As politicians face the prospect of finding a new career after the general election, a former party leader has taken a colorful approach.
For I can reveal that the remarkable, unlikely CV of Henry Bolton – ‘the most interesting politician I have ever met’ according to interviewer Niall Paterson – has taken a confusing turn, six years after he resigned as leader of UKIP following developments in his sometimes tumultuous personal life.
He is building a new career: as a private detective. But the thrice-married Bolton, 61, is quick to assure me he won’t be following a target.
‘It’s not about following anyone, absolutely not. He’s not a private detective [role] nor bodyguard,” says Bolton, whose military experience began with the Royal Hussars before joining the Territorial Army, by which time he was also an officer in the Thames Valley Police and earned a commendation for bravery.
Instead, he says, he helps companies that “know they have a problem” — perhaps if shares disappear — “but don’t have the expertise to do the research and [to which] the police will not respond’.
Henry Bolton, pictured in Westminster this year, was leader of UKIP from September 2017 to February 2018
Bolton, pictured at the UKIP National Conference in Torquay in 2017, is now moving forward in a new career – as a private investigator
Characteristically, he is candid about the reason for establishing Vedette Resources Ltd, his new private security company. “It’s because I can’t get a job,” he tells me.
He once claimed he could chase a badger across Dartmoor, catch it and strangle it with his hands – just one of the many skills he acquired during an often dangerous life that took him from Kosovo to the Middle East and Afghanistan.
He was still firing on all cylinders when he resigned as Ukip leader in 2018 after leaving his third wife, Tatiana Smurova, for Ukip member Jo Marney, a model almost 30 years his junior.
Mastero is still missing
He once said that 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 for the love of his life: the Monteverdi Choir, which he founded sixty years ago?
I ask this because Gardiner, 81, a friend of King Charles, has extended his leave of absence from the choir nine months after resigning from his position as conductor after allegedly assaulting bass soloist William Thomas during a performance of Berlioz’s Les Troyens.
Let’s hope Dutch harpist Gwyneth Wentink, 43, for whom Gardiner dumped his third wife, soprano Isabella de Sabata, keeps his baton clear of cobwebs for his triumphant return.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner, pictured as conductor in the Cologne Philharmonic, has extended his leave of absence from the Monteverdi Choir
Fashion retailers should beware when actress Hannah Waddingham tries things, as the 6ft tall Ted Lasso star confesses to secretly lowering the hems of trousers in dressing rooms to see if they can be long enough to fit around her legs to fit.
“I put my finger in there and just took the hem down while I was sitting in the dressing room for years,” she reveals. “It’s a problem.”
Hannah Waddingham attended the world premiere of The Garfield Movie earlier this month and confessed to secretly lowering the hems of her trousers in the dressing rooms to see if they could be long enough for her legs.
Torn dress let me down, jokes model Christie
It looks like last minute wardrobe issues aren’t fazing evergreen model Christie Brinkley.
Singer Billy Joel’s ex-wife suffered a fashion disaster when her dress ripped ahead of her appearance on US TV’s Today Show.
“My crew keeps me in trouble. . . 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 were so talented with a needle and thread.’
Meanwhile, the three-time Sports Illustrated cover star, 70, says she felt overwhelmed wearing swimsuits on the cover of the coveted publication.
She explained, “After I did Sports Illustrated, I didn’t want to be in front of people in a bathing suit, because they perfect you and real life is real life, and I felt like I had to live up to people’s expectations, but that is impossible. you know?’
Christie Brinkley, 70, suffered a fashion disaster when her dress ripped ahead of her appearance on US TV’s Today Show
A photo was shared online of Christie smiling as her stylist Mitch Barry (left) fixed her dress
Anya avoids sex scenes
Romance is usually best depicted 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 installment of George Miller’s dystopian franchise.
“It’s something 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 street warrior Praetorian Jack.
“He doesn’t necessarily fall in love with her body and I thought that was a real use of confidence to experience on screen, and especially with someone as kind and talented as Tom,” Taylor-Joy adds.
“I felt like every time it was just the two of us, there was so much subtext being played out and us communicating with our words.
“I loved that.”
Anya Taylor-Joy, pictured at the Cannes Film Festival, stars as post-apocalyptic warrior queen Furiosa in the latest Mad Max episode
There will be champagne flowing at The Spectator magazine’s summer party, editor Fraser Nelson promises – but that won’t be on July 3 now because the Prime Minister has ‘made that particular parade rain by calling a general election’.
It will be on July 9th. “We will serve Pol Roger in the spirit of Churchill’s rule over champagne,” Nelson adds, “in victory I deserve it; in defeat I need it.’