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A profile of Michael Foot, the former leader of the Labour Party, which included footage of him on the night of Tony Blair’s historic 1997 victory, and interviews with his wife, the filmmaker Jill Cragie, and some of his old colleagues and friends, including Barbara Castle, Spike Milligan and Salman Rushdie.
A revealing one-off documentary that provides an inside view of how Tony Blair and former prime ministers - including Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher and John Major - have run their cabinet, the highest decision-making body in the land. Through candid interviews, rare archive footage and filming inside No 10, presenter Michael Cockerell opens the door to the Government's own chamber of secrets as he seeks the answer to the question: is the notion of cabinet government an obsolete concept?
Michael Cockerell talks to all of the surviving people to hold the post of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs including the current incumbent, and invites the viewer to imagine their life in the position.
It begins with cheers but almost always ends in tears. Yet, as the election looms, competition for the top job grows ever more intense. Why? The hours are terrible, money so-so, job security non-existent. On the plus side, there's free accommodation in central London and probably more power over your country than any other leader in the western world. With the help of the present and previous incumbents, Michael Cockerell offers the first "how to" guide to the job of prime minister.
Last December's "Cheriegate" affair did little to abate the rampant public cynicism reserved for politicians - a mistrust evidenced in the turnout at the 2001 general election, which was the lowest for more than 80 years. In this documentary, Michael Cockerell talks to figures including Edwina Currie, Max Clifford, Geoffrey Robinson and Neil Hamilton in an effort to see if spin, sleaze and ministerial failure is to blame, or whether the media's sneering political coverage is most at fault.
With Britain's first-ever political leaders' television debate imminent, award-winning reporter Michael Cockerell uncovers what it's like to take part in these contests and how leaders try to win them. He tells the inside story of why it has taken so long for such debates to arrive in the UK. The programme features candid interviews with US Presidents and their advisers on the tricks of the debate trade. Blending new film and behind-the-scenes footage, some never seen before, it's a tragicomic tale of high politics and low cunning. From John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon through to Barack Obama, candidates are seen being prepared for their debates, then in the sometimes funny, sometimes disastrous results on live television. Cockerell shows why for our would-be next Prime Ministers - Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg - the three debate stages across Britain will be what one former US President calls 'Tension City'.
Michael Cockerell tells the story of how prime ministers have coped with life after Number Ten, after Tony Blair became the youngest member of the ex-PMs' club for a hundred years. The film reveals who left office bankrupt, who did TV commercials for Cheshire cheese, who had his own chat show and who has never had a single happy day since leaving Number Ten. Cockerell, who met the eight PMs prior to Blair, looks at what Tony planned do next and just how many millions he could make from being an ex-PM.
Queen Elizabeth has worked with 14 Prime Ministers, including holding confidential weekly meetings. It is not known whether she has influenced her Prime Ministers, or what happens when they clash.
It was the exact same effect induced by Michael Cockerell’s film Boris Johnson: the Irresistible Rise last night on BBC Two. Regardless of what you think of Johnson’s politics or predilections, the man is TV gold. In the name of journalistic objectivity Cockerell’s film dutifully included musings from Boris’s sister Rachel, his father Stanley, former editors and school chums. Some of it was moderately revealing, but the money shot was the blond bombshell, live and unleashed.
Michael Cockerell tells the inside story of Tony Blair's controversial ten years at the top. Candid interviews with Downing Street insiders, Cabinet colleagues and rivals cast new light on key events and on the Prime Minister's complex character.
Political journalist and film-maker Michael Cockerell's intimate portrait of Denis Healey, former chancellor of the exchequer, who died on 3 October 2015 aged 98
BBC Documentary 'News From Number 10' (2000) Presented by Michael Cockerell A look behind the scenes of Number 10 Downing Street, the official residence and office of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In 2000 the BBC followed Prime Minister's Press Secretary Alastair Campbell during his daily routines and dealings with the British press.
Political documentary maker Michael Cockerell profiles Britain's new prime minister, Boris Johnson.