Thursday, November 13, 2008

Mandy and George Bury the Hatchet

I've just spent a very enjoyable couple of hours at the Spectator awards lunch at Claridges. Rather hilariously George Osborne was sat at the same table as Peter Mandelson, albeit at polar opposite sides. And who should win the first award, Newcomer of the Year? Yup, Peter Mandelson. The sight of Osborne and Mandelson shaking hands is one I shall cherish for some time. Mandelson's acceptance speech was one of pure brilliance. Hilarious.

UPDATE: Here are Ben Brogan's notes on the two speeches...

Lord M: "I'm bound to declare that this is a time for a novice. Having been marched down the political gangplank a couple of times it's great to be back on board, as we say in Corfu. A brilliant judge of my own PR requirements as ever, I'm sure an award from a Tory newspaper at a champagne lunch here in my natural habitat at Claridges is exactly the thing I need to silence my party critics and allay any fears or misgivings they may have about my return. The thing about newcomers is that we celebrate their naivete, their gaucheness, their endearing lack of judgement, I'm amazed that I managed to pip George Osborne to this coveted prize. It means more to me than I can say or express.

GO, to PM : Sorry to change the running order but you are going to be leaving here shortly, not for the first time. I was a little nonplussed when I was told you had won this award. I was told it was going to be Lord Mandelson of Hartlepool and Foy, and then I remembered - it was the guy I met on holiday. You know how it is: you meet another English guy, he's the only English guy in the resort, you swap stories about work and you think you are never going to see him again. Imagine my delight today. It's wonderful that as winners of a Spectator award we are once again in the same boat. Our next holiday together is going to be in a rowing boat in the North Sea off Hartlepool, a place neither of us has visited for many years.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mandelson newcomer of the year??

Twig said...

"The sight of Osborne and Mandelson shaking hands is one I shall cherish for some time."

He should now count his fingers, and if they're all present and correct he should wash them without delay.

Word verification: wayedead
spooky!

Anonymous said...

Read it on Conservative Home...amused me greatly...nice to have a bit of humanity and a lighter side to politics sometimes :)

Praguetory said...

5 posts after defending George's position, the timing of this post doesn't look great.

Old BE said...

Oh isn't the nice cosy world nice and cosy!

Anonymous said...

Osborne and the rest of the Tories don't seem to realise that their duty is indeed to bury the hatchet - in the skulls of these discredited, disreputable swine. Incredibly, a quarter of the public still seem to believe in them. Why? Because we don't have an effective Opposition.

Not until David Davis takes over...

Anonymous said...

Shurely - NEWCONNER of the year.

Guthrum said...

How very cosy

Anonymous said...

As they have a Peer of the Year, I really don't see why they couldn't have created a category for you.

Anonymous said...

How Cameron can continue with Osborne as Shadow Chancellor is ridiculous. The Conservatives should be hounding Brown and New Labour about their economy policies with the Shadow Chancellor leading the pack. Unfortunatly Osborne is completly out of his depth and Cameron just does'nt see it.

Anonymous said...

How Cameron can continue with Osborne etc etc etc.

all together now!

[to the tune of Monty Python's Spam Song]

TROLL, troll, troll, troll,
TROLL, troll, troll, troll...

(word ver: 'canti'. See, even the strange word verification elves want you to sing...)

Wrinkled Weasel said...

anon,5:15"Osborne is completly (sic) out of his depth"

"depth" is not a word I would associate with the present opposition front bench. How quaint.

Anonymous said...

"sat" Iain, not "was sat".

DiscoveredJoys said...

After Cameron's welcome sign of passion in PMQs I would rather Osborne had cut 'Foy' dead.

WV: noesc (no escape - only too true)

Anonymous said...

Fascinating how anybody passing doubt on George is defined to be a Labour troll. Yet passing comment on our cr*p PM is not a Tory troll activity?

Anonymous said...

Priceless stuff !! It rather reminds me of the cold war 'detente' between Leonid Brezhnev [sp?] and Nixon.

They can 'thaw out' and maybe even 'chill out', knowing that there is no point in risking 'Mutual Assured Destruction'...

Anonymous said...

The Deputy Prime Minister will win again in 2009, and Boris will have the pleasure of presenting the 'Wiff Waff Resignee of the Year Award' to the Noble Lord.