The Mirror’s Political Editor job is a much-prized title for any high-flying, ambitious and – most importantly – pro-Labour political hacks. Now Pippa’s moved aside in favour of The Guardian – a paper in need of a regular SW1 scoop-getter – Guido’s turned his attention to who might be next in line for the star prize. Runners and riders currently within the Mirror family are highlighted in red…
Job news! I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be rejoining The Guardian as Political Editor this summer, taking over from the inestimable @GuardianHeather. Very excited about working with the brilliant politics team to hold politicians and power to account. https://t.co/qUyDZ4BmMc
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) May 10, 2022
Commiserations to Ben Riley-Smith…
During PMQs The Mirror’s Pippa Crerar dropped a deliberately-timed new photo of an event we already knew about – the No. 10 Christmas Zoom Quiz. Previously the Lobby went mental over a screenshot of Stuart Glassborow (the PM’s Deputy PPS) wearing a bit of tinsel – it failed to meet the Metropolitan Police’s threshold for investigation; the new photo shows an open bottle of £12 Prosecco. We’re now told this makes it meet the threshold for investigation.
Given Gray has fully investigated this event, she’ll have known about the booze, the police will therefore have been told about the open bottle, if not already have the photo among their collection of 300 – they didn’t change their mind. The Lobby had a meltdown over the Guardian garden gathering picture that featured the PM and Carrie drinking red wine. That, despite the existence of booze and many more people, didn’t meet the threshold. A last attempt to get another Tory MP over the no confidence letter line ahead of recess…
The Daily Mirror’s coverage of the Jenrick affair is very muted. In fact it is hard to find it mentioned in the printed version of the paper at all this morning. You would have thought a Tory sleaze with billionaires story would be splashed day in, day out all over the front pages of the Daily Mirror. Pippa Crerar, the political editor, loves nothing more than bashing the Tories and sticking it to the powerful. So how come she’s so silent on this story?
Could it be because at the infamous fundraising dinner the Mirror’s editor-in-chief, Lloyd Embley, was there too? Guido spoke to the usually ebullient editor and asked him if it was true, that he was sat at the table with Richard Desmond – off whom he negotiated the purchase of the Daily Star and Daily Express. He was a tad evasive, though he didn’t deny it.
Perhaps Pippa could ask her editor-in-chief what was said at the table. She might get a scoop. Though given her editor has been sitting on the story for months and Richard Desmond owns 8% of her employer, Guido is not sure how fearless she is going to be in speaking truth to power…
Always a conference highlight, iNHouse Communications’ Toryoke did not fail to disappoint last night – with journos, SpAds, and MPs busting moves and straining their vocal cords. The very merry crowd presumably included some former Bullingdon Club members with the amount of smashed glass about. That or some of the singing was more atrocious than Guido can recall..
The assembled crowd were treated to Sky’s Beth Rigby throwing some serious shapes alongside the BBC’s Vicki Young in an impassioned performance of Katy Perry’s Roar. Watch it here…
Bim Afolami showcased his singing talent alongside the Sunday Times‘ Caroline Wheeler with an heartfelt rendition of Time After Time:
Also unforgettable was the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar leading a cheeky but amazing performance of Things Can Only Get Better. Sadly Guido was too busy singing along to film it…