Lord Bonkers' Diary: Grant dines with Cleese, Cleese with Grant

Lord B. explains the consequences of one of the Liberal Democrats' wheezes for wringing money out of us during the general election campaign. How long ago it all seems!

Grant dines with Cleese, Cleese with Grant

The bigwigs in the party were very pleased with themselves when they came up with the wheeze of offering the prospect of dinner with John Cleese or Hugh Grant to encourage members to donate money to the general election campaign. The idea was that anyone making a donation would be entered into a draw and the winner would get to break bread with one of other the two stars.

Being good Liberals, both Cleese and Grant donated money themselves and were consequently entered into the draw. When that draw was made the inevitable happened: Cleese won dinner with Grant and Grant won dinner with Cleese. They dined to together at my club on consecutive evenings and got on Terribly Well, but I feel sure that was not how things were meant to turn out.

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West, 1906-10.

Previously in Lord Bonkers' Diary

He had to Put a Bit on Top

Why the Liberal Democrats did so badly

Coffee with Freddie