Nigel Dempster
[6] While Dempster was sometimes inaccurate, for instance dismissing suggestions that Prince Charles would marry Lady Diana Spencer, he forecast in 1975 that Harold Wilson would soon resign as Prime Minister,[7] three months before he did so in 1976.[8] Dempster also wrote for Private Eye from 1969, where he was responsible with Peter McKay for the "Grovel" column,[6][9] but left in 1985, shortly before Ian Hislop succeeded Richard Ingrams as editor.[11] The differences allegedly began over an article making false accusations concerning the Conservative politician Cecil Parkinson[4] and his new secretary (after Sara Keays) in Eye 606.[12] As a result of the differences with Private Eye, Dempster was nicknamed 'Nigel Pratt-Dumpster' whenever he was subsequently mentioned, and became a frequent target of parody by the magazine.[6] Reportedly a difficult colleague, Dempster missed out on scoops about Princess Diana, and even boasted at one point that he had not met her, according to his Daily Telegraph obituary.In the view of observers, Dempster's column in his last years lost its bite,[4][5] and in his industry he was considered something of a relic: "by now a brand rather than a journalistic asset".