In praise of … the high steward of Hull

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/20/high-steward-hull-lord-mandelson

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If a call goes out for someone who can make things happen, Peter Mandelson would normally make the shortlist. Last spring, he was appointed high steward of Kingston Upon Hull, an office that is more than 400 years old and comes with the kind of ornate costume and feathered hat that Herbert Morrison, his grandfather, would surely have refused to countenance when he held the post back in the 1950s. As high steward, Lord Mandelson has become a passionate advocate for the rundown fishing port on the south-eastern tip of Yorkshire. Its victorious bid to be the next city of culture may finally resolve an old enmity. John Prescott, a city MP for more than 40 years, insisted he'd done too much stewarding in his days on a passenger liner to want the job of high steward himself. But few who saw it will forget the image of him prodding an unhappy looking mitten crab and suggesting that, given its predatory habits, it should be called Peter.

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