Londoner’s Diary
Do all political careers really end in failure? After losing his seat in 2015, Labour’s Ed Balls had a new lease of life as a reality TV star on Strictly Come Dancing. Now he is proffering advice to departing Cabinet minister Michael Gove, about whom there is much Strictly speculation. “I sent him a message by the way to say I saw he was standing down and if he wants any tips, I was available for advice if he’s thinking of going on Strictly,” Balls said on his Political Currency podcast.
“My advice to him is, if you’re gonna do it, you have to go for it, you have to enjoy it. You just have to throw yourself into it and see how it happens. You know, I think he might be quite good,” he added. Gove has thanked Balls for his advice but still hasn’t confirmed whether he will be dancing the paso doble in the next series. He is a keen dancer and has been semi-regularly spotted throwing shapes in the nightclubs of his native Aberdeen. “He’s got form,” admitted Balls.
Penny recycles election video
Is Penny Mordaunt counting the pennies, or is she just very busy? While Cabinet rivals have been polishing off their election campaign videos, telling local voters what they’ve been up to for the past five years and why they should be re-elected, Tory leadership hopeful Mordaunt has simply recycled the VT she used at the last general election in 2019 for her Portsmouth constituents.
I made this video at the last election. I don’t need to make another. Only update is polling day is 4th July. The Labour Party has not changed.
— Penny Mordaunt (@PennyMordaunt) June 3, 2024
No one that supported Corbyn for PM is fit to be PM.
No one whose chosen Deputy and FS voted to abandon CASD can be credible on it. pic.twitter.com/5T9RfwVbjY
“I made this video at the last election. I don’t need to make another. Only update is polling day is July 4,” the Leader of the House of Commons said.
In the video, Mordaunt walks through a field in her Portsmouth constituency and talks about the armed forces and the importance of a strong economy, to a backdrop of Planet Earth style soaring string music. Is this the kind of energy and enthusiasm she will bring to the post-election Conservative leadership contest that she will almost inevitably run in?
Shapps’ mishap
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is a bit miffed after embarrassing himself on Sky (he rang up a journo to tittle-tattle while they were live on air and ended up on loudspeaker to the nation). “Putting aside what Ofcom would say about doing that, I hadn’t realised Sky had turned into some sort of Michael McIntyre show and was putting people straight through on air,” he said in a follow-up chat.
