Strolling down Savile Row I chance upon a tailor I know. “We make grey suits,” he replies. “Tory MPs of a certain vintage and standing were our most reliable customers. Mostly behind the scenes, such men and (later) women carried a certain, untitled authority. Call them “tribal elders”: they were not the noisy ones and your columnist was never of their number, but their often silent presence among us

Source: The Times January 29, 2022 00:57 UTC