Crucially, he hesitated, suggesting that Baroness Thatcher should first speak to the members of her Cabinet individually The rest, is history Some Thatcherites blame Lord Wakeham for her downfall. “He knew very well the answer she would get from the Cabinet – that she shouldn’t carry on,” one said yesterday.The Thatcherites saw Lord Wakeham’s move as part of his own attempt to switch horses to John Major, who saw off Lord Heseltine when Lady Thatcher resigned. Their suspicions were confirmed when Lord Wakeham was given an enhanced role, responsible for co-ordinating the presentation of government policy, on top of his work as Energy Secretary.Not everything went to plan. Lord Wakeham told trusted Fleet Street editors that Mr Major would not call a general election in the spring of 1991 in what was meant to be a low-key operation “The tactic backfired,” Mr Major recalled later.

“Instead of the subject being dropped, there was a television splash that evening, and acres of newspaper coverage the next day unanimously assuring readers that there would be no autumn poll. The headlines were an embarrassment.”Lord Wakeham made another seamless transition when Labour finally ousted the Tories after 18 years. It was no accident when Tony Blair turned to Lord Wakeham to chair a Royal Commission on reform of the House of Lords. There was no surprise when the commission came up with what Mr Blair wanted: enough cover to keep the number of elected peers to a minimum.His recommendations angered many Tories, who privately accused him of becoming a Blair poodle. But Lord Wakeham showed his teeth when criticising the Government’s White Paper. He said: “I wanted a wholly independent appointments commission. I wanted an end of Tony’s Cronies or any politician’s cronies I wanted people appointed on an independent basis.

And they seem to have gone soft on that.”Even with Labour in power, Lord Wakeham is the man for all seasons. During a vintage appearance on the BBC television programme Breakfast with Frost last November to review the Sunday papers, he found himself widely quoted in the next day’s editions on three different stories: Lords reform plans; the “gagging” of The People over a story about a married footballer and Lord Irvine’s complaint to the PCC about stories about his son’s attendance at a drugs rehabilitation clinic.Lord Wakeham has held the PCC chairmanship since 1995. His training in the Whips Office stood him in good stead to become the ultimate go-between. He is the conduit between the press and the Royals, and between the press and Downing Street over coverage of the Blair children.Lord Wakeham, who will be 70 in June, shows little sign of wanting to step down from his role in public life or in business.He is nothing if not resilient. His wife Roberta, with whom he had two sons, was killed in the 1984 Brighton bombing, in which his legs were crushed. He married his secretary Alison Ward the following year and they have one son.Some former Tory colleagues suspect Lord Wakeham may have to stand down from the PCC , at least until the affair has blown over. “He is the great escapologist of British politics but he may get trapped this time,” said one former Tory minister.