After a slow start as PM, Rishi Sunak has been on the attack of late, with an EU deal, asylum policy, and global summits. What changed? It may be the arrival of his new political secretary and old friend, James Forsyth. The pair went to Winchester College together, and Sunak was best man at Forsyth’s wedding.
Forsyth had been political editor of The Spectator, but left for Downing Street on Christmas Eve. Since then, his old boss, Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, has noted “the Forsyth effect in No 10”. Nelson said he tried to get Forsyth to stay, but “he thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance”.
Last year, Forsyth wrote that Sunak could beat Keir Starmer in an election. Tory MPs have seen a difference: one recently praised “competent and well-thought-through government”. That makes a change.
Andrew Marr laments “terrified” BBC
Former BBC political editor Andrew Marr has weighed in on the BBC’s latest crisis, saying the Corporation is “terrified, hemmed in on all sides by hostile rivals”, and treats the Government with the “flinching nervousness of an abused spouse”. Writing in the New Statesman, Marr, who left in 2021, says ex-colleagues tell him director-general Tim Davie “blew it and should now resign”. However, while Marr thinks chairman Richard Sharp, the Tory donor and friend of Boris Johnson, should depart, reform would be better than management change. Marr says the BBC should ditch the idea of “impartiality” and become the country’s “town square” for civilised political discussion instead. That seems a long way off just now.
High with the kids
Is taking drugs with your children the last taboo? Writer Hanif Kureishi, right, who has taken to writing soul-bearing missives online after a fall in Italy left him in hospital, admits: “I’ve had great cocaine nights with my children”. Kureishi adds: “I know friends who take MDMA with their kids, though this isn’t something I would do, out of the fear of talking too much.” It’s good to have boundaries.
Rock bottom?
The Government has opened applications to be the next governor of Gibraltar, which some might think is one of the cushiest jobs in the civil service. The winning candidate will get to boss people around in the Mediterranean sunshine. A key skill is “the ability to project authority and inspire confidence”, and part of the job is negotiating with the EU. Could one of our many idle former PMs send in a CV?
McCartneys in the house
At Sotheby’s on New Bond Street, Mary McCartney announced her takeover of the gallery. She was supported by famous friends and family, led by dad Sir Paul. McCartney’s show Can We Have a Moment? is a survey of her photographs from the past 30 years, and runs until April. “I love to observe life, to watch what is going on around me”, she said. Guests included US actor Rita Wilson, and singers Mel C and Jess Glynne. Nick Grimshaw and his partner Meshach Henry were there too.
