Nothing Like a Dame: The Scandals of Shirley Porter

"Homes for Votes, three cemeteries sold for five pence apiece, the missing Tesco millions and a gold toilet seat, plus a camel processing through London and pay-as-you-go toilets - the hallmarks of Shirley Porter's regime in Westminster were as farcical as her policies were corrupt." "Two decades ago, Dame Shirley Porter was Britain's second most famous female politician after Margaret Thatcher. Today she has been almost erased from Conservative party history. The Tesco heiress, having shot to power and notoriety as Leader of Westminster City Council in the 1980s, embarked on a wide-spread policy of gerrymandering to secure Tory votes in the coming elections. The fall-out from her reign united opposition from all corners of public life, from Ken Livingstone to Margaret Thatcher, Nigella Lawson to the Queen of Holland, refuse workers to the Billy Furry fan club." "In an account of one of the strangest episodes in British political history, Today programme investigative journalist Andrew Hosken tells of Shirley Porter's upbringing as the daughter of Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco; her rise to power in Westminster; the extraordinary details of the scandal and the search for her hidden millions. Nothing Like A Dame, meticulously researched and including interviews with most of the individuals involved, is colourful, shocking and often stranger than fiction."--BOOK JACKET.