By Simon Walters As a Cabinet Minister in Margaret Thatcher’s Government, Norman Tebbit was renowned for his brutal style of politics. He was once called a semi-house-trained polecat and nicknamed ‘the Chingford skinhead’ after his Essex constituency. The satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image fuelled  the image by portraying him as a snarling, leather-jacketed thug. But Lord Tebbit displays a softer side to his character in a children’s novel he has written, called Ben’s Story. It features a talking dog, a yellow labrador called Ben, and Sam, a 14-year-old boy. Faithful friend: The Tebbits with their labrador Ben, who died five years ago
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In Government, Norman Tebbit was renowned for his brutal style of politics
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But he displays a softer side in his children's novel, called Ben's Story
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It features a talking dog, a labrador called Ben, and Sam, a 14-year-old boy
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Ben is named after Lord Tebbit's own labrador, who died five years ago
Norman Tebbit
Lord Tebbit
Norman Tebbit
Lord Tebbit
The book also features people and places linked to @placeholder’s political past.