DAVID Cameron turned 50 shades of red when he was roped in to help launch this year’s Chipping Norton Literary Festival.
Speaking in support of the fourth annual festival, the Prime Minister revealed that wife Samantha got him thinking she’d taken a bit of bedroom inspiration from ‘mummy porn’ novel, EL James’s Fifty Shades of Grey.
Mr Cameron said that on the way home from work his wife Samantha had asked him to get some ropes and duct tape from B&Q.
He said he thought he might be in for an ‘interesting evening’, but soon found out it was only for mending a hole in the roof.
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One audience member at the Chequers Inn event said: “The PM gave a speech praising the UK for having the highest global literature output and the two top selling books in the world, The Jungle Book and Dracula.
“He went on to talk about great UK authors including Churchill and JK Rowling. Then finally he came to Fifty Shades of Grey.
“The room fell about in fits of laughter. The PM delivered the joke like a pro, with a straight face right to the end.”
The festival runs from April 23 to 26 and will see 70 authors take over town centre venues for talks, discussion, groups, workshops and courses.
Without getting too tied up with the details, Mr Cameron said of the festival: “Chipping Norton Literary Festival plays to Chipping Norton’s strengths as a town with many creative venues, pubs, cafes and bookshops.
“Finding out about great books and listening to some of the nation’s best authors, poets and writers is a great way of bringing peo- ple together and inspiring the next generation with a love of literature.
ChipLitFest has an incredible programme lined up and I urge everyone to get involved.”
Festival director Clare Mackintosh.
Festival founder Clare Mackintosh said she was delighted Mr Cameron lent his support to the event, which has been growing in popularity each year. Mrs Mackintosh who is about to publish her second novel said: “It was a great event and lots of fun.
“David Cameron made a terrific speech. He spoke about the book trade and in support of the work the festival has done in the last few years.
“He went round the room and met members of the organising team. It was fantastic to have him there.”
Mrs Mackintosh said this year’s event will follow a similar format to previous years, but will be “bigger and better” than ever. One new feature will be workshops for children who are educated at home.
For details and tickets visit chiplitfest.com/team/committee
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