Michael Gove
(Picture: PA)With other Tory big beasts away, Michael Gove has been a star of the conference this year.
When the Londoner saw Gove, below, meeting party members in a hotel lobby we introduced him to reality star Georgia Toffolo. He’s a fan, calling her “undoubtedly, next to Harry Redknapp, the best ever I’m a Celebrity contestant”. The ex-minister was excited by the idea that ‘Toff’ might be on a Legends version of the show soon. So what did he make of Jacob Rees-Mogg calling him the Tory Peter Mandelson, master of the dark political arts? “It’s one of the nicest things that anyone has ever said about me,” he smiled.
Elsewhere, PM Liz Truss was late for a meeting with Scottish Tories. Some in the audience urged Douglas Ross, who is Tory leader north of the border, to sing while they waited. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng laid low, though he was able to to address a Policy Exchange reception, praising the think-tank for being “twice as old as the OBR”, the body which marks his economic homework.
Why is Nadine in the mood for an election?
Nadine Dorries, the ex-Culture Secretary, criticised Liz Truss yesterday for having new policies without holding a general election. “If Liz wants a new mandate, she must take to the country,” Dorries said, despite backing Truss for PM just a few weeks ago. Some at Conference say Dorries is biased: she can’t make her tipped move to the House of Lords until she stands down as an MP. Party officials won’t let her do that, as it would mean a by-election they could lose.
Truss in “league table of chaos”, says Beeb interviewer
We met BBC Radio 4’s Nick Robinson yesterday, soon after he’d done an interview with Liz Truss for this morning’s Today programme, but he was worried about U-turns. “I was forced to say ‘Can we be sure the answer that you’ve just given me is the answer that will stand tomorrow?’”, he said. Robinson added that the PM’s reign so far has given her a place in politics’ “league table of chaos”.
Graham Norton on getting married
Chat show star Graham Norton has explained why he chose to get married this year after years of single life. Norton, 59, tied the knot with Jono at a ceremony in Cork, Ireland, this summer. “This relationship seemed stable and happy enough,” he says. “Also, as you hit 60, I feel the vows are easier: ‘Til death do us part’ suddenly seems achievable.”
Last night in town
Actors John Boyega and Lashana Lynch were at Leicester Square for their film The Woman King last night. Nearby, new Dr Who Ncuti Gatwa hugged his Sex Education co-star Emma Mackey at a showing of her new movie, Emily. Singers Ellie Goulding and Corinne Bailey Rae were up the road at the BMI music awards at the Savoy. Goulding, who won the president’s award, said it “means the world” to her.
