Saddleworth WI: An afternoon tea with Edwina Currie
AFTERNOON TEA WITH EDWINA CURRIE
The Saddleworth WI members, friends and supporters turned out in their droves last Sunday, 14th July, to have afternoon tea with former MP and reality TV star, Edwina Currie. The day was a sell out with over 130 guest buying tickets. The Oak Room at the White Hart, Lydgate was the perfect venue for this event showcasing Saddleworth WI, The White Hart and, of course, our beautiful countryside.
Edwina was blown away by the turn out and at one time was heard to say ‘WOW’ when looking out over the room at the start of her talk. The tables had been set for a delicious afternoon tea, served by Charles and his team to whom we are truly grateful, with each table being named after places in Oldham and Saddleworth. Edwina held the room captivated with her explanation of “Lies, Damed Lies and Politicians”.
Her talk was peppered with insights from her time in politic and, of course, the high profile headlines she attracted at the height of her career. During her time in government she introduced cancer screening for women and the first AIDS campaign. The furore around her comments about salmonella in eggs brought about changes resulting in the UK now having the safest eggs in the world. She invited the audience to ask her questions and when the “John Major” subject came up, like a true politician, she batted it away with great political expertise and she gave us all a master class in how to handle difficult questions.
Edwina made sure that she went to every table in the room before the event and during the break to try and speak to everyone, and was even up for selfies, of which many have appeared on Facebook. She is donating her fee to Tideswell Male Voice Choir of which her husband, John Jones, is a member and she is President. Her diaries at the time of publishing, had been called “the best record of a woman’s experience in parliament”. Edwina brought copies of the book to sell and sign and sold out within minutes. She is the author of many books and these titles can be found in ebooks. A friendly and relaxed speaker, she left with a lot of fans!
In the 20 years since leaving politics she’s been a regular reality TV star, notably Hell’s Kitchen, I’m a Celebrity, Strictly, Wife Swap and Family Fortunes. She’s won Celebrity Pointless with Diane Abbott MP and Celebrity Mastermind twice. A friendly and relaxed speaker, she left with a lot of fans!
Edwina says “Well, that went well! “ and she is certainly correct in that comment. One of the member when leaving the event commented “how are we going to top this next year”.
From the smiles, cheers and laughter around the room we think we can safely say that Sunday 14th July was a great success and the WI hope that they will be able to equal or better this sometime next year.
