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The Londoner: Farage braces for 'ironic' Euro poll

Political parties are limbering up for a fight as the Electoral Commission is quietly poised to deliver European elections at the end of May in the event of an extension to Article 50. “We’ve advised people to make an adequate record of donations and spending,” a spokesperson for the Electoral Commission told The Londoner yesterday.

“Candidates are being considered, compliance is being completed and money is being raised,” a spokesperson for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party told The Londoner, reiterating Farage’s own pledge to stand candidates if Article 50 is extended. “Huge amounts of work are going on to ensure the party is ready to compete European elections if they are called — as they should not be.”

But, though they protest, European elections would give Farage, left, and his ilk another moment in the spotlight, and then, if they were elected, more opportunities to cause a stink in Brussels.

Elections to the European Parliament are due to take place across the EU after Brexit, on May 23 to 26, but as time runs out for Theresa May to pass a deal through Parliament, a last-minute extension to Article 50 could see the UK participating in the polls.

“We’re making sure people are aware the regulated period would have [begun on] January 23,” the Electoral Commission spokesperson emphasises, explaining that official campaigning time for an election begins four months before the date it is due to be held. If an election is called “less than four months in advance”, as would be the case in a last-minute delay to Brexit, “the regulated period applies retrospectively”.

The Electoral Commission is “making certain preparations that will enable us to swiftly take the necessary action should circumstances change and these elections need to be held” it said in an official statement yesterday. ”

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said yesterday that the UK’s participation in the elections in May “would be an irony of history”.

Sands shift to the Queen of Sheba

Everyone needs a break from Brexit — even the editor of the Today programme. In her rare spare time, Sarah Sands has been working on a book about the Queen of Sheba.

The biblical figure who turned up in Jerusalem with a caravan of camels in tow has been the subject of Handel’s famous wedding march and Claude Lorrain’s picture in the National Gallery. But despite her ubiquity, she remains something of an enigma. “The Queen of Sheba is a mystery,” Sands, a former editor of this newspaper, tells us. “Claimed by at least two nations, founder of the Ethiopian royal dynasty, the source of magic and philosophy, the muse for great art and music and — of contemporary interest — at the centre of an ancient argument over identity and globalisation. She is a gorgeous embodiment of trade.”

The book will be published by National Geographic early next year and Sands, pictured, is also working on an accompanying programme for the World Service. So not quite such a break, then.

Feasts of fruits de mer for hungry Fashion Week fans

Erdem Moralioglu and Edward Enninful (Dave Benett/Getty Images for J S)
Erdem Moralioglu and Edward Enninful (Dave Benett/Getty Images for J S)

After the show, the party: last night J Sheekey’s Atlantic Bar filled with hungry fashion fans fresh from designer Erdem’s show at the National Portrait Gallery.

Actors Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory were at the gallery, as was Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery and American actor Dianna Agron.

Later, at the West End restaurant, diners were treated to platters of fruits de mer held aloft on silver stands specially designed by Erdem, who told The Londoner it was “wonderful to celebrate with friends”. This year’s show had gone well but Erdem recalled one nightmare experience: “We were showing in a geodesic dome years ago and the generators failed.”

Vogue editor Edward Enninful told us he is missing his dog, Ru, during such a busy period. “I had him for a half day this week,” he said, “it was nice — between shows.”

SW1A

Penny Mordaunt’s twin brother James is The Independent Group’s latest recruit. “I’m a lifelong Labour voter and today is the first time I’ve looked at politics in months and felt proud,” he tweeted after yesterday’s launch. What about Penny? “She’s amazing”, he says. “I’d even vote for her if I lived in her constituency.” That’s nice.

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Yvette Cooper and her husband Ed Balls took time out of the Labour maelstrom to bop along to the finale of new musical Come From Away last night. The show, about a Newfoundland community coping with 7,000 diverted passengers on 9/11, ends with an audience hoedown. Their dance moves? The Labour Splits, surely?

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Painful news from immigration minister Caroline Nokes. “On a day of division and splits, I have one of my own to announce,” she says. “Chunk of tooth now missing from my life, ouch, very ouch.”

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