by Some toasted new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the launch of Simon Sebag Montefiore’s book The World at Mandarin Oriental last night
Michael Gove arrived late and said he was “very happy” with Sunak’s elevation to the top spot. “I am happy that Kemi and Suella have been persuaded,” he added, of the two former leadership aspirants who have continued to support Sunak.
Former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis congratulated Gove, but would not have been attracted to a Cabinet comeback. “I’m still trying to write my very, very boring book,” she told us. It is about Viscount Bolingbroke, a Tory who tried to overthrow the king. “But it may never be written.” Could he be busy again soon?
There was also Petronella Wyatt, left, an ex of Boris Johnson, who told us she once had a fight with Johnson when she said her knowledge of history was “patchy”. Wyatt told us not to cancel the former PM. “Her luck comes in three,” she said. Just like the Prime Ministers …
Stuck in the middle, to the sound of Radio One
Suspected BBC elevators struck again last night, as News at One presenter Ben Brown, pictured, was stuck between floors for three hours after his shift. Earlier, Brown had aired the news of the new Prime Minister. Each elevator plays a different BBC radio station, and he said that Radio One blaring was “starting to drive me crazy” after a while.
A technician got stuck in traffic, aggravating the ordeal. Other presenters and interviewees have been stuck earlier, so we asked the BBC press office this morning if there were any refurbishment plans. They told us the elevators have been fixed. But how long?
Read the runes of political upheaval
WITH events moving faster than a lettuce can wilt, at the moment it takes a brave scribe to write a political tome. Financial Times reporter Sebastian Payne must have witnessed Boris Johnson’s failed comeback attempt with some concern over the weekend: Payne’s The Fall of Boris Johnson will be out next month and it would need some hasty revisions.
Meanwhile, a biography of Liz Truss by reporters Harry Cole and James Heale has had another name change. Now it’s called Out of the Blue: the inside story of Liz Truss’s unexpected rise and rapid fall, with a two-week anticipated release date. The original title referred to Truss’s “surprising rise to power”. But Liz’s salad days are already over.
Hair today for a good cause
Diary of the Londoner 25 October
ACTOR Vicky McClure had a great time last night at hairdresser Louis Byrne’s I Can, I Am and I Will event. Immersive experience mixes hairstyle with mental health help. Labor leader Keir Starmer was at the Pride of Britain Awards in Mayfair with his wife Victoria. There was also Carol Vorderman and runner Sir Mo Farah, who did his Mo-Bot dance when we asked him what he was working on. In Qatar, model Naomi Campbell launched her new Emerge initiative to help fashion startups with YouTuber Jackie Aina.
