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Francis Urquhart is the Chief Whip of the Conservative Party. When Margaret Thatcher resigns as leader, he remains neutral and, after a general election in which the Conservatives are returned with a reduced majority, he fully expects the new Prime Minister, Henry Collingridge, to give him his just reward: a senior Cabinet post. When he's informed that he is to stay in his current position, he devises a plot to unseat Collingridge and ensure his own election as party leader which would make him Prime Minister.
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Episode 1
Sun, Mar 31, 199156 mins
Francis Urquhart is the Conservative Party Chief Whip who keeps the party's Members of Parliament in line. The party has selected a new leader, Henry Collingridge, and at the general election the government is returned with a reduced majority. Urquhart expects his proper reward - a senior Cabinet post - but is shocked when the Prime Minister tells him he's to stay where he is. Urquhart decides to exact his revenge. Using an ambitious young journalist, Mattie Storin, he plants rumors of dissension in party. Through the Party's PR expert Roger O'Neill - who has had his fingers in the till and developed a coke habit - he arranges for Opposition MPs to have access to Cabinet decisions making for an uncomfortable time in the House. Finally, he lays the foundation for a money scandal.






