Tory maverick Jerry Hayes has just published his memoirs, An Unexpected MP. The former MP for Harlow held the launch at the Savile Club but has got embroiled in a bizarre cash-for-access row by charging friends who didn’t get invited to the first launch back to the Savile.
The club’s invitation describes the new invite as a “Jerry Hayes evening”, for which he is charging “£10 talk and glass of wine plus £30 (optional) dinner with wine… sadly the numbers [for the first launch] were limited and by invitation only. Therefore you have another opportunity... to come along and hear Jerry speak about his outrageous book”.
Jerry’s pals who didn’t make the cut for the original Savile bash are unimpressed. “It’s a double snub,” one tells me. “Poor show.”
"It is an old Savile
tradition that author's give a reading and have a dinner," says Hayes.
"Sadly, all the money goes to the club and I don't receive a penny. But
there we are. Any publicity for the book is good publicity!"
