Chance Witness

Chastised by Margaret Thatcher for jumping into the freezing Thames to save a dog, Matthew Parris was probably never destined for success in politics. In fact his life choices suggest a certain uncanny ability to be an outsider even when he was in: he turned down MI6 because he was gay - only to become a Tory MP. Yet his time on the backbenches, followed by years as Britain's funniest and most perceptive parliamentary sketch writer, placed him in a unique position - part participant, part bystander - to witness Westminster and all its foibles firsthand.