Londoner's Diary: Petronella Wyatt talks Theresa May

In today's Diary: Petronella Wyatt talks Theresa May | Larry the Cat could be happier with Jeremy Corbyn | Nick Knight calls for a Minister for Fashion | Ken Livingstone heads to Russia? | Grayson Perry at Founders Forum
Petronella Wyatt (Getty images)
Getty Images
15 June 2017

Waterstones on Kensington High Street hosted the launch of Red Sky at Noon, the new book by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Guests included Petronella Wyatt, former Spectator journalist and the source of many an historic political titbit — she has written several profiles about Boris Johnson, David Cameron et al. But she didn’t have warm words for Theresa May, especially her dementia tax proposals.

“It was a frightful prospect,” Wyatt said. “She alienated her key voters: the greys.” Petronella’s 89-year-old Hungarian-born mother, Verushka, is residing in a home in Maida Vale close to Petronella’s home in St John’s Wood after she was diagnosed with dementia. “I cared for my mother for a long time and the thought of a dementia tax was too much to bear,” she said. “She’s never been happier. She’s in paradise: she thinks I married a billionaire, own two companies and live in Cape Town.”

Wyatt also waded into the next leadership race: “David Davis doesn’t want to do it, he’s 68. There’s no one else left except Boris.”

---

As Theresa May’s Government sways, Jeremy Corbyn looks ready to pounce. But what about the Larry the Cat — would he be toppled to make way for Corbyn’s own kitty, El Gato? This was the question posed to shadow chancellor John McDonnell at the bakers’ union conference. McDonnell assured the audience: “Jeremy Corbyn is an animal rights supporter, so that cat will have the best life if Jeremy Corbyn moves in.”

---

Where’s the Secretary of State for Style?

With all the reshuffling going on in Westminster, is it time for a minister for fashion? Nick Knight thinks so. At a Ketel One event last week, the photographer said other industries are given more attention.

Nick Knight (Getty Images)

“I’ve been in parliament because of this f***ing Brexit thing, excuse my language,” he said. “There was no voice of fashion.” Knight met Matt Hancock, minister for digital and culture, and found him agreeable, but there was room for improvement. “He’s been to a fashion show and he likes fashion because his 12-year-old son wants to be a designer, so he has a slight interest in it,” Knight said. “But the fashion industry takes in £8 billion every year, and yet we’re not represented in parliament.”

Who could Theresa May add to the table plan? Surely Anna Wintour could be up to the job?

---

The psephologists were front and centre of this election, especially the great David Butler, now 92, who fronted BBC election night from 1950 to 1979 and co-invented the Swingometer.

Prospect magazine nabbed him for a post-poll interview: “Oh, I was as surprised as everyone else,” he admits. “I can certainly say it is a different world.” But what of his grand debut on Twitter? He says he was “not experienced with Twitter at all before”, but “my sons persuaded me to get it”. Sadly, it probably won’t continue. “It’s not what I want to spend my nineties doing.”

---

Goodbye to Red Ken? Yesterday, Brian MacLaurin, chairman of Iredale Communications, bumped into Ken Livingstone. He quickly contacted Eye Spy MP on the Twitter account dedicated to spotting Westminster’s finest out and about, posting an image of the former Mayor. Where? Securing a visa at the Russian application office. In 2016 Ken appeared on Russia Today to sing Phil Collins’s Easy Lover. They must want him back.

Red Ken flies again (Getty images)

---

Political slogan of the day: “If Vince doesn’t run with the leadership campaign slogan ‘Strong and Cable’ then, quite frankly, he doesn’t deserve to be Lib-Dem leader.” Actor Simon Pegg presents his spin doctor credentials.

---

Corbyn starts to grow on Grayson

Last night at the Founders Forum 2017 launch party for London Tech Week, we met Grayson Perry and Jemima Khan. Grayson kept quiet throughout the election. “I was under purdah by Channel 4,” he told us. “I voted Labour of course and by the end of his campaign, I was even starting to quite like Corbyn!”

Jemima Khan with Grayson Perry (Getty images)

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