The Spectator

The Cameron charm fails to work on Mr and Mrs Lewis

'Telegraph' editor-in-chief Will Lewis rose to salute Gordon Brown at the Labour conference, confirming suspicions that the newspaper has come under his spell. But what of the relationship between Lewis and David Cameron? A story doing the rounds is that Cameron, his shadow Chancellor George Osborne and Tory spin-doctor Andy Coulson had dinner with Lewis, all accompanied by their wives. The Camerons and the Lewises had had a day out together in the past, but when Cameron came to greet Mrs Lewis at dinner, he completely forgot, asking her "So how do you fit into the picture?" When Lewis went to shake Cameron's hand at the end of the meal, Dave turned it down, patting him patronisingly on the shoulder. Surely Lewis would not let a couple of social faux pas cloud his judgement?

Good week for

Conrad Black: Displaying rare gallows humour, the disgraced former proprietor of the Telegraph Group has appeared on a Canadian satirical show in a spoof instructional film on maple-leaf waxing. Lord Black, who dumped his Canadian citizenship for a British peerage, is awaiting sentencing for fraud. Nothing like a hobby for those long lonely days in prison.

Bad week for

Innocent: The smoothie company has been found guilty of breaking Advertising Standards Authority regulations in its ads. Innocent claimed its Superfoods Smoothie contained high levels of antioxidants, which would have the effect of "detoxifying" the body. The ASA begged to differ, saying Innocent could not substantiate its medical and scientific claims. The smoothies still taste very good, though.

A name to turn off Tories

Despite urging its readers to vote Labour in 2005, the 'Evening Standard' seems to have fallen heavily into line behind David Cameron, with a particularly gushing leader column on Wednesday after Dave's conference speech. Here, Cameron may well be helped by having Antonia Cox on his priority candidates list, as a speaker at conference, and sitting in 'Standard' leader powwows as well. In journalism, Antonia goes by the surname Feuchtwanger. Not one for the ballot papers.

Rupert's mum's tax trial

Rupert Murdoch's mother, Dame Elisabeth, faces a £43.5m bill if Australian courts rule that a £36.9m payout from the Murdoch family holding company Cruden Investments in 1994 is liable for income tax.

The irony is that Dame Elisabeth then gave most of that money to her son as a gift. Rupert doesn't like his mother having too much of the family fortune as she is a prolific philanthropist. A friend of the Murdochs once noted that "it drives Rupert crazy".

Anti-Dacre domain

James Black, who used to write the "Answers to the correspondents" column in the 'Daily Mail', has found a new outlet. Black, who also runs the AnsaThat TV service, has set up www.pauldacre.com. Along with gripes about how he parted company with the 'Mail', he notes that despite more being spent on the 'Mail' website "than some countries spend on their entire military, I have been able to go online and buy the name PaulDacre.com and put this letter on it." Quick, have a look!

Too steamy for 'Heat'

Mark Frith, editor of 'Heat', never shies from a good critique of the female form in his magazine. But to be faced with the same thing in the, er, flesh is another matter. The mag held its annual party this week at Peter Stringfellow's new Wardour Club, where Frith became flustered and embarrassed at having to deliver his speech to the company flanked by pole-dancers gyrating vigorously. When he booked it, Stringfellow had assured him it was a very high-class bar.