THE Swinging Sixties were just revving up when Michael Spicer challenged Emmanuel Shinwell in the Easington constituency at the 1966 General Election. The clash was symptomatic of the seismic changes then occurring in Britain - the young buck calling the old stag to combat in the middle of the political clearing.

A fresh-faced Spicer was the youngest candidate fighting the oldest. Manny Shinwell represented a Labour Party that was far closer to Ramsay MacDonald rather than Tony Blair, while his opponent was perhaps already anticipating a new ideology of compassionate Toryism.

As Sir Michael contemplates his retirement - and the memoirs that will no doubt flow from this part-time author's pen - he can justifiably feel proud of a career that has witnessed momentous events in the Mother of Parliaments. Ever the diplomat, almost the kingmaker - he organised the leadership election when Iain Duncan Smith was up for the job - Sir Michael has survived where others have perished. Almost effortlessly, he managed to move from the hardline Thatcher years to the tea-and-biscuits era of John Major - no mean feat for a man who started his rise to prominence during the Edward Heath years.

This newspaper wishes a long and happy retirement to a man who - if not quite a Tory grandee - has served his constituency and country with dignity and honour. Of course, if he's looking for a future business partner, Ann Widdecombe will also have more free time soon. Now that would be a meeting of minds...