Sending political hacks into a flap

By Tim Reid
BBC Scotland Westminster reporter

Joanna Lumley and Phil Woolas met at BBC offices

Journalists can become excited about all sorts of stories that perhaps, don't grab the attention of every voter.

The media circus at Westminster can rush headlong into nothing short of a feeding frenzy about policies, personalities, rows, splits and resignations - but rarely about celebrities other than political ones.

That has all changed now.

Joanna Lumley is an actress that's sent many hearts a fluttering, but she's not really one who would have sent political hacks into a flap until very recently.

It started with her rallying MPs to her cause last week, helping to defeat Gordon Brown, over his Gurkha residency rules.

It was his first Commons defeat since coming to power. The prime minister then agreed to a meeting on Wednesday, after which Ms Lumley heaped praise on him in such a way that it seemed almost impossible that the government would ignore her demands.

It's not just that Ms Lumley's brought a touch of glamour to political argy bargy over the past few weeks.

But 24 hours later, the BBC newsroom, just yards from the Commons, burst into life at the sight of Ms Lumley's name flashing onto computer screens.

That, coupled with the words on the news release, that she was "shocked and devastated" at the latest twist in the Gurkha fight, sent journalists dizzy with excitement.

It's not just that Ms Lumley's brought a touch of glamour to political argy bargy over the past few weeks. It's the fact she's engaged in a fierce and passionate battle with ministers recently, and seems to be running rings around them all.

Handily for us, the actress chose the ground floor of our very own office building to hold her news conference.

Handily too the immigration minister Phil Woolas was here in a TV studio. The rest is now in the annals of broadcasting history - Ms Lumley chasing after the minister, followed by Westminster's media circus and followed by peace talks in a BBC office.

It was wholly surreal.

'Feeding frenzy'

Ms Lumley emerged, after a meeting with Mr Woolas, reassured, she said, about the Gurkhas and the government's commitment to allow more of them to settle here.

He looked, however, as if he was making government policy on the hoof. Ms Lumley then revealed how the left hand of government didn't know what the right hand was doing when it sent out letters to Gurkhas refusing them residency.

She, it emerged, had herself had to tell Number 10 what was going on - just a day after Mr Brown assured her he was taking charge.

It's been slick and effective, textbook stuff about how to run a campaign and quite the opposite about how to run a government.

By Friday, the feeding frenzy had switched to the cabinet's expenses. Thousands and thousands of pounds of taxpayers money being spent - within the rules - on everything from Maltesers to cat food, bath robes to cleaners.

All of the ministers involved, and no doubt all the MPs whose expense details are yet to be revealed, will claim they have acted legally and within the rules.

It all comes at the end of two damaging weeks for the prime minister, which has seen renewed speculation about his a leadership challenge if Labour does poorly in next month's Euro elections.

That will spark a new feeding frenzy for the political media.

There is already talk about who might replace Mr Brown.

No not Alan Johnson. Joanna Lumley.