Choosing a host for the next year’s Political Book Awards has been a very tortuous process. For the first two years of this event, which takes place at the IMAX on the South Bank each year, we have used the wonderful Gyles Brandreth, and he has been superb. He’s funny, risqué and you have complete confidence that if something goes wrong, he’ll cope. And there aren’t many people who can do that. But you have to keep events like this fresh, so this year we decided to seek a new host. But who? We needed someone who could be funny, who a political and publishing audience could relate to and who could keep the show on the road. Well I’m delighted to announce that Rory Bremner has agreed to host the evening. I had a meeting with him this week and he treated me to some of his new impressions. His David Cameron is absolutely superb. Like others I think Rory found it difficult to “get” Cameron initially, but I can promise you, it’s now spot on. He still finds Nick Clegg a challenge though. My advice was that he just needed to sound permanently indignant and slightly petulant.
