Stanley Johnson has last laugh at Clarks party

As a member of the Clarks shoe family from Somerset, BBC economics correspondent Hugh Pym played a key role in signing up Mark Palmer, a distant cousin and scion of the Huntley & Palmers biscuit company, to write a history of the footwear firm. The book, Made to Last, was launched last night at the Haymarket Hotel.

“There were all sorts of problems about who should be in the book and who should be left out but Mark handled it diplomatically,” said Pym who, at 6ft 7in and with size 14 feet, has to buy his shoes at High & Mighty.

Palmer noted that while most family firms last three generations, Clarks has gone on for seven. But it was bailed out by Huntley & Palmers in 1863.

Shoemaker Emma Hope, style guru Peter York, historian Bettany Hughes and columnist Janet Street-Porter all said they admired the shoes and the book.

Somerset man Stanley Johnson said the key to a last is it retains its shape longer than your foot. “How long did your last last last?” he asked.