Not all roses for the man of Principles

The Diary had an interesting chat this week with the self-proclaimed War of the Roses co-ordinator-in-chief, Phil “pint of lager please” Hesketh.

It seems Hesketh, a dedicated Lancastrian, is still fretting about the outcome of the 15th Century Yorkists versus Lancastrians war. For those unfamiliar with the story, after much raping, pillaging and squabbling over thrones, the 30-year dynastic quarrel was finally settled when Henry VII married the daughter of his ex-enemy Edward IV, uniting the two houses.

However, Hesketh says he just isn’t happy with that result and is determined to settle the thing fair and square. He is busy organis ing a series of War of the Roses sporting tournaments with players from opposing sides of the border.

The Diary hates to gossip, but he’s having just one small problem with Hesketh’s claim that he’s determined to crush the Tykes and fight for Lancastrian glory. It concerns the comment on the back of his book entitled The War of the Roses – the Untold Story. It rightly names Hesketh as a founder of the agency Advertising Principles and gives a fine-sounding list of Northern clients. But perhaps Hesketh could explain why Leeds United has mysteriously been dropped from the list.