Betjeman banned, Auden ‘too filthy’ – why do we still have politicians acting as gatekeepers to the poetic tradition?

No 10 blocked Ted Hughes from becoming poet laureate because he was ‘unsuitable’, John Betjeman for being ‘lightweight’ and WH Auden after he was rumoured to have written erotica. Luke Wright says they’re missing the point

Sir John Betjeman was initially overlooked as poet laureate because he was considered a lightweight ‘versifier’, newly released official files reveal (PA) (PA Archive)

I spend half my life banging on about how awful the government is and yet the thought that some of them might pass comment on my poetry deeply offends my artistic sensibilities. What the hell would they know, cretins! Rank hypocrisy? Perhaps, or maybe it’s just the dextrous duality of the poet’s mind. Either way, whilst it seems fitting for poetry to be political, to speak truth to power, it feels strange when the political world has to offer up some lit crit.

Last month we had the news that Jeremy Corbyn and Len McClusky plan to finally make poetry accessible with their anthology Poetry For The Many. I haven’t rushed to buy a copy but it did at least lead to an amusing exchange on Twitter where centrists mistook lines from Shelley’s “The Masque of Anarchy” for Corbyn-penned doggerel.

This week, newly released official papers have revealed the behind-the-scenes wrangling that took place in the 60s and 70s when government ministers and their advisors were trying to recommend the next poet laureate to Elizabeth II.