Londoner’s Diary
Labour woes up in Rochdale didn’t stop party leader Sir Keir Starmer from enjoying a Valentine’s evening with his wife Victoria.
We spotted the couple, who may be in 10 Downing Street by the end of this year, kicking back at the King’s Cross Everyman cinema on V-day for a preview screening of Bob Marley: One Love, the biopic about the Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter.
The high-end picturehouse is fitted with sofas and a burger service. But even on the most romantic night of the year, Sir Keir’s important job impinges. The couple, above, were accompanied in the cinema by his police protection detail.
Sir Keir is an avowed reggae fan. He is reported to enjoy the songs of Desmond Dekker, along with Marley.
First outing for new Labour signing
How is Labour mobilising its star new recruit, Richard Walker? The Iceland supermarket boss popped up in a party video from shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday, where he praised her knowledge of the economy. Labour hopes Walker, above, will lend business credibility to the party, although unfortunately it forgot to identify him in his first outing.
Walker spectacularly defected to Labour two weeks ago, saying the party was “the right choice” for Iceland customers and Sir Keir Starmer “has exactly what it takes to be a great leader”. Which is odd because only a few months before, Walker wrote a begging letter to Rishi Sunak which read: “It is my most fervent wish that I succeed in becoming an approved Conservative party candidate, and I have — over the last two years — given my all to earning that privilege.” He was rejected by the Tories and soon after became a Labour man.
Walker’s volte-face has provoked a flurry of business endorsements for Sir Keir in recent weeks.
Sir Michael upstages Sunak
The Prime Minister turned up to the BFI chairman’s annual dinner last night at the Rosewood Hotel. But he was far from the star guest. That honour probably went to Sir Michael Caine, 90, the now retired elder statesman of British film. He sat with wife Shakira and a beardy Sir Kenneth Branagh. It was really director Christopher Nolan’s night, though, as he scooped a prestigious BFI fellowship. With his wife and creative partner Emma Thomas, Nolan posed with Rishi Sunak. Nolan’s collaborators Cillian Murphy, Josh Hartnett and Tom Conti were also there, along with two industry couples: Zawe Ashton and Tom Hiddleston, and Michelle Dockery and Jasper Waller-Bridge.
