ANDREW PIERCE: Ann Widdecombe says a caller posing as Boris Johnson tried to persuade her to join a new political party
Booming down the telephone was a voice that sounded familiar to dozens of current and former Conservative MPs.
It was Boris Johnson, no less, trying to persuade disaffected Tories to unite under a new party political banner — a year after he was ousted as Tory leader.
Or was it? One of the recipients, Ann Widdecombe — the former Tory minister and Strictly Come Dancing star — was suspicious.
‘I was in a busy restaurant when the phone went,’ she tells me. ‘Yes, it sounded like authentic Boris, who fired off reasons why I should join him.
‘I said I would call him back but he never gave me a number. I said to my friends that the caller was someone posing as Boris.’
Booming down the telephone to Ann Widdecombe was a voice that sounded familiar to dozens of current and former Conservative MPs. It was Boris Johnson
Widders then emailed Boris, who confirmed it had been a mischievous ruse, ending his reply with the message: ‘Vote Tory’. But no one has been able to establish whether it was a stunt by a rival party or an attempted media sting.
Widdecombe is no stranger to cases of mistaken identity. She was driving on a motorway after standing down as an MP at the 2010 election when the phone went.
It was someone claiming to be the new prime minister David Cameron. The doughty Widders shot back: ‘You’re not David Cameron’ and, despite her caller’s protests, terminated their conversation there and then.
But a niggling doubt persisted and she stopped at the next service station to telephone Downing Street to be told by the switchboard operator: ‘Oh yes, Miss Widdecombe. The Prime Minister is expecting your call.’
A new study suggests that a prawn mayo sandwich with crisps and a drink leaves a carbon footprint equivalent to a 53-mile car journey between London and Brighton. With the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (Ulez) being expanded from tomorrow, can we expect London Mayor Sadiq Khan to ban the sale of the sarnie?
Quote of the week: After the Lib Dems prompted ridicule by saying menstruation is not just a women’s issue, the no-nonsense Tory party deputy chairman Lee Anderson says: ‘While you’re at it, why don’t you send all women over 50 a reminder to get their prostate checked?’
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt thinks his Labrador, Poppy, is a serious contender for the Westminster Dog of the Year title. ‘She is a huge character as well as the most important member of our family,’ he says. Not sure his wife Lucia will be happy to hear that.
When he was first elected as a Tory MP in 2010, Rory Stewart prided himself on being an independent spirit
Rory’s creepy camaraderie
When he was first elected as a Tory MP in 2010, the Old Etonian former diplomat Rory Stewart prided himself on being an independent spirit.
Then ambition got the better of him.
‘After five years on the backbenches I noticed to my eternal shame that I was sending creepy texts to David Cameron [the then PM] congratulating him on his latest speeches in the hope that he might promote me.’
Much good the brown-nosing did him.
Cameron eventually made Stewart, right, the lowest of the low: minister for water and forestry affairs at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
With 2,000 artefacts worth millions of pounds plundered from the British Museum, the trustees are dealing with the worst PR disaster in its 270-year history.
Who have they got to try to clear up the mess?
Step forward new head of communications Lizzie Loudon, whose last big job in the public sector was press secretary to Theresa May in Downing Street. That went well.
The sort of shameless bandwagon-jumping by politicians during the Women’s World Cup is nothing new.
Lord Finkelstein, who was William Hague’s adviser when he was Tory leader, says: ‘William said he supported his local team Rotherham United.
He didn’t, but felt he had to have a team. So I had to follow them to make sure he wasn’t caught out.’
Source: Read Full Article
