Robert Sheldon’s inability to resist asking tough, pertinent questions led to a run on the pound in 1967 when he challenged his chancellor James Callaghan on the floor of the House of Commons to reveal whether the government intended to devalue the currency. Sixteen years later the Labour politician was an apt choice to chair the newly beefed up public accounts committee.
In the era of Margaret Thatcher and other formidable politicians, Sheldon was arguably the most feared in Westminster. Like a modern-day witchfinder general, he would doggedly expose waste and inefficiency, dubious accounting and other wrongdoing over 14 years. Within government ministries, and the rising number of devolved agencies and quangos that invested taxpayers’ money, few were safe.
Sheldon made the most of the