Toby Harris has made a helpful contribution to the rampant tittle-tattle surrounding members of Team Boris and their possible defections to Westminster. To those reports that Anthony Browne plans to become MP for Devizes, the Labour Lord adds that James Cleverly AM "clearly has his eye on the Parliamentary seat of Beckenham that is about to be vacated by Jacqui Lait" and says that he is "reliably informed" that Kit Malthouse is making his availability known. He further says that Sir Simon Milton, is "widely tipped to be made a Life Peer by David Cameron and appointed as a Minister in the Lords."
I had a quick poke around the rumour mill myself yesterday. It passed the time while I waited for my smallest daughter to come out of school. I sent a teasing text:
How ever will Boris replace Anthony and Kulveer? And then there's you, of course...
Came the reply:
Have you been smoking weed? No idea what you're on about...
I sent another, to someone else:
A little bird tells me you're heading for the commons.
Response?
Hi dave, little bird singing the wrong tune.
Such fun. But I can't help thinking City Hall should have cleared the air about Browne by now. It's not as though no one has asked him about the Devizes thing - indeed, I'm told he's being ribbed about it daily - yet my request for a formal statement, however bland, has been refused. Shame!
