Apparently, ‘it wouldn’t be the same’ for the 25th anniversary of the Hay-on-Wye literary festival without the sideways rain and mist. The weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the thousands of Guardianistas who have converged on the tiny welsh village this weekend. Neither could the facts that the Telegraph is the festival’s sponsor, and that the star-turn on Saturday was undoubtedly the Mayor of London.
Arriving on Friday night, hours late, Boris kept his dinner companions at the home of GQ editor Dylan Jones stewing while he was stuck in transit. He was quick to play catch-up though, and in refusing to be outdone by a leftie pledged to dive into the freezing river the next morning, purely because Alan Yentob was doing so. ‘I’ve swum in the sea, I’ve swum in the Dee, I’ve swum in the Ecks and now the Wye,’ he regaled on Saturday.
On stage promoting his new book about great Londoners, the post-election Mayor never strayed far from danger.
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