Diary: Why it pays to be conservative at parties
Tuesday 20 December 2011
Related articles
Now that Aidan Burley has been sacked from the Government over that stag party where a guest dressed as a Nazi and others chanted Hitler's name, he will have lost the faux glamour that goes with being in the fast lane for promotion.
One person who experienced the Burley magnetism when he was a rising star was a 22-year-old Oxford graduate named Jodie Jones, whom he helped to inspire to become one of the country's youngest elected councillors.
"Throughout university, and in the year afterwards I spent working abroad, politics was never far from my mind," she told Stylist magazine in August. "When I came back to my home town of Cannock, I found out that a young Conservative, Aidan Burley, had been voted in as MP of Cannock Chase, and this was an ex-mining Labour stronghold.
"I knew I had to meet Aidan, so I wrote to him and asked to work in his office. I 'shadowed' him for a few weeks and spent a week in Westminster... I decided almost immediately that I was going to run for councillor in Cannock Chase, and I got elected in May of this year."
Alas, she had not been in office long before she discovered how embarrassing photographs taken on social occasions can be. The press uncovered old Facebook photos of her at a university party, in one of which she was sitting on the floor looking very much the worse for drink.
That was foolish, perhaps, but at least she can now take comfort from knowing she is not the biggest prat among the Cannock Conservatives.
Dear leading by example
The website FleetStreetBlues picked up a much under-reported aspect of the life of North Korea's Kim Jong-il yesterday.
A book published in 1983 paid tribute to him as a "great teacher of journalists", giving the example of a hack who lazily supposed that he could write up a story about pepper plantation from the comfort of his office. The Dear Leader was having none of this, and escorted him "to a rugged ravine and (across) a flooded river to personally count the bushes."
"Comrade journalist," Mr Kim declared, "you must see things on the spot before you write your articles. Otherwise you may talk big."
The shamed journalist blushed as he contemplated all the stuff he had written without venturing out to see for himself. An example to us all.
The wrong arm of the law
An argument between guests at a private party at the Staincliffe Hotel, Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, last week got so loud that someone called the police.
Three squad cars and a dog turned up – and discovered that the offending revellers were fellow officers, having a Christmas social.
Deripaska's notable visit
The Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska paid an unpublicised visit to London last week, not to fight a court battle, or buy a Premier League football club, but to listen to music.
When he is not busy presiding over En+, one of the world's largest mining, metals and energy conglomerates, or entertaining the likes of George Osborne and Peter Mandelson aboard his yacht, the oligarch also disperses millions through the Volnoe Delo charitable foundation.
Last week, he was host at a concert in Sloane Square by some of Russia's greatest classical performers, including the renowned violist Yury Bashmet. The financier Nat Rothschild, the head of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Lady Judge, and the Russian ambassador Alexander Yakovenko were there. Lord Mandelson was invited but did not make it.
High times at the Archives
You would not think of the National Archives in Kew as the place to find hard drugs, but a researcher delving in the dusty archives came upon 19 sachets of white powder in a package sent to London by the British consulate in Cairo in 1928. It was a gram of heroin, since surrendered to the Metropolitan Police.
Other items that have turned up in the National Archives from time to time include a mummified rat, the death mask of a 16th-century Dean of York, and a pair of red pyjamas reputedly worn by a man arrested for having sex with 32 men while wearing women's make-up.
From the blogs
Nike kit deal puts England at No 2 in the world (but which country is top?)
As England’s new football strip – made by Nike – is revealed today, new research shows the English F...
The Photography Blog: ‘Control Order House’ by Edmund Clark – Photographing our response to terrorism
Recent events in Boston have served as a painful reminder of the threat posed by terrorism. In Contr...
Dish of the Day: 24 hour dining
When I was first in talks about this job, I was surprised to hear we were planning to open on the we...
Parachute Youth: Supporting Rudimental is not a clash of interests
I’ve not heard many bands that had quite the same kick as Pendulum did. Their unbelievable fusion of...
-
Have shock jocks gone too far after Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a slut?
-
The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey pays more income tax than big cities of the North
-
British business: We need to stay in the European Union - or risk losing up to £92bn a year
-
World news in pictures
-
British father faces charges after confessing to slitting his two children's throats in Lyon flat
- 1 The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey pays more income tax than big cities of the North
- 2 Gareth Bale agrees new £130,000-a-week Tottenham contract - but can leave next season for £50m
- 3 'Revenge porn' is no longer a niche activity which victimises only celebrities - the law must intervene
- 4 The moral case on tax avoidance is overwhelming - and we all know Google wants to do the right thing
- 5 Sam Wallace: The second coming of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea will be a reunion that can only end in tears
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
iJobs People
Project Manager NHS
£350 - £500 per day: Progressive Recruitment: Project Manager - Public Sector ...
HR Manager - Chinese Speaking
£30000 - £35000 Per Annum: The Green Recruitment Company: The Green Recruitmen...
HR Manager Nursery (Part time)
Negotiable: Capita Education Resourcing Permanent Team: HR Manager Independe...
HR Manager
£45000 - £50000 per annum + benefits: Huxley Associates: INTERIM HR MANAGER - ...
Day In a Page
The price of pacifism
Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond
Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?
Legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing
Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation'



Comments