Has anyone seen the anaconda?

Comparison:

There was always that slight sense of the anaconda in the chandelier if you got things wrong.

BBC writer Greg McKevitt capturing the essence of Margaret Thatcher's approach to controlling decisions and meetings took us to the aquatic tropics for his comparison. If you appreciated the snake metaphor, you'd probably also like references elsewhere in the article concerning dead sheep, badger baiting, crocodiles, and backseat drivers (not to mention variegated cricket metaphors for those who understand sticky wickets). Many thanks to Wayne A. for finding and pointing out these metaphors.

Context:

One of her ministers, Chris Patten, told the BBC in 2005 that Thatcher recognised ‘people need to be a bit scared of you if you're going to get your own way‘. Patten said that she had an ‘extraordinary style of summarising the conclusions of meetings at the beginning and then challenging the assembled company to say whether they thought she might be wrong‘. He added: ‘There was always that slight sense of the anaconda in the chandelier if you got things wrong.‘

Citation:

McKevitt, Greg. “‘It was Treachery with a Smile on its Face‘: The Shocking Downfall of Margaret Thatcher.“ BBC.com, 17 Nov. 2025. Web.

(Visual Image courtesy of Bing, Dec. 2025.)