‘Has he got any chance of winning?’
‘Oh yes,’ said Fisher. ‘He’s very popular among the rank and file in the constituencies, although Harold Wilson is the favourite with the sitting members, and they’re the only ones who have a vote.’
‘Then let’s send Wilson a large donation towards his campaign fund, cash if necessary.’
‘That’s the last thing we need to do,’ said Fisher.
‘Why?’ demanded Diego.
‘Because he’d send it back.’
‘Why would he do that?’ asked Don Pedro.
‘Because this isn’t Argentina, and if the press found out that a foreigner was backing Wilson’s campaign, he would not only lose, but be forced to withdraw from the contest. In fact, he’d not only return the money, but make it public that he’d done so.’
‘How can you possibly win an election if you haven’t got any money?’
‘You don’t need a great deal of money if your electorate is only 258 Members of Parliament, most of whom spend all their time in the same building. You might have to buy some stamps, make a few phone calls, stand the odd round of drinks in Annie’s Bar, and by then you’d have been in touch with almost all your electorate.’
‘So if we can’t help Wilson win, what can we do to make sure Barrington loses?’ asked Luis.
‘If there are 258 voters, we must surely be able to bribe some of them,’ said Diego.
‘Not with money,’ said Fisher. ‘The only thing that lot care about is preferment.’
‘Preferment?’ repeated Don Pedro. ‘What the hell is that?’
‘For younger members, a candidate might hint that they were being considered for a front bench job, and for older members who are retiring at the next general election, a suggestion that their experience and wisdom would be greatly appreciated in the Lords. And for those who have no hope of ever holding office, but will still be around after the next election, a party leader always has jobs that need to be filled. I knew one member who wanted nothing more than to be chairman of the House of Commons Catering Committee because they get to select which wines go on the menu.’
‘OK, so if we can’t give Wilson any money, or bribe the voters, the least we can do is recycle all the dirt we have on Barrington’s family,’ suggested Diego.
‘Not much point, when the press will be only too happy to do that without any help from us,’ said Fisher. ‘And they’ll get bored after a few days, unless we come up with something fresh for them to get their teeth into. No, we have to think of something that would be certain to make the headlines and, at the same time, knock him out with one blow.’
‘You’ve obviously been giving this considerable thought, major,’ said Don Pedro.
‘I must admit I have,’ said Fisher, looking rather pleased with himself. ‘And I think I may have come up with something that will finally sink Barrington.’
‘Then spit it out.’
‘There’s one thing a politician can never recover from. But if I’m to set Barrington up, I’ll need to put a small team in place, and the timing will have to be perfect.’