Last night’s annual kebab awards was a relatively understated affair. A combination of the Budget today, a Tory MP drinks reception in No. 10, a graduation ceremony for the Parliamentary CCF force and presumably plenty of left-wing MPs not wanting to be seen at a busy, hot, sweaty drinks reception resulted in far fewer MPs in attendance than usual. Guido spent the night keeping an eye out for any MPs who, while advocating for masks in Parliament and wider society, forgot to continue their virtue signalling campaign at the private drinks reception:
All the above were spotted by Guido maskless and mingling among the drunken crowd.
Repeated references were made last night to Angela Rayner’s none appearance, with co-hosts Radio 1’s Chris Stark and Scott Mills uncomfortably bitching about the deputy leader’s absence – clearly no one had informed them she’s still on bereavement leave after losing someone very close to her. Upon hearing the co-hosts mention Rayner wasn’t going to be there, one sarcastic Labour MP within earshot of a co-conspirator audibly told their dining companion, “oh what a shame”…
While those from all sides of the political aisle are invited to the annual National Kebab Awards, it tends to be a majority left-wing, metropolitan, diverse affair. Even with this natural home crowd, Corbyn wasn’t entirely warmly received, with lots of booing audible. Why vegetarian Corbyn attends a kebab award ceremony in the first place is beyond Guido…