Londoner's Diary: Jacob’s jumpy as his nephew goes for gold

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16 August 2016

Congratulations to Olympian Lawrence Clarke, who progressed through his 110m hurdles heat at the Rio Olympics last night. He has more obstacles ahead before taking a place on the podium but his proud uncle, Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, is backing his talented nephew for success while teasing that he may have competition from a certain Prime Minister.

“My family and I are all very excited for Lawrence and will certainly be monitoring his progress with bated breath,” he told us yesterday, ahead of a late night of watching proceedings in Rio. “As I have absolutely no sporting ability I am overwhelmingly in awe of his achievements.”

Rees-Mogg’s boss, however, is his ultimate champion. “Theresa May has jumped over all the hurdles during the past few months,” he laughed. “She’s the champion hurdler of all time. And luckily the Labour Party is facing many hurdles. We’ve cleared the Brexit one — a great leap for Britain. And I hope Lawrence makes great leaps for Great Britain.”

Perhaps the best-connected man in sport, Eton-educated Clarke is heir to the Baronetcy of Dunham Lodge and can boast of being a distant relative of US Presidents Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

He isn’t the only Rio participant with friends in high places. The Londoner reported last week that Lord Kinnock encouraged Brazilian rugby sevens star Juliano Fiori to pick up the oval ball as a child. But both have some way to go in the glamour stakes: Salma Hayek is in Brazil to support her cousin Yvonne Treviño Hayek, representing Mexico in the long jump. The Londoner jumps for joy.

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While Theresa May is in Switzerland, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is in charge as the most senior politician left in town. Labour’s Angela Eagle kept her reaction succinct. “What?” she tweeted. “Arghh!”. Lib-Dem leader Tim Farron was more eloquent. “Putting Boris Johnson in charge of the country is like putting the Chuckle Brothers in charge of Newsnight.” Now that’s a show we’d stay up to watch.

Like father, like son for Theresa's Tories

After the resignation honours furore, Theresa May is keen to distance herself from any whiff of cronyism. So she may not wish to be reminded of the parentage of one of her new recruits.

The new PM is said to be limiting her Cabinet ministers to two special advisers each, and looking to avoid “troublemakers”. The latest to join the team is Jimmy McLoughlin, appointed to a business relations role yesterday.

McLoughlin certainly has the expertise to deliver — he was brought in from the Institute of Directors — but he also has pedigree: he is the son of newly appointed Conservative Party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin.

What to wear when you dine al fresco

Charles Saatchi is a regular at Scott’s in Mayfair, and he was back there yesterday with his girlfriend and sartorial guardian angel Trinny Woodall. Wearing a fetching white lace ensemble, Woodall looked positively angelic. The What Not to Wear presenter returned to our screens earlier this year, presenting a segment on This Morning without her friend and long-time TV partner Susannah Constantine. But losing a sidekick did nothing to tame Woodall’s sharp tongue: during a fashion-based section she informed Holly Willoughby, the show’s host, that her outfit looked cheap. No wonder Saatchi sticks with suits.

Jade the jumper’s identity crisis

To the Southbank’s Mondrian Hotel last night, for an evening of Olympics chat hosted by La Maison Rémy Martin and featuring a Q&A with former champion shooter Peter Wilson MBE and high jumper Dalton Grant.

Also in attendance was Jade Johnson, the former long jumper and Strictly Come Dancing contestant and now a mum-to be. With Team GB currently second in the medals table in Rio conversation proved spirited, and talk soon turned to whether or not sportsmen have high libidos. “Well,” Wilson laughed, “the 45,000 condoms that the guys in Brazil have gone through certainly suggest that.”

Johnson laughed, patting her bump, saying: “Obviously I didn’t get the memo.”

But sports stardom has its pitfalls. “I’ve actually had paparazzi follow me, and I know it’s not because they think I’m Jade Johnson the long jumper but because they think I’m Leona Lewis,” Johnson laughed. “Even more so in South Africa, people were chasing after me. I had a woman come up to me in the shop and say: ‘Oh my god, you’re Leona Lewis — I’m you’re biggest fan!’ I’m thinking: ‘Obviously you’re not’. But it’s got to the stage when people stop me and say: ‘Oh, you’re that woman...’ and I go: ‘No, I’m not Leona’. And then they say: ‘No, Jade the long jumper’.”

Maybe Leona causes similar confusion.

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Radio 1 DJ Gemma Cairney is irrepressible — spinning tunes at Kate Nash’s Old Street Records party last night and this evening hosting a Smashbox cosmetics night. But it’s not all hedonism. Her new book, Open, will help decipher the modern world. “It’s a tough time to be young,” she said, “it’s normal to feel confused or sad.” She hopes to spread the word around the UK in an open-top bus.

Healthy Ella’s got balls

If you see Ella Woodward behind a tasting stand in an upmarket supermarket near you, then it might be best to pretend that you don’t know her. The Londoner was at Whole Foods in Kensington yesterday and found the healthy food blogger offering samples. But Woodward hasn’t quit the day job: she was simply conducting some market research for her new Ella energy balls.

“I have to identify what the customer likes and dislikes,” she explained when we expressed surprise at finding her at the deli counter. “I prefer it when people don’t recognise me and have no idea about the brand, which is better as they can be completely honest.” No selfies.

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Moral panic of the day: “The Devil came through this mechanism and is trying to destroy us spiritually from within.” That’s Pokémon Go, says a Russian security chief wary of CIA plots.

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