They say behind every good man there is a great woman, except perhaps for David Cameron, who has a man referred to as a "pint-sized Rasputin" behind him. In a less-than-complimentary BBC2 documentary being shown at 7pm tomorrow night, the Witney MP is not painted in a particularly good light. According to political film-maker Michael Cockerell, he can hardly do anything without Steve Hilton, one of the Tories' so-called Notting Hill set of young modernisers, being at his side to pull the strings. And there was us thinking Dave always wore Converse trainers, shopped at Waitrose and listened to the Arctic Monkeys. Silly us.

We wonder whether it was just pure coincidence that Mr Cameron found himself the other side of the world when the row over donations to his local party broke this week? Rather like when the floods struck west Oxfordshire in July, Mr Cameron was away when the muck hit the fan. Witney Conservative Association received £7,000 of invalid donations, we learn. You may recall he recently said it "beggars belief" that Gordon Brown had no personal knowledge that Labour was unlawfully accepting cash via proxies to keep a donor's name secret. Those who throw stones David...

It is always pleasing to learn of new customs and quirky traditions. And so it was at the annual Lord Mayor's carol concert at Oxford Town Hall on Sunday, when The Insider discovered it was a yearly treat to hear the mayor and his wife sing a verse from the heartwarming ditty Good King Wenceslas. Predictably, John Tanner belted it out with gusto and his wife Sue did a sterling job hitting her notes. In fact, only one Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress have refused to sing-a-long in recent years - Bryan and Beryl Keen.

Cumnor author Philip Pullman (yes, he of The Golden Compass fame) was spotted by one of our moles at Sainbury's in Kidlington this week. Judging by the relatively poor showing at the box office by his film, we wondered whether he was looking for another turkey this Christmas?

Oh dear, what will Christmas hold for poor old Oxford United, who this week slumped to an all-time low when they were dumped out of the FA Trophy by the mighty Tonbridge Angels (no, I hadn't heard of them either). Perhaps they can give us all a tonic over the hectic Yuletide schedule and string together a couple of league wins and start a last-gasp dash to reach the play-offs. After all, it is the season for miracles.

Sadly, there will be no column next week, but don't miss the January 3 edition, when we will publish a list of the year's winners and losers in the annual alternative New Year awards, which promise to feature the good, bad and downright ugly of the political scene.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.