Prime-ministerial spouse tittle-tattle

After the solid and stodgy diet of politics over the days since the election, now perhaps we can look forward to a little entertainment from No.10.

We have already seen inside the Cameron's kitchen, although I have to admit missing that TV program, but what can we expect as the media gets to grips with the Mrs' Cameron and Clegg.

I very much liked Samantha Cameron's elegant navy maternity dress, worn for the visit to the Queen and despite her determination to stay in the background, I am sure there will be more about Miriam Clegg's fashion preferences in the weeks to come.When she has been seen, she has looked very stylish. Samantha reportedly doesn't have a favourite designer label and admitted to having 'borrowed' a maternity dress. Very thrifty - will she be seen in London and Oxford's more up-market second hand dress agencies as her bump grows?

Please, please don't either of them make the mistake that Cherie Blair did in her first weeks as wife of the PM, by opening the front door in her dressing gown. I don't think she'll ever live that gaffe down. Miriam Clegg may get an unjustified rough ride for leaving for work without her make-up this morning though - she looked fine, but appearing without warpaint is a no-no for the celeb. watchers.

Both women are determined to continue their high-flying careers, Sam as creative director for Smythsons, a luxury stationery and luggage company, and Miriam (professionally Miriam Gonzales Durantez) as a lawyer, but it will be interesting to see what Sam decides to do post-baby - flexible and reduced hours perhaps.

One of the first headlines after the announcement that David Cameron would be the new PM, was an invitation from the White House for July. Now, Samantha is due to have her baby in September, so there might just be time to fit that in before a mid-Atlantic birth became too much of a risk. Perhaps President Obama will send Air Force 1 to collect them - I hear it is rather better equipped for such emergencies than your average British Airways jet. I am sure Samantha will get on very well with Michelle Obama who has trod a very careful path between family and First Lady in the first year of the Presidency.

An interesting bit of Samantha trivia is that she has a tattoo, a dolphin on her ankle - is that a first for a Prime Minister's wife or did Cherie or even Norma Major hide one away? Or, here's an exotic thought, maybe Maggie T had an anchor-chain-link tattoo somewhere in keeping with her Iron Lady title.  I'll leave you with that one.....

Gordon vs Barack - I'm not looking forward to April

I am once again less than impressed with our Prime Ministers' performance and ideas about solving our economic ills and I would speculate that President Obama is not going to be any keener on boring Gordon's boring pronouncements when he visits the UK in April.

What we need now is a spark of creativity and enthusiasm to inspire business leaders and bring back at least a trace of 'feel good' to a British populace with a severe attack of winter blues.

Alas, what we are getting is more of the tired old-fashioned predictable ideas we have come to expect from this Government. You couldn't call them initiatives by any means. The word initiate suggests imagination and innovation and that is the last thing we are getting.

I'm not saying there is something wrong with the banks returning to a little more cautious approach to lending and spending. I've already written at length about the difficulties people are having in actually accessing supposed assistance funding and the news this weekend suggests it is not getting any better.

What really worries me is what effect the differences in approach to economic recovery will have on our 'special relationship' with the USA. Once again the would-be cartoonist in me pictures a scene with Barack Obama falling asleep while Gordon rabbits on about not a lot. This is the best picture. The worst one is a difference of opinion and daggers drawn that could seriously hold back OUR recovery if it is not in harmony with what is going on across the Atlantic.

Gordon Brown could be perceived as mean minded and narrow which could result in a distant and polite encounter rather than a friendly and cordial one. I don't think the world can expect a relationship in the vein of Thatcher and Reagan.

Already there are rumours of Labour snipers ganging up to remove Mr Brown. Will any of them succeed in taking his place in Number 10, or better still will we be looking forward to a General Election by the time of the Presidential visit and will Mr Obama also be seeking the views of Opposition leaders.

I worry and wait.