It has been said Peter Mandelson once mistook mushy peas for guacamole. Now it has emerged Gordon Brown had a similar food challenge, when he asked in horror: “What is polenta?”
The politician turned Strictly Come Dancing star Ed Balls witnessed the outburst during the meeting between Brown and Tony Blair at the Granita restaurant in Islington in 1994.
It is remembered as one of the most important meetings in recent political history: the two candidates for leadership of the Labour party sitting down in a north London restaurant to put aside their differences and sort things out.
But what really happened? Balls, one of Brown’s key lieutenants, told Hay festival that the meeting followed lots of discussions in advance, but “the fact that I was there means that Gordon wasn’t fully committed to the process”.
It was a Mediterranean restaurant not to the taste of Brown. “Gordon was appalled by the menu. Honestly he turned to me and said [adopting Brown’s voice], ‘what is polenta?’”
Balls decided he should let the two men get on with it. “As I left I said, ‘I have to go.’ Tony was sitting there nervously with his starter, thinking ‘what the hell is Ed Balls doing here at my absolutely key vital dinner?’ I said [to Brown], ‘I’ll see you back at the Atrium when you’re done,’ and he said, ‘steak and chips.’ It obviously shows he wasn’t fully committed to the meal.”
Blair and Brown did come to an arrangement, said Balls. Not about how long Blair would be leader but how Brown would be the “driver” for social and economic policies in any Labour government.
Brown was devastated that he did not succeed John Smith - who died unexpectedly in May 1994 - but he got over it, said Balls.
“It was a big shock to him ... but also Gordon is a realist. He accepted quite quickly that it was not going to be him and the question was, what was the arrangement, how would they work together and that was all to be sorted out at the Granita restaurant.”
Balls conceded there were rocky moments between the two men but that could be a good thing. If there had been more “grit” in the relationship between David Cameron and his chancellor George Osborne there may not have been a referendum to leave the EU, said Balls.
Balls was involved in Labour politics for more than 20 years before losing his parliamentary seat in 2015. It was personally devastating although perhaps not quite as bad as some friends and colleagues imagined.
After the vote he went to his agent’s house in Morley. “They were all saying, ‘you had a good innings, you made a good contribution, people are really going to miss you.’ I had to say, ‘I am not dead.’”
It got worse when someone brought in a tray with 30 glasses and a bottle of Harveys Bristol Cream to raise a glass for the demise of Balls.
Balls made a comeback on reality TV, as something of a dad-dancer on series 14 of Strictly Come Dancing, being finally voted out in week 10.
He revealed to Hay that it was his wife, fellow Labour politician Yvette Cooper, who said he had to go on in order to lose weight, and that the BBC had refused to allow him to have a plunging neckline.
Balls is out of Westminster with no plans to return. “It was quite a surprise for a former politician to become a reality TV star and embarrass his children. It is obviously more shocking to see a former reality TV star become president of the United States.”
