The mortgage mole

26 July 2010

Starry-eyed Playwright Tom Stoppard, when interviewed for a job at the Evening Standard as a young reporter, famously set the standard for an interest in politics. When the editor saw that Stoppard had put ’politics’ on his CV as an interest he asked the scribe who the current home secretary was. “I said I was interested, not obsessed,” Stoppard snapped.

Alas for Mortgage Strategy’s ace reporter Samuel Dale, he has got the politics bug. While visitors to this magazine’s offices just off London’s Oxford Street frequently spot minor television and music stars Dale has been keeping his eye out for politicians.

Last week his patience paid off as he saw Conservative MP David Davis who, if it hadn’t been for one lousy speech during the Tory leadership race, might now be Prime Minister. Davis was strolling through Soho with a smile on his face and sporting a casual jacket-over-shoulder look that disgraced TV chat show host Alan Partridge would be proud of.

“I guess I need to get out more if this is the calibre of celebrity I’m stalking,” a star-struck Dale told Mole.

Winning strategy It was champagne all round last week, literally, as the joint team of Strategy (represented by editor Robert Thickett) and sister publication Money Marketing romped home to a resounding victory at insurer LV=’s annual pub quiz in London.

Imaginatively called ’Money Thicketting’, the team got off to a rocky start in the military-themed general knowledge round but soon managed to storm ahead in the music and football rounds.

“Rival teams erroneously accused us of cheating but our knowledge of sport, music and IT ensured our victory was both fair and utterly dominant,” an elated Thickett told Mole.

Pub snub Strategy reporters are used to getting short shrift from those asked to comment on stories but one well known industry figure last week dispensed with the usual pleasantries when giving online editor Natalie Martin the brush-off.

“I’m in a meeting - by which I mean I’m in the pub,” the true pro quipped.