Richard Tice's Theresa May act, election launch chaos & Laura Trott's lavish lifestyle
Apologies for the brief interlude. Sir Arbuthnot took a break but couldn't resist returning for a snap election. Stay tuned...
The spirit of May continues
Theresa May might have departed the Commons for the last time, but it seems her legacy remains during the election.
Something of a mild illness seems to already be spreading around SW1. Multiple journalists have already lost their voices with a chronic cough doing the rounds.
It seems Reform UK leader Richard Tice has also come down with a Theresa May-style cough, though thankfully avoided the issue being broadcast on live TV while his set fell apart around him.
Speaking to journalists after his election launch in Westminster, he had to pause the Q&A as his constant coughing left him unable to talk, until an aide brought him much-needed water.
Tory chaos from the off
The day of the election announcement could have gone smoother for Rishi Sunak, what with being drenched and drowned out by Steve Bray.
Thankfully further operational chaos went unbroadcast later on in the evening, after the PM dragged journalists to East London for a hastily arranged campaign rally.
Journalists still working away in Westminster were called to the ExCeL centre at 19:15, and told to get there by 19:50. Just one problem - it takes 42 minutes to get there on the underground.
Having got there in the nick of time, leaving the event was no smoother. With just one lift available to take attendees - journalists, cabinet ministers and activists alike - down to the exit, an enormous crowd was left stuck in the tiny, sweaty corridor.
Some Cabinet Ministers even tried making a Great Escape-style run for it down the fire stairs, only to be called back up and warned the route was locked.
Gillian Keegan began openly warning an ExCeL security officer that such a move was likely in breach of health and safety laws…
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Tory dress code
Beachcomber learns from one CCHQ old hand that the much slicker 2019 campaign organisation actively warned Conservative staffers in HQ “not to dress like twats” in case an event ever needed broadcasting from their office.
Among the contraband fashion items provided as an example included red trousers, tweed and Barbour.
Sir Arbuthnot very much wonders whether such attention to detail has been replicated this year.
Laura will annoy the Trottskyists
Unfortunate timing for Tory rising star and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott.
Amid a snap election campaign with mass concerns about real-terms spending cuts and record high taxes, Ms Trott appears prominently in the latest edition of high society magazine Tatler, in a profile written by former Boris aide Cleo Watson.
Images show her decked out in a £1,190 jacket, a £1,990 skirt, £525 shoes, and a £2,800 suit.
She also boasts about frequently dining at the Wolseley or enjoying margaritas at Soho House.
It appears Rishi might be facing competition after the frequent rows about his Prada shoes…
