Queen would have been asset to Cabinet, says Sir John Major

Sir John Major has suggested the Queen would have been a good addition to the Cabinet, describing her service to the country as "impeccable".

The former prime minister, in office from 1990 to 1997, told the BBC she had "represented our better selves for over 70 years".

He said his weekly meetings with the Queen during his time as PM were not a "duty", but "something to be looked forward to".

"In many ways, it was cathartic."

Sir John told Radio 4's Today programme: "You could discuss things with the Queen that you couldn't really discuss with hardly anybody else. Politics even amongst the closest of colleagues tends [to be] a little leaky.

"The one thing about the meetings with the Queen, nobody is there, just the corgis - behaving or not as the case may be, usually behaving - and you could speak in absolute privacy. There's no private secretary there. No notes are made.

"You can say exactly what you wish, exactly what is on your mind. And so can the Queen. So that is very valuable."

He said she was a good listener, but "more relevantly" a "good questioner".

"Gently, she asks the right questions. I think people would be surprised at the depth of knowledge she has of how people who are not close to the monarchy actually live in their own lives.

"She knows a great deal about it and her questions are often very, very pertinent. It was always extremely useful, because it was a completely external view from someone who knew politics."

Sir John said he often came away from these meetings thinking to himself: "What a shame she isn't in the Cabinet".

The former prime minister also described the Queen as a "hidden asset".

"She's part of our soft power. You only have to see that whenever you see her with presidents or prime ministers of other countries. You saw it recently at the G7. You see it in spades at the Commonwealth conference.

"You see the worldwide reach of the monarchy. When people in almost every part of the world speak of the Queen, they mean our Queen."

Asked about the Queen's capacity to deal with difficult issues such as family divorces and royal scandals, Sir John spoke of her being able to "put things in a box, to realise they pass and they're not eternal".

"She is amongst other things a stoic. And I think at the difficult times her instinct was to put her head down and keep going.

"And this too shall pass - I think - was her motto. And whatever happens the daffodils will be there next spring."

Asked how he thought the Queen has retained her popularity over her 70-year reign, he said: "It is extraordinary, isn't it?"

"I mean, I cannot think of any other public figure, any other celebrity, any other president, if we had a political president, who could possibly have remained so popular - and after 70 years the country would be celebrating the fact that they've been there for 70 years. It is quite unique.

"I think there are a number of reasons for it. The monarchy has evolved. It's immeasurably different from the monarchy of 1952. Much more open, much more informal.

"And for those 70 years, the Queen has effectively been the ship of state as we move through all the things that have happened.

"And also, of course, she's very familiar to everyone. Her life has been played out in public - the highs, the lows, the good bits, the not-so-good bits - and yet through it all, the Queen has represented our better selves for over 70 years."