As politicians face the prospect of seeking new careers after the General Election, one ex- party leader has taken a colourful approach.
For I can disclose the remarkable, improbable CV of Henry Bolton — said by interviewer Niall Paterson to be ‘the most interesting of any politician I’ve ever met’ — has taken a diverting turn, six years after he stood down as Ukip leader following developments in his sometimes tumultuous personal life.
He’s forging a new career — as a private investigator. But thrice-married Bolton, 61, is swift to assure me that he won’t be tailing a target.
‘It’s not about following somebody around — absolutely 100 per cent not. It’s not a private eye [role] nor bodyguarding,’ says Bolton, whose military experience began in the Royal Hussars before he joined the Territorial Army, by which time he’d also been an officer in Thames Valley Police and earned an award for bravery.
Instead, he says, he’s helping companies which ‘know that they’ve got a problem’ — perhaps when stock is going missing — ‘but don’t have the expertise to investigate and [to which] the police won’t respond’.
Henry Bolton, pictured in Westminster this year, was Ukip leader from September 2017 until February 2018
Bolton, pictured at the Ukip National Conference in Torquay in 2017, is now forging ahead in a new career — as a private investigator
He’s characteristically candid about the reason for forming Vedette Resources Ltd, his new private security firm. ‘It’s because I can’t get a job,’ he tells me.
He once claimed he could chase a badger across Dartmoor, capture it and strangle it with his hands — just one of numerous skills acquired during an often hazardous life which has taken him from Kosovo to the Middle East and to Afghanistan.
He was still firing on all cylinders when, in 2018, he resigned as Ukip leader after leaving his third wife, Tatiana Smurova, for Ukip member Jo Marney, a model nearly 30 years his junior.
Maestro is still missing
He famously said the relationship between a conductor and an orchestra can be unpredictable, ‘like a one-night stand’.
But will Sir John Eliot Gardiner ever get the chance to kiss and make up with the love of his life — the Monteverdi Choir, which he founded 60 years ago?
I ask because Gardiner, 81, a chum of King Charles, has extended his leave of absence from the choir, nine months since standing down as its conductor after allegedly thumping bass soloist William Thomas at a performance of Berlioz’s Les Troyens.
Let’s hope Dutch harpist Gwyneth Wentink, 43, for whom Gardiner ditched his third wife, soprano Isabella de Sabata, is keeping his baton free of cobwebs for his triumphant return.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner, pictured conducting at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, has extended his leave of absence from the Monteverdi Choir
Fashion stores should beware when actress Hannah Waddingham tries things on, as the 5ft 11 Ted Lasso star confesses she secretly lets down the hems of trousers in changing rooms to see if they can be long enough to fit her legs.
‘I have got my finger in there and just taken the hem down while I’m in the changing room for years,’ she reveals. ‘It’s an issue.’
Hannah Waddingham attended the world premiere of the The Garfield Movie earlier this month and confessed she secretly lets down the hems of trousers in changing rooms to see if they can be long enough to fit her legs
Torn dress left me in stitches, jokes model Christie
Last minute wardrobe malfunctions appear not to startle evergreen model Christie Brinkley.
The ex-wife of singer Billy Joel suffered a fashion disaster as her dress tore ahead of her appearance on US TV’s the Today Show.
‘My crew keeps me in stitches… literally,’ Christie said.
Speaking about her stylist Mitch Barry, who managed to fix her black dress, she added: ‘I knew you could wield a brush, but who knew you’re so talented with a needle and thread.’
Meanwhile, the three-time Sports Illustrated cover star, 70, says being on the front page of the coveted publication left her feeling overwhelmed about wearing swimsuits.
She explained: ‘After doing Sports Illustrated, I did not want to be in a bathing suit in front of people because they perfect you and real life is real life, and I felt like I had to live up to people’s expectations but it’s impossible, you know?’
Christie Brinkley, 70, suffered a fashion disaster as her dress tore ahead of her appearance on US TV’s the Today Show
A photo was shared online of Christie laughing as her stylist Mitch Barry (left) fixed her dress
Anya shuns sex scenes
Romance is usually best portrayed on screen with scenes of intimacy — but not for Mad Max star Anya Taylor-Joy.
She avoided filming sex scenes with co-star Tom Burke in the new instalment of George Miller’s dystopian franchise.
‘It’s something that we both talked about with George,’ Anya tells me at the Cannes Film Festival.
The actress, 28, stars as post-apocalyptic warrior queen Furiosa while Burke, 42, plays road warrior Praetorian Jack.
‘He doesn’t fall in love with her body, necessarily and I thought that was a real use of confidence to experience on screen, and especially with somebody as lovely and talented as Tom,’ adds Taylor-Joy.
‘I felt like every time that it was just the two of us together, there’s so much subtext being played out and we’re communicating with our words.
‘That was lovely for me.’
Anya Taylor-Joy, pictured at the Cannes Film Festival, stars as post-apocalyptic warrior queen Furiosa in the latest Mad Max installment
Champagne will flow at The Spectator magazine’s summer party, promises editor Fraser Nelson — but it will not now be on July 3 because the Prime Minister has rained on ‘that particular parade by calling a General Election’.
It will be on July 9. ‘We’ll be serving Pol Roger in the spirit of Churchill’s rule of champagne,’ adds Nelson, ‘in victory I deserve it; in defeat, I need it.’
