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At the end of each year he wrote a piece called "Master Alan
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observed on television, it was an inaccurate phrase, because on the day in question, 21 November, his interviewer could see that he was wearing a blue suit. And, indeed, the typical
Conservative
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35:(3 April 1933 – 8 May 2010) was for over 50 years a British political columnist in various London-based magazines and newspapers. He also wrote about wine and
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School, near
Tycroes), from a mining family, and Violet, also a teacher, daughter of Dr Edwin Harris, a GP. He was educated at Tycroes Primary School and
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Master Alan
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He coined and popularised a number of phrases that have passed into common journalistic parlance, including "
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Watkins was in failing health for several weeks prior to his death at his London home on 8 May 2010 from
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The original phrase was 'the men in suits'. It was used, for example, by the present writer in the
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tends to wear a dark blue or black suit, with chalk- or pin-stripes, what may be called a
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Club suit. The original phrase 'the men in suits' is the more accurate.
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510:"The 1922 Committee: how the Tories' men in grey suits wield power"
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Much of his long career as a commentator on politics was spent at
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472:"Master Alan Watkins' Almanack: Master Cameron may decide his"
545:"Alan Watkins, doyen of political commentators, dies at 77"
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A Short Walk Down Fleet Street: From
Beaverbrook to Boycott
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A Slight Case of Libel: Meacher Versus
Trelford and Others
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Downing Street diary : with James
Callaghan in No.10
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The Road to Number 10: From Bonar Law to Tony Blair
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554:. London.
361:References
230:incomplete
144:John Casey
150:in 1928.
581:(2008).
556:Archived
384:. London
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167:Observer
67:. After
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562:9 May
388:9 May
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197:Death
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