How to make a white lady, David Cameron's favourite cocktail, according to Sarah Vine
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Times
2 days ago
- Times
Michael Gove kicks off over Breakfast and hosts' ‘inner Paxmans'
Things are not happy at Breakfast. Not only is the BBC morning show engulfed in controversy, but it has now been described as 'the worst news outlet in the country' by one of its former guests. 'You can tell the presenters are unhappy that they're not presenting the Today programme,' said the former minister Michael Gove at a Spectator event, 'so they summon up their inner Paxman.' Gove added that he was 'exasperated with the stupidity of the questions' and that 'the worst thing is people who think that they're good and want to have big personalities and possess neither'. The programme might be happy to have got under a politician's skin, but the words are still harsh. Then again, if the complaints of bullying at the show are accurate, they might be used to such things. It was a rare moment of rage from Gove on a night when he was on stage with his ex-wife Sarah Vine to promote her book. Those expecting dirty laundry to be aired were disappointed as the two were wonderfully kind to each other — perhaps with good reason. Fellow panellist Lord Swire said the whole evening was an attempt to sell copies of Vine's book and thereby 'reduce Michael's alimony'. The formerly-weds were on such good terms that someone in the audience said their divorce was the most amicable since 'the Duke and Duchess of York' — an especially unflattering comparison for Gove, which Vine immediately rubbished. 'Michael sweats,' she said. • Michael Gove on divorce, gay rumours, dating and the Camerons The government has quite literally gone dotty. There has been a seemingly needless rebrand of the website and someone has decided to make a big thing of the 'dot' in that address. It is thought that the dot is now a symbol of the government, but it is difficult to confirm this as the guidance on the rebrand doesn't appear to be written in English. The guidance, which is longer than the Strategic Defence Review, says: 'Our dot is the bridge between government and the UK' and is a 'guiding hand for life'. This enterprise cost £500,000, or 2,667 weeks of personal independence payments. MPs have little time to be aspiring statesmen as they are overwhelmed with local casework, but this can lead to a moment of note. For instance, Peter Swallow (Lab, Bracknell), raised his constituents' concerns after some wildlife had been run over in the area. It was charming to see a Swallow stand up for geese. You expect some journalists to have used hallucinogenic drugs, but not Matthew Parris, still of this parish. However, in characteristically polite style, he was only doing it to fit in with the locals. He tells Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? that it happened in the Amazon, where he partook of a 'poisoned tree frog'. 'You just go crazy,' he said. 'First I couldn't stand up, then I couldn't sit down.' His hosts sat under trees and saw the mysteries of the universe, while Parris dreamt that Denis Thatcher was telling him to get into the boot of Mrs Thatcher's car. Only an ex-Tory MP could go to the Amazon and see a Jaguar which wasn't a cat.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
The quiet man who could rescue the Tories
Kemi Badenoch's appointment of Lord McInnes of Kilwinning as the chief executive of Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) is, in the minds of senior Tories, unarguably one of the most important she's made. Known to everyone – friend and foe alike – as plain 'Mark', he is to be the full-time boss of the party structure, charged with everything and anything to do with rebuilding the Tories from his base at what many still call Conservative Central Office. The peer, ennobled by David Cameron in the former Tory prime minister's resignation honours list, is a former director of the Conservatives in Scotland. He also played a key role in the 2014 independence referendum when he helped assemble the all-party Better Together campaign team. Although a hugely controversial move – which saw Gordon Brown initially refuse to share a platform with Tories – Lord McInnes and the late lamented Alastair Darling helped weld an effective fighting force of Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives to defeat the SNP's plans to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom. Although the nationalists' 'Yes' campaign was very well funded, Better Together won the referendum vote by more than 10 per cent, prompting Alex Salmond's resignation as the SNP leader and Scottish first minister. 'Steeped in Conservative Party politics' Lord McInnes was also responsible for the backing he gave Ruth Davidson, as Scottish Conservative leader, in her successful bid to revitalise the largely moribund Tory party north of the border. Under her leadership, it became the official opposition to the SNP in the Scottish Parliament and doubled its number of MPs at Westminster. A former Tory councillor on Edinburgh city council, Lord McInnes is 'steeped in Conservative Party politics' and was said to have always kept his head when 'others around him are losing theirs'. The challenge is formidable. Even his allies believe that there is 'a paucity of talent' within Conservative ranks, but they also reckon that Lord McInnes is at least a 'grown-up and well respected politician'. It's clear that his main task on assuming office will be to prepare the party to take the fight to Reform UK, whose leader, Nigel Farage, aims to replace the Conservatives at every level of government. The latest opinion polls suggest Reform will hammer both Labour and the Tories at the next general election. But in that task, he at least knows what it's like to have the odds so heavily stacked against him. For most of his senior political life he has been up against an at times rampant SNP. It's true that the number of Tory MPs has slumped to five, but it is still the principal opposition party to the SNP in the Scottish Parliament. And while a long time backroom boy who seldom likes to see himself quoted in newspaper columns or seen on television programmes, and who has never engaged himself in personality politics, he's very aware of the strengths and weaknesses of those who do. Throughout almost the entirety of his time in the higher reaches of political life, he pitted himself and his beliefs against Salmond, whose nickname might have been Wee Eck, but who was also a great showman and no slouch when it came to a love of political stardom. In that, I'm sure that Lord McInnes will see a clear resemblance, as others do (including yours truly), with Nigel Farage. But just as he played a major part in the defeat of Salmond, so there will be hopes in Tory circles that he can do the same with Reform. Assiduous in studying results of research But in that mammoth task, he'll leave the personality game to Mrs Badenoch and her front bench team. There will be no histrionics. Instead, his many admirers tell of a politician whose every action and reaction will be evidence-based. He is assiduous in studying the results of research, surveys and opinion polls, and with opponents what he's looking for is the holes in their armour. In truth he has one helluva job to do, with a massively depleted party – depleted at every level, disastrously so in local councils, from whence normally springs a party's strength nationwide. As one admirer who accepts the onerous nature of his task commented: 'He's like the captain of the Titanic taking the helm after his ship has struck the iceberg.' But what there hasn't been is any doubt is Mrs Badenoch's appointment of this quiet man from Ayrshire. She's devoted a great deal of time and energy in her selection – she personally headhunted him.
Times
3 days ago
- Times
Andy Burnham fares well at Glastonbury — but winter is coming for PM
Andy Burnham may not have made the most headlines from Glastonbury, but many in Westminster will have found his performance there the most interesting. The mayor of Greater Manchester told the famously sober music festival about his opposition to the welfare bill and his hope that Labour MPs 'think carefully before they vote'. This blatant challenge to Keir Starmer has been noticed in London, as rumours swirl about Burnham's Westminster ambitions and, as ever with him, there's a flavour of Game of Thrones. Wagging tongues say that the so-called King in the North will be looking to speed up his march south this autumn. Starmer may feel that winter is coming. David Cameron was among partiers at the 60th birthday weekend of David Ross, co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse and Tory donor, who had guests wear lederhosen for an Austrian night and then black tie for a dinner the following evening. However, the jollity was added to when another ex-PM got the evenings mixed up and consequently looked like the lonely goatherd in a sea of dinner jackets. No prizes for guessing which ex-PM this was, but he of all people knows that when the goatherd moves, it moves. Glyndebourne couldn't give a Figaro on Sunday as the opera house's revolve broke, delaying the performance beyond the last train and leaving the audience stranded in the wilds of Sussex. It capped off a difficult weekend for the festival as Saturday night's Saul was abandoned after multiple power cuts. Some patrons took grim satisfaction as they have never warmed to the wind turbine which has been on site for 13 years. Annually, it generates the equivalent of 105 per cent of Glyndebourne's electricity but, sadly for a summer festival, is not much help on a still June night. Perhaps the soprano can blow on it. It's easy to forget that those great chums George Osborne and Ed Balls used to be chalk and cheese, but differences remain between the former chancellor and his shadow. After a mention of Mr Kipling cakes on their Political Currency podcast garnered a free sample, Balls started extolling Domino's in the hope of free pizza. Osborne cottoned on to this game, but rather more ambitiously. 'I quite like driving a Ferrari,' he said. 'And I'm a big fan of Bordeaux wine.' It is yet to be seen if there will be free claret for this former blue. • 'Suella's almost proposing marriage': Nigel Farage eyes the dispatch box Back on the subject of politicians' dress, Nigel Farage has been sporting what some thought to be a new Reform tie, but the dash of turquoise is actually a way of sucking up to his constituents at the Frinton Cricket Club. I'm told by denizens of East Anglia that Farage may have been drawn to the FCC for its 'well-appointed clubhouse bar and convivial atmosphere'. They also hope his fame may give the town a different reputation, admitting that it is best known for its 1970s appearance in signage for North Sea Ferries. On the sign which read 'Harwich for the continent', someone added 'Frinton for the incontinent'.
