The Londoner: Blue Wave claim is 'utter fantasy'

The Conservative Party has dismissed as “utter fantasy” claims by Brexit hardliners Leave.EU that its “Blue Wave” campaign has “added some 25,000 members to the Conservatives’ books” with a view to influencing the leadership election.

A Conservative source admitted to a “rise in membership” but claimed it was “expected”. Leave.EU, which was co-founded by Ukip donor Arron Banks, is trying to attach itself to a possible Boris Johnson premiership, last week claiming “it’s now time to make our voices heard and put Boris in No 10”.

“All new members have to go through an approvals process run by the local association,” the Tory source pointed out, adding that the rise in members was foreseen because of a “new centralised membership system and the appointment of new campaign managers around the country whose brief included attracting new joiners”.

Alongside its “Blue Wave” drive, Leave.EU has also been running a parallel campaign against individual Tory MPs who supported Remain in the 2016 referendum. Some of those targeted include Energy Secretary Greg Clark, former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, MP Phillip Lee, and ex-universities minister Sam Gyimah.

Leave.EU boasted last week of recruiting members to the Tories who will help Johnson “beat Jeremy Hunt”, adding: “It’s win-win: either he [Johnson] delivers, or the Brexit Party wins the next election.” Tory fear of entyrism — when outsiders join a political party to influence its direction of travel in line with their own political aims — has been present since the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum. Earlier this year ex-Tory MP Anna Soubry blasted “blatant entryism” for shifting the party to the Right.

But a Tory source told The Londoner that while the party welcomed “new members from a variety of backgrounds” they were “constantly vigilant against the threat of entryism”. They pointed to some notable entryists they had successfully stopped: “We rejected the attempt by Arron Banks, Andy Wigmore, Steven Woolfe MEP and others to join the Conservative Party as part of their so-called ‘Blue Wave’ campaign.”

Going from Gone Girl to Ms Fix-it

Actor Rosamund Pike says that playing the manipulative Amy Dunne in the 2014 hit Gone Girl had an unexpected consequence: she’s now a dab hand at DIY.

“I’m not nearly as organised as Amy but playing someone so neurotic paid off,” she told an audience at the BFI on Saturday, explaining that she’d watched YouTube videos on plumbing to channel the neurotic anti-heroine.

“It came in handy because one day the toilet needed to be drained and I knew just how to handle that.”

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Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio tells Screen Daily that he isn’t daunted by the idea of a second season. Bodyguard was the BBC’s most-watched television series in a decade but Mercurio observes: “I don’t regard it as pressure. If the show hadn’t been a hit, that would be pressure.”

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BORIS Johnson’s Tory leadership rival has an unexpected endorsement from none other than Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall, who admits: “I like Jeremy Hunt.” Asked her pick for leader, Cattrall at first demurred, saying: “Well, they’re both Tories.” But she confessed she liked that Hunt “listens” and plumped for him. Next question: who will Sarah Jessica Parker back?

Fring benefit of a Beatle upbringing

Paul McCartney might be a multimillionaire but his younger daughter, the ethical designer Stella McCartney, says he’s always kept things real. “I’ve grown up in a family that doesn’t chuck stuff away,” she tells Porter Magazine. “And it sounds silly, but I didn’t have a huge amount of money as a kid.” She adds: “My mum and dad were really clever; I went to a comprehensive [school] and I wasn’t given a load of cash, so I would go to vintage and secondhand shops and markets to buy clothes.”

Love is all around for Polly and Dolly at Cubitt Square's Art Car Boot Fair

There were plenty of bargains to be bagged at the Art Car Boot Fair in Cubitt Square yesterday where more than 120 artists were offering up their works — this year the theme was love — for extraordinarily low prices. Writer and podcast host Dolly Alderton was spotted browsing, alongside playwright Polly Stenham, fashion designer Pam Hogg and artist Derrick Santini.

Meanwhile, down the M4, stars including actors Gillian Anderson, Felicity Jones and Gary Dourdan, and singer Mica Paris, had an audience with the Queen at polo’s Royal Windsor Cup Final. After a slap-up lunch prepared by Mosimann’s — washed down with plenty of Veuve Clicquot — the audience watched the UAE team take on the Mad Dogs (the UAE ultimately triumphed). The Queen dutifully met the winning team afterwards and was particularly tickled to meet the Horse of the Match.

SW1A

Yvette Cooper has said two supporters of far-Right politician Tommy Robinson came to her constituency in Castleford yesterday and one was “apparently calling for me to be burnt”. The Labour MP said that it happened when she and other politicians were holding an event “for Jo Cox”. Cooper added it showed “Jo’s More In Common legacy is more important than ever”.

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What is Rory Stewart up to now he’s out of the Tory leadership race? Disparaged as odd, Stewart is busy disproving such aspersions. Take one recent tweet: “The notch shows the zodiac equinox and the line is just past midday in local solar time.” Stewart was counting in “Drummond time” — by a sundial in the grounds of a 17th- century Scottish castle. Right.

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Jeremy Hunt has taken to introducing statements with the obvious: “My name’s Jeremy Hunt”. “Essential quality for being PM — knowing your name,” snarks Heidi Allen MP.

Quote of the day

‘No, that isn’t happening’

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis puts a stop to rampant rumours of a Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga secret set at the festival this week