Londoner's Diary: Nigel Farage book deal hits a wall

In today's Diary: Farage's memoir | Kensington Cinema discovery | Damian Barr on Rachel Cusk | Wales football film mounts Oscar challenge | David Cameron talks tech | MPs Pancake day race | Boris Johnson frolics in the park
28 February 2017

It’s not been a great week so far for Nigel Farage. And it’s only Tuesday. First came claims that Ukip’s sole MP, Douglas Carswell, was unwilling to help his former leader get an honour. Now The Londoner hears that Farage had been hoping for a six-figure memoir deal from HarperCollins — but that has also gone sour.

Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News UK, which publishes The Times and The Sun and counts the publisher among its sister companies, was apparently keen on the acquisition, but several senior members of the team at HarperCollins were not. The fee under discussion would have been far more than what Farage received for two election-focused books he wrote for Biteback in 2011 and 2015.

One reason the deal may have hit the buffers is David Cameron. HarperCollins has already paid £1 million for the former PM’s autobiography — and it may not be a bestseller — and to add to that it also has books by George Osborne and Michael Gove on its list. There’s only so much space on the politics shelf. So, sadly, Farage’s tales of plane crashes, Donald Trump, Brexit and French fancies, is now seeking a new home.

Last summer The Londoner pointed out that Carswell, Farage’s nemesis, was unlikely to smooth Farage’s path to a peerage. Now emails have emerged showing Carswell suggesting Nigel should receive an OBE “for services to headline writers”. Carswell said he has made “every effort” to get a K for Nige. Then last night he sent a cheeky tweet: “Knight night”. To rub salt in the wound, Carswell’s book, Rebel: How to Overthrow the Emerging Oligarchy, comes out in April. “HarperCollins does not comment on non-contracted books”, a representative said today.

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Spotted: David Cameron at the opening of the new Blockchain HQ, which supplies the secure ledger transaction systems which are a struggle to explain in 80 words. The former PM had the same problem, calling himself “someone who is only in the very foothills of understanding what you do.” He added: “I hope you keep this revolution going — thank you for letting me share in some of your glory.” How the mighty are humbled.

Fiction can move in mysterious ways

To The Savoy, where Damian Barr hosted his first Literary Salon of the year. Last week Barr, who wrote the memoir Maggie & Me, sent a Facebook post criticising Rachel Cusk, alleging that he had inspired a character in her most recent book, Transit. Barr did not wish to comment at the time but there is still clearly no love lost. Last night, while telling guests about the resident bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud, he said: “Ella takes your problems and solves them by prescribing you fiction. It’s not as mad as it sounds. Austen for the lovesick. Truman Capote for the shy, Rachel Cusk for ... if you had a wobbly table and need to prop up the leg, for example.”

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Quote of the day: ‘A little more charm, and a lot less cheap rhetoric, would do much to protect the UK’s interests’

Former PM John Major calls for some manners at Chatham House yesterday. Major was known for his decorum, always remembering everyone’s name.

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Flippin’ ’ell... The power of pancakes is all in the pan

Well, that crêped up on us. It’s Shrove Tuesday, and Londoners have been happy to mark the annual celebration. Grime star Stormzy visited chef Raymond Blanc yesterday to learn a bit about batter for GQ and this morning DJ and TV presenter Fearne Cotton gave it her breast effort, in aid of cancer charity CoppaFeel. But who doesn’t love a bit of competition? Politicians including Labour MP Clive Lewis joined members of the press for the annual Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race. Lewis was chased to finish line by rumours of a Labour leadership bid.

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Football hit the silver screen at Vue West End last night for the premiere of documentary Don’t Take Me Home, about the Welsh football team’s success at Euro 2016, when they made it to the semi-finals. Director Jonny Owen, there with his partner, actress Vicky McClure, said he expected to be at next year’s Oscars but he wouldn’t stand for any mix-ups. “I’m Welsh, I’d have said ‘It’s mine, you can’t give it and then take it back, you’ve got to wrestle the Oscar off me’.”

Another cinematic lapse

A cinematic mix-up far more destructive than that at the Oscars has been unearthed in Kensington. The Londoner, along with actors Benedict Cumberbatch and John Hurt, said a sad farewell to the historic Kensington Odeon last year, as the demolition men moved in and began an inevitable flat conversion. But this weekend the works uncovered aspects of the 1926 interiors, previously assumed lost, which might give the site a chance for a Moonlight-style reprieve.

Duncan Wilson, head of Historic England, will now re-inspect the cinema. But questions are being asked as to why the venue, once a favourite of Alfred Hitchcock and home to a pair of striking marble staircases and Art Deco murals, was never listed.

Reese Witherspoon, Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes have all walked the red carpet at the site, and Mayor Sadiq Khan and Night Czar Amy Lamé are expected to visit as soon as Wilson has attended to the matter. Could they correct the second cinematic mistake of the week?

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Tweet of the day: “BBC MeetThe Lords at 9pm against ITV’s Broadchurch. One is ongoing drama filled with mayhem, corpses & great characters. The other...”

House of Cards writer Michael Dobbs sends up his fellow House of Lords members in a BBC2 documentary.

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At least Boris has a spring in his step ...

Photographers went out to capture the daffodils this morning, heralding spring in St James’s Park. But their focus went rather wrong and alighted on a delicate fawn in the background instead. Or was that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, jogging lonely as a cloud?

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Stat of the day: “Gerald Kaufman is the 24th sitting Labour MP to have died since April 2000,” tweets Mr Memory. “In the same period 1 Tory, 1 Lib-Dem, 1 UUP and 1 Ind MP have died.”

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