they only lead to a certain point. As it were, they may ensure admission to the scales. Ultimately every man has to be weighed, and if found wanting, nothing can procure him the public confidence.” He was confident that he would not be found wanting. “I believe in myself,” he told his mother. “If I did not, I might perhaps take other views.”
In June 1898, aged twenty-three, Churchill returned to England once more on leave. In advance, he asked his mother to set up political meetings for him. He still had his eye on the Bradford constituency, writing to his mother that he wanted one “real, big meeting of at least 2,000 men. Compel them to come in. I am sure I can hold them. I have got lots of good material for at least three speeches, all carefully written and docketed.” His mother did as he asked and, on 14 July 1898, Churchill spoke to a large crowd of Bradford working men. “I was listened to with the