PETERBOROUGH

Theresa May finds solace in Zara

I spotted Theresa May, below, browsing the clothes racks in Zara on Victoria Street on Monday lunchtime, ahead of one of those interminable Tory leadership election ballots.

The former prime minister, looking fabulous in a stylish cream kimono wrap dress with a bright orange fabric belt, left without buying anything, as her security team hovered in the background. May’s lowkey retail therapy is a far cry from 2015 when a mystery bidder at the Conservatives Black and White dinner bid £17,500 to go shoe shopping with the then home secretary. How times have changed.

Johnson is cross

Accepting an award at the Boisdale Editors’ lunch on Wednesday the “First Father” Stanley Johnson tore into the MPS who had defenestrated his son Boris.

“Who on earth caused 50 ministers to say all of a sudden ‘forget about the Tory party rules to do with voting for a new leader, we have got a wonderful new scheme for getting rid of a Prime Minister!’” he said. “I said to myself, ‘Maybe there’s a new novel in the offing – let’s call it “Dead Summer Madness”: how 50 people all decided we will change the course of history’.”

The well-refreshed audience erupted into jeers and heckles, while co-hosts William Sitwell and Georgia Toffolo looked on awkwardly.

Later Johnson appeared reluctant to leave, even when his final joke fell flat. “Max Hastings promised he would move to Argentina for ever and ever if Boris became Prime Minister – that is why he got this stunning majority,” he said.

A diner yelled: “That was Jeremy Corbyn, you idiot – b----- off!”

And that was that.

Too late to save Boris

A gloomy Jacob Rees-mogg is reluctant to join Peter Cruddas’s campaign to keep Boris Johnson in No10 when I ask him.

“The first couple of lines on Gordon of Khartoum come to mind,” Rees-mogg says. “‘Too late! Too late to save him/ In vain, in vain they tried’.”

That’s not the spirit, Jacob.

Osborne’s writer’s block

The wait goes on for George Osborne’s volume titled The Age Of Unreason. The work, described as an “urgent and impassioned book”, was originally set to be published in 2018. This was later delayed to 2020 – and subsequently delayed again.

Osborne scotches suggestions that he has canned the book altogether. “It’s still delayed, not abandoned,” he tells me. “The editorials of the Evening Standard turned out to be the outlet for my immediate thoughts.”

Mrs Havers’ underwear

Dishy actor Nigel Havers, left, has never been shy of the attentions of wayward housewives fantasising about a fling with the smoothtalking cad he regularly plays.

But at an evening at the Delaunay restaurant this week, the thrice-married actor was asked what his wife of 15 years Georgiana Bronfman thinks of the “sackfuls” of underwear he is sent.

“She just picks the ones she likes,” he said.

Thornberry’s storm in a teapot

“Why is Nus Ghani pouring tea for the rest of the 1922 Committee?” asked Emily Thornberry above this photo, below, of the 1922 officers ahead of Wednesday’s teatime announcement of the result of the leadership election. Shadow Cabinet minister Thornberry was of course trying to create a storm in a teapot on Twitter (nearly 5,000 likes) over the photo. Ghani was having none of it. When I asked what she made of Thornberry’s remarks she gave me a straightforward answer. “It’s gin,” she said. Take that, Emily!

Tugendhat says no

Top banter between Ed Vaizey and Tom Tugendhat at a summer reception in Westminer this week. Both went to St Paul’s School and Vaizey is now head of the alumni association and on its governing body. He told the audience: “The great thing about Tom is that every time I ask him to come back to the school and do something for us, help us raise money for bursaries, Tom always says no. That’s really how our relationship works.”

Vaizey had his revenge though. “Since we have this school connection, I immediately endorsed Rishi Sunak,” he said, to howls of laughter.