{"id":548346,"date":"2026-04-24T13:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548346\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:40:08","slug":"who-is-cravat-man-neckwear-steals-the-show-in-olly-robbins-parliamentary-grilling-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548346\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is \u2018cravat man\u2019? Neckwear steals the show in Olly Robbins parliamentary grilling | Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was blockbuster viewing for politicos across the country: the livestreamed grilling of Olly Robbins<\/a>. While the sacked Foreign Office civil servant was billed as the star of the show, for many he was upstaged by a well-dressed man wearing a cravat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a big collection,\u201d said Andrew Edwards, the scene stealer in question.<\/p>\n

His appearance in the background of parliament\u2019s foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday provoked many questions. Who is he and why is he rocking a cravat? The answer to the latter question is actually quite simple. \u201cI\u2019m a sad person. They save the dirt around your neck from getting on to your shirt collar. I like to have my collars white and smart,\u201d he said. Edwards owns cravats in many colours, his favourites being red, blue and green.<\/p>\n

The look was completed by a red pocket handkerchief. Photograph: House of Commons\/UK parliament\/PA<\/p>\n

Edwards, who is a Wiltshire<\/a> town councillor, has been attending committee hearings and court cases for more than 20 years. He has often found himself in the company of high-profile names, including Alastair Campbell, Boris Johnson and Prince Harry, who he called a \u201csloucher\u201d.<\/p>\n

While court proceedings are not usually broadcast, select committee hearings are livestreamed on parliament\u2019s website, as well as by major broadcasters. Edwards says it is worth making the extra effort to attend the sessions, which are open to the public, in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t watch them from home because you would want to do the ironing or some other work and you wouldn\u2019t get to focus on what was being said. When you\u2019re there from beginning to end, there\u2019s very little that you miss,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Edwards was visible for Robbins\u2019 entire appearance before the committee, which lasted about two and a half hours. The sacked Foreign Office civil servant, who was forced out of his post after a Guardian investigation revealed<\/a> his department overruled a decision to deny Peter Mandelson security vetting clearance, was commended by many commentators for being sharp, calm and convincing.<\/p>\n

Edwards behind the former Labour communications chief Alastair Campbell, caught on C-Span. Photograph: Screengrab<\/p>\n

What did Edwards make of his performance? \u201cAbsolutely terrible. The first job is to sit up straight, because that gives you ownership of the room,\u201d he said. \u201cThe minute you start slouching, your voice starts to waver and it doesn\u2019t come across with the authority that it should do when you\u2019re a permanent secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

If he sat in the seat of the committee\u2019s chair, Emily Thornberry, Edwards said he would have had some words of advice for Robbins: \u201cSit up straight, Olly. Focus on us and keep your answers as succinct as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edwards said he attends hearings in order to stay fully informed, so he is able to \u201ctalk with friends, colleagues and family\u201d about politics. He finds this especially important in an age when people seek to criticise public servants, including MPs. \u201cYou\u2019re not just saying everyone is bad in parliament, because they\u2019re not. They work exceedingly hard in these committees and they\u2019ve also got to go back to their constituencies and deal with everyday issues,\u201d he said. \u201cI like to pay that respect by focusing on what they\u2019re doing when they\u2019re in committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has been taken aback by the attention he (and his cravat) has received this week. \u201cI don\u2019t know why it has caught people\u2019s attention,\u201d he said. Nonetheless, he believes dressing smartly is important for such events. \u201cIf you look smarter, it enables you to engage better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former BBC chair Samir Shah giving evidence to parliament under the scrutiny of Andrew Edwards. Photograph: Screengrab<\/p>\n

Despite his close proximity to prime ministers, government ministers and members of the royal family, he said he had never been denied entry to the events. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t ask who you are. I tell them that I\u2019m just a bloke and I\u2019m here to sit in the public gallery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For those who might want to follow in Edwards\u2019 footsteps and see public service and accountability in action, he has some words of advice: \u201cThink about your local authority, even your town or parish council. Think about Stormont. Think about Holyrood. Think about the Senedd. Wherever you are in the United Kingdom, there will be this kind of work going on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was blockbuster viewing for politicos across the country: the livestreamed grilling of Olly Robbins. While the sacked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-548346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}