Claire Coutinho’s kitchen nightmares, and the Maybot returns to convention

(Net) Zero to (Tory) Hero

Claire Coutinho could solely simply have been appointed to Rishi Sunak’s prime desk after an astonishing rise via the Tory ranks, however reshuffle day wasn’t the primary time she’d been the centre of consideration on TV.

Back in 2014 Ms Coutinho, then a supper membership host prior to totally getting into the world of politics, appeared on the little-remembered Channel 4 cooking recreation present The Taste.

She was picked by fellow Tory royalty Nigella Lawson to be considered one of her trainees, nonetheless ended up being eradicated within the third episode.

After a tough search, Sir Arbuthnot managed to trace down mentioned footage to see precisely what Ms Coutinho’s look may inform us about her character now she’s in command of delivering Britain’s essential drive to Net Zero.

She was described as having a “complete lack of creativity”, “she f***ed up”, Nigella mentioned she had “time management issues” and she or he noticed herself within the backside two twice in a row.

The greatest appraisal was from Nigella who got here out with: “Claire seems very calm, but unfortunately she gets flustered, but her fluster doesn’t show itself – as it does with most people – by looking panicky, she just gets more and more still in a rather foreboding way”.

Useful for Laura Kuenssberg to remember subsequent time she’s interviewing the rising Tory star…

Birmingham council leaders revel of their sticky wicket

Birmingham council’s chapter announcement this week could be spun each methods relying on what social gathering line you wish to parrot: both it’s a damning indictment of Labour mismanagement in energy, or a results of 13 years of austerity and cuts to native authorities by the Tories.

Either manner it in all probability wasn’t one of the best of appears from the chief of Birmingham Council, John Cotton, to Skype in to a BBC interview from New York the place he was celebrating his fiftieth birthday.

It’s not simply Mr Cotton proving distracted by extra fulfilling duties. Two days earlier than the council issued its Section 114 discover, his deputy chief Sharon Thompson was to be discovered spending all the afternoon at Edgbaston for an England vs New Zealand cricket match.

In a tweet that has to this point gone below the radar, Ms Thompson mentioned it was “always great to see Birmingham’s institutions looking towards the future”. It additionally seems that Ms Thompson stopped tweeting altogether on the sixth.

Whether Birmingham’s establishments nonetheless have a future given this week’s developments stays to be seen…

CCHQ wakes up and smells the espresso

Given how quiet British politics was over the summer season recess, political aides could be forgiven for needing to depend on the occasional espresso to make it via the day.

Unfortunately for employees at CCHQ, phrase reaches Beachcomber that their luxurious multi-thousand-pound espresso machine – put in as a uncommon morale enhance by former social gathering chairman Nadhim Zahawi – has ended up as simply one other a part of the day by day Tory grind.

According to rumours, diseases have began popping up and being attributed to disease-ridden off-milk within the machine, which was so costly – apologies for the repeated bean-counting – CCHQ refused to service it till it was too late.

A supply yesterday confirmed they’d noticed an engineer tending to the machine, so hopefully office bugs could be saved to a minimal any longer.

Still, no level crying over spilt milk.

Rishi Sunak haunted by PMs of Conference Past

Tory convention is being puffed up as make-or-break for Rishi Sunak this 12 months, as he tries to enthuse social gathering activists to return to their constituencies and put together for Government.

While this 12 months’s will undoubtedly lack the sheer drama of final 12 months’s, which noticed a significant U-turn on the 45p tax fee that ended up destroying Liz Truss’s premiership, this 12 months’s is for certain to be extra boring.

Or is it? Word reaches Sir Arbuthnot that one Theresa May will probably be returning to Tory Party Conference for the primary time since 2018.

Presumably this 12 months she received’t be dancing to ABBA, although who is aware of what she’ll stand up to on the late-night karaoke classes after she’s completed flogging her e book.

Oh, after which there’s that outdated thorn Nadine Dorries, who can even be pitching up, for Mr Sunak to take care of…