Londoner's Diary: No satisfaction on the election for Sir Mick

SIR Mick Jagger is a political soothsayer — he correctly predicted that David Cameron would win the 2015 election outright. The Londoner hoped to extract more of his wisdom at a dinner at Petersham Nurseries in Richmond last night.

Did he predict the hung Parliament? “No, I did not predict this one. Not many people did,” said Sir Mick, pictured with actress Sienna Miller. “I have some very good friends who are better predictors than me. They got it wrong too.”

But don’t write him off. The Rolling Stone is highly praised in political circles. Jim Messina, who worked on Theresa May’s election campaign, called him “one of the savviest political observers I’ve come across”. Messina revealed that Mick had told him “you’re going to win” while working on the 2015 Tory campaign, pointing out that “the average guy thinks David Cameron makes tough decisions and things are getting better”.

Does Sir Mick have sympathy for Theresa? “Sorry for her?” he mused. “So you do?” we ventured. “No, I didn’t say that. I obviously think in hindsight it was a mistake to call an election,” he went on. “Having said that, it’s a traditional thing in politics that when you inherit the prime ministership you go to the country — it’s normal.” And how’s Brexit going? “I don’t think anybody knows.”

The snake-hipped singer has always danced around questions with a deftness Boris Johnson can only dream of, and then went off to take his place at the Farms Not Factories dinner — see below — next to Sienna Miller, something else Boris could only dream of.

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Most people want to leave the EU to get away from red tape but not Tracy, Marchioness of Worcester, who campaigns on international pig welfare and hosted the Farms Not Factories dinner. “I’m not a Brexiteer that wants free trade,” she said at the charity dinner last night. “I’m one that says we should protect our farmers from low EU standards.” Sounds like a crackling idea.

Literary set take the laid-back route

While the rest of London was dripping in jewels and high frocks, the high-brow crowd gathered for the Times Literary Supplement’s party for a dress-down chic, intellectual couture-garb soirée.

Mary Beard was holding court in the charming environs of South Square in Gray’s Inn for the cerebral set, while boulevardier journalist Charles Glass roamed around extolling the virtues of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera staged at Winslow Hall Opera. The Londoner caught writer Ferdinand Mount on the Brexit divisions in his family — he’s a Remainer but his son Harry voted Leave. “He’s very apologetic about it, which makes things easier.”

Quote of the day

‘You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one’

European Council President Donald Tusk on his hopes that UK might change its mind on Brexit, a year after the vote. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker replied: “Let it be”.

All that glitters is pure gold for Sir Elton

It was off to Windsor for a dinner at Sir Elton John and David Furnish’s Woodside Gallery. Bulgari provided an array of jewellery for auction in aid of the Elton John Aids Foundation while folk singer Joan Baez and magician Dynamo wowed a crowd including Kevin Spacey, Tamara Mellon and Elizabeth Hurley. Former US Secretary of State John Kerry was in good spirits, joking that “whereas Kevin Spacey played a president, I simply auditioned for one”.

Top billing in the auction was a weekend in Rome with Sir Elton to help select the Bulgari gems for next year’s event. Spacey helped shift a print of Bob Dylan and Baez with impressions of Frank Underwood and Bill Clinton, as Baez explained Dylan’s choice of coat in the print. “I made him wear it because I hated the coat he wore. Maybe that’s why he looks so grumpy.”

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Will the new Labour MP for Kensington, Emma Dent Coad, be offered complimentary membership to the Chelsea Arts Club? Her Tory predecessor, Victoria Borwick, was given the perk, worth £500 a year for being the local MP.

Dent Coad gave a powerful maiden speech in the Commons but we don’t expect her register of interests to be as interesting: Lady Borwick’s reveals that she earned £10,000 last year renting out the swimming pool at her London home to a school.

Le Pres is a bit camera shy

Emmanuel Macron knows politics is the art of presentation but has France’s new president, christened “the Jupiter president” for his imperial style, gone too far? Macron has been slow to get his official portrait taken, meaning François Hollande still smiles down on schools, embassies, town halls and police stations. Macron has shied away from the camera for more than 30 days, while Nicolas Sarkozy took eight days, Jacques Chirac took 16 and Hollande 21. “He is presented as Jupiter but is he not Chronos, the master of time?” teased French weekly Le Point.

The choice of photographer and photograph is taken as a symbolic gesture to kick off any French presidency, and Macron is anxious to pitch it right. Oliver Ihl, a Sciences Po professor of political science, says umpteen questions must be tackled: “Parc de l’Élysée or library? Three-quarters or close-up? Outdoor or indoor light? The tricolore alone, or also the EU flag? Looking directly or off-field?” Bonne chance, Emmanuel..

Tweet of the Day

“At Glastonbury: the act that everyone’s talking about — the “Gotta see him” thing — is Jeremy Corbyn. There’s proper Corbyn-mania.”

Journalist Caitlin Moran says there’s one rock star everyone wants to see at Glasto

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Reunion of the day: former Labour leader Ed Miliband interviewed his backstabbed brother David on Jeremy Vine’s Radio 2 show. Now we only need Liam and Noel to kiss and make up.

Domestic Goddess rocks the Vogue bash in pumps

When Vogue declared white trainers to be every woman’s new wardrobe staple, celebrity cook Nigella Lawson took note. Dressed in slimline black, Lawson wore her Colgate whites with a flash of red at Vogue editor Alexander Shulman’s leaving party at the Dock Kitchen in Ladbroke Grove last night. Lawson’s serenity was in juxtaposition to some of the pained expressions of guests wearing high heels. Let’s hope Shulman’s successor, Edward Enninful, keeps flat whites in Vogue.