Articles tagged Diary:
ConHome Diary: Feeling Sorry For Ed Balls (No, Really)
- 6 Feb 2015
I suspect I am alone here, but I did feel a twinge of sympathy for Ed Balls this week after forgetting the surname of a man he had just spent the evening with at a Labour fundraising dinner, and who runs Labour’s Small Business Advisory Group. I couldn’t believe it became such...
ConHome Diary: Why I Wear Garish Ties on TV
- 30 Jan 2015
The Political Book Awards have been going for three years now. I started the event three years ago because I felt there was a real gap in the market for it. Political literature has always been seen as the black sheep of the literary family. Publishers tend to shy away from po...
ConHome Diary: The Green Manifesto Will Make UKIP's Look Sane
- 23 Jan 2015
I’m not really sure how any politician can introduce plain paper packaging on cigarette packets and still maintain with a straight face that they are Conservatives. What’s next? Plain packaging on cans of lager? Mars Bars? Packets of crisps? It’s the nanny state writ large. If...
ConHome Diary: Discover Who my 'Tosser of the Week' Is! (Clue: It's Not Russell Brand)
- 16 Jan 2015
I’ve read some daft diary stories in my time – indeed, I’ve written quite a few of them – but the Londoner’s Diary took the biscuit on Thursday when they reckoned Nigel Farage’s new book THE PURPLE REVOLUTION (which I am publishing on 5 March) could count as a UKIP election ex...
ConHome Diary: Yes, The Greens Should Be Classed as a 'Major Party'
- 9 Jan 2015
So David Cameron and Boris Johnson are both attempting to lose weight. Join the club. Boris is a natural porker and although we often see footage of him running, I suspect he has a constant battle keeping the pounds off. David Cameron and I are have a similar body shape. We ar...
Why I am Jealous of Mehdi Hasan
- 19 Dec 2014
Mehdi Hasan is someone who most people on the right love to hate. Opinionated, clever, robust and on the left, he has moved from being a talented writer to a brilliant broadcaster on Al Jazeera. It has just been announced that he is leaving the Huffington Post to take up a ful...
Rory Bremner is the New Host of the Political Book Awards
- 19 Dec 2014
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 ...
ConHome Diary: Why is Shagging So Popular In Politics?
- 12 Dec 2014
I’ve never quite worked out why it is that people in politics tend to indulge in inter-political shagging in a way that just doesn’t happen in other sectors. At least, I don’t think it does. Certainly publishing and radio are chaste by comparison. Or maybe it’s just that I’m i...
ConHome Diary: The Extradordinary Vince Cable & Snubbing Russell Brand
- 5 Dec 2014
Appearing on The Andrew Marr Show is always fun, and so it was last Sunday. The previous time I reviewed the papers on it, earlier in the year, my co-reviewer was the actress Sheila Hancock. Suffice it to says that we didn’t get on. Last Sunday, my paper reviewing partner was...
ConHome Diary: Three Days With Valerie Trierweiler
- 28 Nov 2014
I spent most of Sunday to Tuesday with Valerie Trierweiler, former First Lady of France, who was over in London publicising her book, which I have published. Virtually the whole time she was here, she was followed by the French press pack. Most of the time they kept a discreet...