Sir Doug Ellis is a name more familiar with the footballing world than the Westminster bubble, yet the former chairman of Aston Villa football club has just opened his cheque book to donate £10,000 to Andrew Mitchell.

Word of an interesting tale from Ellis’ Villa tenure reaches Guido – back in the day the authoritarian chairman was engaged in fairly brutal boardroom battles with his arch-nemesis Bill Dugdale. And just who is Sir William “Bill” Dugdale?

None other than David Cameron’s uncle…