Londoner’s Diary
Stickler for detail Penny Mordaunt gave the Telegraph a ticking-off today after it reported that she had carried out 40 fundraising events with Tory candidates across the country since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister.
The implication was that Mordaunt is manoeuvring for the Tory leadership. In a letter to the editor, Mordaunt didn’t deny the story but instead informed the paper that she had in fact done more than 70 such events, “and I intend to continue such visits in the coming weeks and months. I’ll be right there with them, campaigning on the doorstep and lending my support to ensure these fine people secure their seats in Parliament.”
Mordaunt’s outriders still insist she doesn’t want to snatch the crown from Sunak, but party members may have different ideas. In the latest survey of them by the Conservative Home website, she ranks as their second favourite cabinet minister.
Zac bags a Bond girl
Lord Goldsmith, the one-time candidate for London mayor, has gone Instagram-official with his new girlfriend, society belle Hum Fleming. The former Tory MP, 49, reshared Fleming’s Instagram post in aid of Epilepsy Awareness Day yesterday, with the caption “Proud” and a series of heart emojis. Hum, 34, (real name Hermione) is the great-niece of Bond author Ian Fleming and works in fashion PR. She has had no lasting memories since the age of 13 when she had her first epileptic seizure, and is now an ambassador for an epilepsy charity. She and Goldsmith were first spotted dining together at 5 Hertford Street last month.
“Guinness is good for me,” says Northern Ireland secretary
British politics can be a miserable business for those in the thick of it, but there are certain perks to life in Westminster. For example, the presence of all those wealthy corporate lobbyists trying to court favour with politicos. Last night drinks titan Diageo threw what is, in our thirsty opinion, one of the best lobbying events of the year: the Guinness pub quiz.
At a fancy pub on Whitehall just up the road from Parliament, politicians, advisers and journalists got tanked up on free pints of the black stuff while facing a barrage of trivia. Some questions drew attention to how high those pesky alcohol duties are these days, a fairly unsubtle way to make a point to the assembled opinion shapers. But we could endure it for the free booze.
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris naturally made an appearance. “‘I’ve got to a certain age where bubbles aren’t good for me, but Guinness is good for me,” he told us. His team, “It’s Cummings Home”, bagged second place but were beaten to first place by the Scotland Office. In third place, the Evening Standard’s team triumphed over all but one of our newspaper competitors (the Telegraph came joint second). It was another strong performance for the Standard after the parliamentary press gallery quiz earlier this year, where we also did well.
Where the Street has no name
Tory campaign headquarters (CCHQ) seem undeterred by criticism of their latest series of attack ads about “life under Labour”. The first featured an ominous American voiceover claiming Sadiq Khan had “seized” power in London to make it “crime capital of the world” while showing black-and-white footage of New York (since deleted). It was panned across the board, with the editor of the Tory-leaning Spectator magazine calling it “one of the worst videos CCHQ has ever produced”. Now they have turned their attention to the country’s second city of Birmingham, in what they describe as “a tale equally chilling”. The same narrator blames the city’s Labour-run council for its woes. Conveniently, they leave out any mention that Khan’s opposite number in Birmingham is a Conservative: Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street. Funny that.
Horner’s well wishes for Kate
Motorsports maestro Christian Horner is enjoying the Melbourne Grand Prix after weeks of tough newspaper headlines here in the UK about him. As well as dealing with a workplace accusation of inappropriate behaviour which he emphatically denies, Horner, above, and his wife Geri Halliwell-Horner are also facing complaints from neighbours who don’t want them to build a swimming pool.
Though he is currently away from the glare of the British press, Horner couldn’t escape the intrepid Londoner. On our hols in Australia, we caught up with the Red Bull team boss and asked if he had heard the latest about another headline-making couple: the Waleses. “It’s very sad to hear about Kate’s diagnosis,” he said, “but Kate, William and their three children are a strong family. I’m hoping she will be okay. She will fight it with everything she has and hopefully there’s good news soon.” Amen to that.
