TFI all over says Evans to Labour

It was the perfect love affair. The reds and the redhead. But it now looks as if, after months of tiffs and rows in public, ginger television presenter Chris Evans has officially separated from the Labour party, writes Jo Dillon.

It was the perfect love affair. The reds and the redhead. But it now looks as if, after months of tiffs and rows in public, ginger television presenter Chris Evans has officially separated from the Labour party, writes Jo Dillon.

The two were formerly besotted with each other, but relations soured following Mr Evans's public support for Ken Livingstone in his campaign to become Mayor of London.

He gave Mr Livingstone, who was subsequently expelled from the party, £100,000 to help him fight the election. When official Labour candidate Frank Dobson retorted with a gibe about redheads, Mr Evans gave Mr Livingstone another £100,000.

It was all a far cry from the days when Mr Evans attended one of the now infamous celebrity bashes at Number 10 Downing Street. At the Labour Conference in 1997, he was pictured dancing the night away with Cabinet Office Minister Mo Mowlam at the Young Labour party.

A spokeswoman for Ginger Television Productions could not confirm whether Mr Evans would be attending the Labour Party conference as he is currently on holiday. She said: "He has not mentioned anything about it. It would be a personal decision for him."

A spokesman for the Labour Party said it was "no great shakes" that Mr Evans was not putting cash into a Young Labour event this year. "It is not anything of any long-standing," he said. "All of these events are different each year."

Mr Evans, a larger than life figure on the party conference scene in previous years, is not expected to attend this year's event. And his decision has meant Young Labour, the youth wing of new Labour which has been the embodiment of "Cool Britannia" at the seaside meeting, has had to abandon its glitzy conference party.

A lack of celebrity backing was blamed for the decision. But Young Labour officials have privately admitted that they have reached the end of the affair.

A source said: "We are not having a party this year. At national committee there was a discussion about sponsorship. It is certainly not going to be Chris Evans this year because of the fact that he has almost left the party."