SARAH VINE: Murdoch’s new romance proves some men can’t live without a woman

Whether you think Rupert Murdoch is a dastardly villain or a captain of industry, you can’t deny his stamina.

He’s 92 and dating again after splitting within a few months with two women – fourth wife Jerry Hall and Ann Lesley Smith, to whom he was briefly engaged earlier this year. Leonardo DiCaprio, eat your heart out.

Murdoch’s latest amour, retired scientist Elena Zhukova, seems like an intriguing match. Her daughter, Dasha, was married to billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich – and it appears that Murdoch and Zhukova were introduced by none other than Wendi Deng, Murdoch’s sharp-elbowed third wife.

Wendi is reportedly good friends with Dasha, as both live in New York and share a passion for expensive art and philanthropy (funded by their ex-husbands).

These are the kind of women who know what they want – and don’t mess around when they get it. They are a far cry from the more laid back Jerry Hall: a laid back, partying, rock’n’roll chick.

It was clear to me that Murdoch adored Hall when I went to their wedding. He must have done that to put up with Bob Geldof’s hilarious but unflattering speech on behalf of the bride. But in the end I think maybe she was just too free spirit for Murdoch – not to mention his somewhat troublesome family.

He needs someone to match his drive, and all Jerry wanted was a good time. Essentially, she is an epicurean; Murdoch is first and foremost a businessman.

So you can see why someone like Russian-born Zhukova could be the one. Not only is she stunning for her age – 66 – she also had an amazing career as a molecular biologist and diabetes specialist.

But the real question many will ask is why? Why does Murdoch, at age 92, bother to expose herself to the potential heartache of another relationship that may not work?

The answer, I think, is simple. Men like him can’t live without a woman. For all their success, they still harbor the fundamental belief that if they don’t have a glamorous woman on their arm, the world will see them as a failure.

I see it all the time. I know countless men who have roaring success – but much of that success rests on the fact that they have a woman behind them.

The same is not true for my girlfriends. Most of them would be better off without the men in their lives, but they are way too nice to admit it.

The truth is that men – even those with huge media empires – go to pot on their own. They soon descend into a spiral of beer, pizza and too much TV football. Women, on the other hand, left to their own devices, simply buy more books, pillows and scented candles.

I hope it works out well for Murdoch this time. As for Zhukova, I am full of admiration. It would take much more than yachts and diamonds to tempt me out of my quiet life.

Why do lionesses get a paleolithic wage deal?

I’m not much of a football fan, but I’ve been told there’s a game today that could make history, and that the star of the show is a young woman named Alessia Russo.

Not only is she a talented striker, I understand she is also the first Women’s Super League player to earn more than £1 million a year. That may sound like a lot, but when you consider that someone like Marcus Rashford earns considerably more in a month, you realize that when it comes to equal pay, football is not so much stuck in the Middle Ages, but somewhere in the Middle Ages. Paleolithic.

Will a win for the Lionesses change that? Don’t hold your breath.

Politics of pride

London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted about a stabbing outside a gay bar in the capital: ‘Clapham’s heinous hate crimes are being thoroughly investigated by police. It’s also a tragic reminder of why we need Pride.”

Er, no, Mr. Khan: It’s a tragic reminder of why we – actually, no, you – need to do something about the appalling levels of knife crime.

Gay, straight, trans or non-trans, old, young: all Londoners deserve to go about their business without fear of being attacked. How about, instead of politicizing such a heinous crime for your own virtue-signaling purposes, are you actually doing something about it?

Dinner that is too rich for my taste

I am old enough to remember a time when you could dine in Saint-Tropez for a few francs a head.

Now, some restaurants on the French Riviera are reportedly requiring a minimum spend of at least 100,000 euros (yes, you read that right) and blacklisting customers who don’t leave generous enough tips. The same, I’m told, goes for certain hotspots in Ibiza, where a VIP table can cost you upwards of 10,000 euros.

All very well, I suppose, but the kind of people who have that much money are not, in my experience, the kind you want to have anything to do with – not for all the money in the world.

Education policy failed to make the mark

Like thousands of teenagers, my son is nervously waiting for his A-Level results tomorrow. But perhaps I’m even more frightened, having read the ominous words from Education Secretary Gillian Keegan over the weekend, warning students to expect lower grades than in previous years.

This is apparently to fix the grade inflation that resulted from teacher graded grades during Covid.

That’s all very well Ms. Keegan, if your child’s future is not at stake – for the past several years the students have been deprived of a proper education and now they have been told that despite all their hard work, they had to get a grade cutting to make your life easier.

Tell me Mrs Keegan, is it my son’s fault that the government has closed schools during Covid? Is it his fault that schools have been paralyzed by striking teachers? Or that these A-Levels are his cohort’s first proper public exams, since they never took their final exams? Is it his fault that universities are so greedy that they increasingly give places to foreign students who pay the highest tuition fees?

Or that student loan interest rates are so high (seven percent) that many decide they cannot afford further education? Or that students drop out because housing costs are so high and the majority earn their livelihood by working, so that their studies suffer?

And all this while university lecturers are endlessly on strike and even refuse to check their exam papers? I’m sorry Ms. Keegan, but the education system in this country is a mess, and messing around with A-level grades won’t fix it. Meanwhile, the only group of people – the Covid generation – you should be helping are the ones you seem to want to punish. I doubt they will ever forgive you or the Conservative Party. And me neither. Good luck everyone tomorrow. You’ll need it.