Patrick Kidd

During the heatwave, I went to see a play set in a snowstorm. @TimesArts sent me to review The Mousetrap, a mere 30,601 shows into its run and 30 years after I last saw it, ahead of it going on tour. thetimes.com/article/42344e…

Lord Mackay of Clashfern: long-serving lord chancellor who ushered in ‘no win, no fee’ The courteous Scottish lawyer appointed by Margaret Thatcher counted landmark acts on human fertilisation and children as the most important of his career ✍️ @patrick_kidd bit.ly/4wvCg9I

Beautiful piece by @GHWTowler on the private and sincere kindness of Ann Widdecombe open.substack.com/pub/gawaintowl…

A tryscoring England debut for Noah Caluori, who learnt his rugby at @Blackheath_1858. I spoke to his mum and those who coached him from under-9s level and wrote this for @ObserverUK about those early days observer.co.uk/news/sport/art…

A high pain threshold, no fear, and a letter to Santa: How #NoahCaluori rose to England debut The Prem Rugby breakthrough player of the season is set to make his England debut on Saturday. Here is his story, from those who know him best ✍️ @patrick_kidd bit.ly/3R7roj5

@Philip__Hills I wonder if that was more to do with the other options as leader

@patrick_kidd She also seemed, ahem, 'Euroflexible' at times, particularly when she supported Ken Clarke for the Tory leadership. She liked to bang on about being guided by logic and principles in decision-making but actually seemed to have been stirred more by her gut feeling at key moments.

Sad news about Ann Widdecombe. She had firm principles, which some won’t forgive, but strongly believed that society shouldn’t punish those who tried to do the right thing in life (defined by her), which is a virtue modern Tories should follow. Quite eccentric but also very kind

@KirsteenKing Gosh. I’d better get them to let me write some more then, though I pop up all over the place these days…

@patrick_kidd hello! Did you see that people can now follow you as an author on The Times. Very helpful, so I now don’t miss any articles you publish.

Many years ago I made a terrible error in a diary story. Ann had told me she’d lost X stone, Y% of her starting weight and I cocked up the maths and said she now weighed Z, far too high (and ungallant). She rang up very hurt. I sent her a bouquet of flowers as an apology

Widdecombe once gave me a great scoop. I had lunch with her at a pub on Dartmoor during the 2019 election and she told me she’d turned down doing panto with Brian Blessed to stand for the Brexit Party in Plymouth

His delivery of “I’m not Nigel Farage” is pitch-perfect

@flyfour I am envious that you were there for it!

@patrick_kidd And with everyone leaving at 6pm the queues for buses and the sheer amount of traffic was a nightmare - 15 mins to get in from the Park & Ride in the morning, an hour and a half to get back! Still seeing the Fery game made it worth it!

You have to feel sorry for the Centre Court crowd. They went along hoping to see a plucky British no-hoper go down heroically in five sets and instead they had to endure him playing sublime tennis to take the world No 10 apart in straight sets

@GeoffDowns Because he has lived in Britain since he was one month old, was schooled here, learnt tennis here and has a very very English accent as well as joint GB-France citizenship. Or do you think people with foreign parents can’t become British? And if not, why?

@patrick_kidd Both mum and dad are French!! So how he British?

@flyfour That’s rotten luck. It feels that the addition of matches on the middle Sunday, plus no play lost to rain, means the second week feels a bit threadbare on all courts. They should go back to having a rest day if we can’t rely on the weather to be traditionally bad!

@patrick_kidd The only thing we were grumpy about is the lack of a third match on Centre Court, but they put a third match on Courts 1 and 2. The most expensive tickets on the day saw the least tennis!? 🤷‍♂️

@single_sig_onpa He certainly sounds a lot more English than Greg Rusedski ever did...

@KathleenMellor6 He moved to England when he was one month old and was raised and schooled here

@Bradley66396703 @patrick_kidd He was born in the suburbs of Paris to French parents.

@BallotsandBlitz Yes you're probably right. He did make the US Open final too and was seeded no 4 at Wimbledon in 98 but retired in first round

@patrick_kidd @randomjottings1 Throwing Greg in there seems generous; he made one Wimbledon semi final in his career (his prime year of 97)

@VanAanog It's impossible to say. She obviously has talent and winning a slam is never easy even when the draw opens up. You are absolutely right about her awful luck with injuries. That said, her record against top 30 players is pretty bad. Konta far more consistent, less celebrated

@patrick_kidd @yogurtraisin Raducanu isn't necessarily a mediocre player. She's just been unlucky with injuries. If she were less injury-prone, her career would certainly have gone vastly differently.

@OfGadsden Are you saying that Boris Johnson is American in that case if birthplace counts most in your eyes? Or that Ben Stokes is a Kiwi because he was born there like his dad? And your Haaland point sort of destroys your argument.

@patrick_kidd Don't be silly. He was born in France, and he has French parents, so he's French. Erling Haaland was actually born in England, but no one thinks he's English. The lad seems likable enough, and he and his family obviously like it here, so I wish him well going forwards.

@single_sig_onpa No, he's British. Moved here when he was a month old, schooled here, learnt his tennis here. Listen to his accent.