Maggie had to face Neil Kinnock. OK, so Kinnock was much more original than Biden; he still wasn't fit to carry Maggie's handbag.
That's a bit different - Our Maggie wasn't going for what is in its essence, a job which is as academic as well as judicial. It is rather like having a nuclear physicist being questioned before being allowed to take up a job teaching physics, by a bunch of bed wetting 5 year olds.
Regards, Ivan