Sasha Swire

The Right Honourable
The Lady Swire
Born
Alexandra Patrusha Mina Nott

(1963-01-18) 18 January 1963 (age 61)[1]
London, England
EducationCranborne Chase School
Alma materSt Martin's School of Art
Occupation(s)Author, journalist
Spouse
​
(m. 1996)​
Children2
Parents
RelativesJulian Nott (brother)

Alexandra Patrusha Mina Swire, Baroness Swire (née Nott; born 18 January 1963),[1] commonly known as Sasha Swire, is an English author and journalist,[2][3] and the wife of the former Conservative Party Minister of State Hugo Swire, Baron Swire.

She is the writer of the 2020 memoir Diary of an MP's Wife.

Background

Descended from Devon gentry, Alexandra Nott is the only daughter of Sir John Nott, former Member of Parliament for St Ives and Secretary of State for Defence under Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands War, and his wife Miloska Vlahović, daughter of Yugoslav resistance leader Lujo Vlahović, of Slovenian extraction.[4]

Her elder and younger brothers, Julian and William Nott, both attended Eton College, while she was educated at Cranborne Chase School. She then pursued further studies at St Martin's School of Art, where she was a contemporary of the fashion designer John Galliano.[5]

Swire trained as a journalist[6] and has a background in local journalism.[7]

She sought selection for the Teignbridge parliamentary candidacy of 2005 won by Stanley Johnson.[8] David Cameron wanted her to stand for a parliamentary seat for the Conservative Party again in 2009.[5]

She voted Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.[8]

Diaries

Swire's book, Diary of an MP's Wife: Inside and Outside Power, was published on 24 September 2020. It is Swire's diary of 20 years,[2] and contains insights into the private lives of Conservative politicians,[9] including David Cameron, George Osborne, Dominic Raab, Theresa May, Michael Gove and Boris Johnson.[1] It was serialised in The Times prior to its release.[10]

Petronella Wyatt, a friend, reported that Swire was initially distressed by some of the sensational extracts, hinting that they had somehow been "distorted".[11] According to her book, Cameron once ventured to say to Swire: "The scent you are wearing is affecting my pheromones. It makes me want to grab you and push you into the bushes and give you one."[12]

The book was criticised by Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, for its "casual, blasé use" of the term "Jewish lobby".[13] The Jewish Chronicle opined that Swire had written "antisemitic-sounding comments" in relation to the term.[14]

Reflecting in 2021 on the publication of her diaries, Swire wrote, "I was totally unprepared for the headlines that followed. It felt at times as if my wings were made of wax and feathers, that the sun had melted them and there was no shortage of hands pressing down on my head to keep me from resurfacing from a deep ocean. To be confronted with such a distorted picture of my real self was challenging to say the least."[15]

Personal life

She married Hugo Swire on 12 December 1996 at the chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where Lord Michael Cecil was best man. She was her husband's parliamentary assistant for 18 years until he stood down from the House of Commons.[16][6]

The couple live in London SW6 and have two daughters, born in 1997 and 2001.[17]

Honours

Bibliography

  • Diary of an MP's Wife: Inside and Outside Power (Little, Brown Book Group, 2020) ISBN 9781408713419

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Cope, Rebecca (16 September 2020). "Lady Swire's Diary: The best lines from the Westminster exposé everyone is talking about". Tatler. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b O'Neill, Katie (14 September 2020). "Secret diary of MP's wife set to ruffle feathers in Westminster". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  3. ^ Hinsliff, Gaby (18 September 2020). "Diary of an MP's Wife by Sasha Swire review – a thrillingly indiscreet political memoir". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  4. ^ Goodman, Paul (19 September 2020). "Sasha Swire's diaries. Truth about the Cameron years – but not the whole truth. Not by a long shot". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b Cooke, Rachel (20 September 2020). "Sasha Swire: 'British politics is totally amateur. That's why it's so sexy and toxic'". The Observer. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  6. ^ a b Walden, Celia (25 June 2021). "Sasha Swire: 'Believe me, a lot of affairs were going on'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  7. ^ Snow, Dan (7 December 2020). "Diary of an MP's Wife". Dan Snow's History Hit (Podcast). Acast. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b Johnson, Rachel (26 April 2021). "2. Sasha Swire". Rachel Johnson's Difficult Women (Podcast). Global. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  9. ^ Swire, Sasha (15 September 2020). "Negronis at dawn and David Cameron's last days: Sasha Swire's secret diary". The Times. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  10. ^ Sanderson, David (19 September 2020). "Sasha Swire has plenty more embarrassing diaries to come". The Times. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  11. ^ Wyatt, Petronella (18 September 2020). "My friend Sasha Swire feels bloodied by the backlash to her diaries... and Boris disappoints". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  12. ^ Gye, Hugo (18 September 2020). "David Cameron's betrayal by close friend Sasha Swire is the most scandalous example yet of ex-PM's bad luck with his old circle". i. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  13. ^ Harpin, Lee (29 September 2020). "Wife of ex-Tory minister criticised over 'Jewish lobby' references in political diaries". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  14. ^ Shure, Jan (29 September 2020). "Sasha Swire's 'Jewish Lobby' trope is so very revealing". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  15. ^ Swire, Sasha (11 October 2021). "Chips ahoy! In praise of Chips Channon's acerbic musings, by Sasha Swire". Tatler. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  16. ^ "BOTH our MPs pay their wives to work for them. Another one says it's good because they can "discuss work" on Sunday over a cup of tea!". East Devon Watch. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  17. ^ burkespeerage.com