''Nothing Like a Dame: The Scandals of Shirley Porter'' is a 2006 biography by British journalist Andrew Hosken. The book was first published on 1 October 2006 through Granta UK and discusses British politician

Shirley Porter Dame Shirley, Lady Porter DBE (''née'' Cohen; born 29 November 1930) is a British politician who led Westminster City Council in London from 1983 to 1991, representing the Conservative Party. She is the daughter and heiress of Sir Jack Cohe ...

's time served as a member of the Westminster City Council.

Synopsis

The book discusses Porter's time served under the

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...

and the resulting fallout. Hosken also includes several interviews and looks into Porter's history as the daughter of Jack Cohen.

Reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave a positive review for ''Nothing Like A Dame'', calling it "enthralling".

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

gave a more mixed review, remarking that it was "riveting" but also "uneven". In contrast, ''

The Contemporary Review ''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013. History The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals intent on promoting their v ...

'' praised Hosken's research.

Jay Rayner Jason Matthew Rayner (born 14 September 1966) is a British journalist and food critic. He has worked as a freelance journalist for newspapers including ''The Observer'' and ''The Independent on Sunday.'' He was the ''Observer'' restaurant criti ...

, reviewing for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', felt that the book was: "probably as comprehensive an account of Porter's time in power, and the bullying, plotting, maladministration and corruption that went with it, as we are likely to get."

Francis Beckett Francis Beckett (born 12 May 1945) is an English author, journalist, biographer, playwright and contemporary historian. He has written biographies of Aneurin Bevan, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. He has also written ...

described it as: "a splendid book, as easy to read as a good thriller... It's also very thorough, with an immense amount of detail, presented remarkably digestibly."

Christian Wolmar Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 3 August 1949) is a British journalist, author, railway historian and Labour Party campaigner.

Cover

The cover of the book consists of a photograph of Porter which she had posed for use in a feature article about her in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''.

Jenny Diski Jenny Diski FRSL (née Simmonds; 8 July 1947 – 28 April 2016) was an English novelist, non-fiction writer and memoirist. Diski was a regular contributor to the ''London Review of Books''; the collections ''Don't'' and ''Why Didn't You Do W ...

, for the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'', was, however, critical of the cover, writing:

...the picture on the front of Hosken's book is of Porter as a racial caricature. Bright lumps of gold adorn her ears and finger, brass buttons decorate her blazer, a gold smiley-face pendant hangs round her neck, the most garish of orange lipstick outlines her lips, her arms are arrogantly akimbo, her less than gracile facial features perform an ugly, over-bronzed sneer of contempt. She is outsized against the background, looming over London, the curse of the 50-foot woman, lording it over and diminishing the Houses of Parliament and the City: common as muck and in control. Call me oversensitive, but she's not just dreadful, she's so ''Jewish''.

Nicholas Lezard Nicholas Andrew Selwyn LezardThe Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 December 1991, Cambridge University Press, p. 814 is an English journalist, author and literary critic. Background and education The Lezard family went from London to ...

, for ''

'', countered:

To get to the substance of the book you are going to have to surmount the considerable obstacle of its front cover. Diski calls this a "racial caricature", but it's not, it's a photograph, of Porter in her prime: the contemptuous stare, the alarming lipstick, the shoulder-pads.

Lezard was also dismissive of Diski's " etection ofa trace of anti-semitism in patrician attitudes to Porter," calling it "understandable, but to which one reasonable counter-claim might be that it didn't stop her from becoming leader of Westminster council."

Radio play

In December 2009

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

broadcast a Friday Play, described as a "tragic comedy", based upon Hosken's book. The radio play, '' Shirleymander'', was written by Gregory Evans, directed by Marc Beeby and starred

Tracy-Ann Oberman Tracy-Ann Oberman (born Tracy Anne Oberman; 25 August 1966) is an English actress, playwright and narrator. She is known for roles including Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2004–2005, 2024) and Valerie Lewis or "Auntie Va ...

as Shirley Porter. Reception for the radio drama was positive, with ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' praising Beeby for his casting and choice of music.

Early day motion

The book was the subject of an

early day motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by a member of Parliament, which the Government (in charge of parliamentary business) has not yet scheduled for debate. Hi ...

tabled in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

on 20 April 2006 " ongratulatingBBC Today reporter Andy Hosken on his book, ''Nothing Like a Dame'', recounting the story of Dame Shirley Porter's regime at Westminster City Council...." The motion went on to "

all All or ALL may refer to: عرص Biology and medicine * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer * Anterolateral ligament, a ligament in the knee * ''All.'', taxonomic author abbreviation for Carlo Allioni (1728–1804), Italian physician and pro ...

upon the Government to recommend to Her Majesty the Queen, that the honour of orter'sDBE should be withdrawn, it having been awarded under false pretences, and representing an affront to those whose public service genuinely merits such recognition."

References

{{reflist 2006 non-fiction books British biographies Granta Books books

Synopsis

Reception

Radio play

Early day motion

See also

References