Matthew Gould

At the heart of the Mandelson saga is one colossal political misjudgement – the appointment of Peter Mandelson to the role, despite everything already known about him. Nobody now disputes this. The fault wasn't in the vetting system but in the decision to announce Peter Mandelson before vetting him It has also become clear, not least from the evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee from Olly Robbins and Philip Barton, successive heads of the Foreign Office, that the appointment was not done by the book. The right order in appointing someone to our most senior Ambassadorship is this: do the vetting first, then get the approval of the King, then the formal approval of the US government, and only then announce it.

Dear Nigel Farage, We haven’t met, but I have a great idea for you. I head the Zoological Society of London. We’re a conservation charity, not party political but dedicated to protecting wildlife. You might approve – we’re a venerable national institution, 200 years old next year and still proud of our royal connections (though so is the RNLI, and you’ve gone off them).   Anyway, here’s the idea: go big on nature. Make protecting Britain’s natural heritage one of your things. Outflank the government on bats and badgers. Become Swampy in red trousers. It makes sense in all sorts of ways.   What could be more conservative than protecting the landscapes and wildlife that define our identity? Politics first: nature is popular.