The Londoner: Ex-Ukippers run into a spot of bother

Former UKIP leader embroiled in pub spat / BBC labelled a "disgrace" for PSC controversy / Stanley Tucci's touching recital / Jo Wood strictly talks romance
A barney with Marney: Henry Bolton
Getty Images
25 October 2018

What on earth happened at The Three Stags in Kennington on Monday night? Regulars say there was an explosion of activity around a table occupied by former Ukip leader Henry Bolton and his girlfriend Jo Marney, the 25-year-old model with whom he had the affair that cost him his job in February.

Bolton, 55, was then approached by a group who were perhaps aware of his views on Brexit, immigration and LGBT rights.

“Monday night is when a gay men’s running team comes in,” explains a pub spokesman. “Some of their number went up and were giving them grief. Obviously it was done in a suitably charming and charismatic way.”

Afterwards, Bolton was overheard demanding to know why Marney hadn’t stood up for him during the runners’ “abusive” rant.

Those sitting close by were then startled by Bolton smacking the table hard out of frustration. Calm returned, they said, “but several minutes later he did it again”. As more drinkers craned to look, Bolton stormed out of the pub carrying several bags and “Marney was left to nurse her drink alone”.

But later that evening, Bolton, who has set up a new party called OneNation, was overheard outside the pub shouting into his phone, “But you sat there while they were abusing me!” ‘You sat there!’”

More plaintively, he added: “‘Tell me that you love me and I’ll come.” Marney told The Londoner that it was “a minor incident”, that Bolton had been upset but they’d gone on to have a good evening.

The couple’s relationship hit the headlines almost the moment it began at the end of last year when a former friend of the model revealed she had sent drunken racist texts about Meghan Markle, for which she later apologised. At the time Bolton was still married to his second wife, with whom he has two small children.

This is personal

A DCMS select committee has labelled the BBC a “disgrace” for forcing presenters to set up Personal Service Companies (PSCs) against their will. A statement from the BBC Presenters Group declared they were “heartened by the vindication of our views” and condemned “the stress and uncertainty of potentially ruinous tax bills” as “intolerable”. The PSCs enabled the BBC to treat presenters, such as Kirsty Lang and Liz Kershaw, as freelancers, depriving them of holiday, sick pay and pension contributions. “Many of us love the BBC,”, said Rev Richard Coles. “The BBC, however, does not love us back.”

---

The “British businessman” accused of harassment who has slapped a gagging order on The Telegraph has made a number of high-profile bosses suspects. So starts a process of elimination: “I have no idea who that person is,” Sir Alan Sugar tweets. “But I certainly know it is NOT me.”

---

How does Private Eye editor Ian Hislop manage having two of his plays — Trial By Laughter and The Wipers Times — running at the same time? He told The Londoner: “Darling, the whole thing’s a nightmare. I’ve become incredibly theatrical. Nick [Newman], my co-writer, accused me of wearing a smoking jacket, sitting around in the mornings, looking at reviews.”

Stan's your man for whisky business

Your hoochie-Tucci man: Stanley Tucci (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Johnnie Walker)
Dave Benett/Getty Images for Joh

Actor Stanley Tucci turned poet last night, giving a stirring reading over dinner in celebration of Johnnie Walker Blue Label’s new Ghost and Rare Port Ellen whisky at Shaftesbury Avenue’s Welsh Chapel. Guests included Jeremy Irvine and model Jade Parfitt.

Meanwhile, the English National Opera’s creative director, Daniel Kramer, made a bid for more diverse audiences last night, hosting a reception in the Coliseum’s Royal Box ahead of a performance of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. “It’s about telling the untold stories, of women, of minorities, of seeing new faces on stage,” he told guests including actor Adrian Lester and his wife, director Lolita Chakrabarti, Vanessa Kingori, publishing director of British Vogue, dancer Eric Underwood and cook Melissa Hemsley, who shared the one downside of attending an evening show: when to find the time to eat? “It’s so difficult. I never know what to do,” she said. “I’m always the girl in the corner eating the nuts.”

Katherine's at Home in Shoreditch

Also last night, journalist Katherine Ormerod hosted a cocktail party in the cosy setting of the Soho Home Store at Shoreditch's Barber & Parlour.

The event marked the release of her new book, Why Social Media Is Ruining Your Life.

Social: Katherine Omerod (Alex Huckle)

SW1A

Sir Mark Sedwill, national security adviser, has been appointed Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service after Jeremy Heywood announced his resignation yesterday for health reasons. We hear Sedwill is well-qualified for the role: he has been endorsed for “government” on LinkedIn by David Petraeus, the former CIA director.

---

The statistics you didn’t know you needed: John Bercow has said the word “sedentary” in the Commons 384 times in the past decade, and “chuntering” 120 times. The Speaker is known for admonishing MPs for “chuntering from a sedentary position”.

---

Far-right activist Tommy Robinson might want to pick his idols more carefully. He posted a picture of himself in front of the Richard the Lionheart statue in Parliament Square yesterday. The 12th-century king did not speak English, was culturally French and spent less than six months of his 10-year reign in Britain.

Quote of the day

"They’re everywhere. Just hiding behind the unicorns”

Alastair Campbell responds to Nigel Farage, who says there are solutions to Brexit border issues everywhere we look.

Wood: I wish I'd cha-cha-cheated too

Jo Wood, who competed in Strictly Come Dancing in 2009, isn’t surprised that current contestant Sean(n) Walsh became romantically entangled with dance partner Katya Jones.

“During my time on Strictly, everyone knew that Kristina Rihanoff and Joe Calzaghe were shagging but no one said anything,” she tells us. “It always happens. I should have been so lucky the curse had happened to me.

“If I was 20 years younger I’d have eaten Brendan [Cole] alive.” Wood has a seasoned take on Walsh and Jones’s infidelity: “He should have been clever and not got caught.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in