Save the date!

ED Fordham, the former Lib Dem parliamentary candidate, and Russell Eagling, the Lib Dem councillor, made national news when they got engaged outside the Houses of Parliament last summer, moments after the Lords had approved the equal marriage bill. The Indy, it should be said, produced the best catalogue model-style photoshoot to go with the story.

As the happy day nears – and the offers from Hello! no doubt roll in for the picture spreads – there is, however, a little bit of static among some of their political colleagues.

A check of the calendar and horror of horrors, it’s been booked for the same day as the Jester Festival, the summery community celebration in West Hampstead and Kilburn which many Lib Dems help organise – they boss the cake stall. It’s not a three-line whip to attend, but members in the area are expected to have a good reason if they don’t show their faces.

“We’ve managed to calm down Flick down,” says one source. “But she wasn’t happy when she heard it was on the same day.”