Londoner's Diary: Oliver gets flak from Thatcher’s old warhorse

Getty Images / Oli Scarff / Staff
27 September 2016

David Cameron’s former communications director Sir Craig Oliver unleashed his demons with a Brexit book this week, accusing Theresa May of failing to back Remain in the EU referendum, and Boris Johnson of flip-flopping before the vote. With such a direct attack on a new PM from his own side, wasn’t Oliver breaking party etiquette? Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary Bernard Ingham — perhaps the Tory party’s most famous spin doctor — thinks so. Ingham laid into Oliver for his indiscretion when The Londoner phoned him yesterday.

“I take a pretty damn bad view of it,” Ingham harrumphed. “It doesn’t do much good for politics. They’re tearing each other apart.” Oliver has broken the first rule of press work, says the 84-year-old. “There’s not any concept of a cohesive party. I always thought it was my job to try to keep things together, despite complications.”

Ingham was interested in whether Oliver got clearance to divulge such sensitive information. “I’m astonished he got the book out so quickly,” he told us. “I wonder whether he got clearance from the Cabinet Office — I don’t see how he could have,” said Ingham, one imagines raising a bushy eyebrow. “The question needs asking: has he complied with the rules? They have a 30-year rule for Cabinet Office papers. This hasn’t lasted 30 days.” The Cabinet Office told us that Oliver did follow the correct process for publishing personal memoirs.

Cameron engineered a boost in severance pay for his special advisers when they had to leave office suddenly, so Oliver shouldn’t need the money. His and Cameron’s revenge is a case of the “black arts” — of which Ingham was the original master.

-----

Former culture minister Ed Vaizey was at Tate Britain last night for its annual party, saying, “I’m still very busy and very involved in the arts.” But there was no sign of his successor Matt Hancock in the crowd, which included Grayson Perry, broadcaster Melvyn Bragg and his partner Gabriel Clare-Hunt, former assistant to the late Lord Attenborough.

It was a last hurrah for outgoing Tate director Nick Serota, who looked demob happy at his final party.

Does Margaret have an inking for Daisy?

Congratulations to Minoo Dinshaw, whose biography of colourful Byzantine scholar Sir Steven Runciman was launched with a party above Ognisko restaurant in South Kensington last night. Joining him were a learned crowd including Mary Beard, Antony Beevor, Philip Hensher and Daisy Dunn, whose writes on Roman erotica. She has a task for ex-Apprentice judge Margaret Mountford, herself a budding classicist, who said last week that tattoos stop young people getting jobs. Dunn joked that she would be commissioning Mountford to design a tattoo for her. Carpe diem?

Boy's night out with Goldie

A touch of LA glamour in Mayfair last night as Goldie Hawn hosted her foundation’s charity dinner at Annabel’s. Goldie’s Love-In for the Kids, an annual event, aims to raise funds to help children with psychological and emotional problems and drew a star crowd, even on a school night.

Singer Rebecca Ferguson serenaded diners while Boy George and Hawn caught up in the members’ club’s Buddha Room. The charity auction was presided over by Sotheby’s Lord Dalmeny, while Guy Ritchie and his wife Jacqui Ainsley partied into the small hours. The event was put together by the Quintessentially Foundation, headed by Annabel’s stalwart Ben Elliot. Presumably he was on hand in case any guests’ behaviour went Overboard.

Harry’s advice for the Bond market

An evening of Hollywood academia last night, as Marylebone restaurant Locanda Locatelli hosted the annual FilmAid Quiz to raise money for media initiatives that help refugees. With James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli among the guests, The Londoner couldn’t resist asking for an update on who might replace Daniel Craig. She kept tight-lipped, but the evening’s host Harry Enfield had some ideas.“I think it should be Hugh Laurie,” he suggested. “I think it needs to be someone like Roger Moore: everyone would love Hugh Laurie.”

Laurie’s leading-man potential was cemented earlier this year with a villainous role in The Night Manager, but his co-star Tom Hiddleston received the most Bond speculation. “Oh no no no no,” Enfield exclaimed. “Not sexy. Very good but not sexy.” Actor Jason Isaacs was thinking a little more outside of the box. “I think it should be Maggie Smith,” he said.

The quiz was won by the Anglo-American Werewolves, fortunate enough to have Broccoli and director John Landis on their team. Chef Giorgio Locatelli oversaw proceedings, but there was no sign of his pal Kate Winslet. The Londoner reminded him of the time he heaved the actress over a garden fence by the buttocks. “When I meet people on the street they shake my hand and say ‘Hey, well done for handling Kate’s arse’,” he laughed.

Visit the FilmAid website for more information.

-----

To Savile Row tailor Huntsman last night for the Distinguished Gentlemans Ride, to mark a parade of motorcyclists who hit the streets of London last weekend. With the victory of Jeremy Corbyn, we asked creative director Campbell Carey if he had any style advice for him. “He wears everything too big,” he said with a smirk. So what’s the Huntsman stance on shellsuits? “There isn’t one.”

Have a slice of Brian

The Londoner said hello to an old friend at Christie’s last night, as the art collection of the Evening Standard’s late critic and former Christie’s employee Brian Sewell was displayed ahead of today’s sale. An impressive array of works were on show, from Hockney to Delacroix, with estimates up to £600,000. Noël Annesley, honorary chairman of Christie’s UK, a former colleague of Sewell’s, gave a personal guide to what was billed as a “secret collection”.

Among the gathering were two men who, in an homage to Brian’s love of dogs, brought along a pair of whippets. But if an oil painting might be a little steep, perhaps a smaller memento would be appropriate: the Courtauld Gallery secured Sewell’s library but doesn’t have room for everything. The remaining tomes will go on sale in October in the foyer.

-----

Recruit of the day: finance news site Money Matters has a new head of news, named... Justin Cash. He’ll go far.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in