Now I enter upon the last lap and I possess none of the things I started out in life to achieve." "But how absurd!" she exclaimed.

"You are one of our great politicians.
You would have to be reckoned with in any regrouping of parties." "Without even a seat in the House of Commons," he reminded her bitterly.
"And again, how can a man be a great politician when there are no politics?
The confusion amongst the parties has become chaos, and I for one have not been clear-sighted enough to see my way through." "Of course, I know vaguely what you mean," she said, "but remember that I am only a newspaper-educated politician.

Can't you be a little more explicit ?" He lit another cigarette and smoked restlessly for a moment.
"I'll try and explain, if I can," he went on.

"To be a successful politician, from the standard which you or I would aim at, a man needs not only political insight, but he needs to be able to adopt his views to the practical programme of one of the existing parties, or else to be strong enough to form a party of his own.

That is where I have come to the cul-de-sac in my career.