TROUBLE at the top at WH Smith? The chairman’s position is proving extremely hard to fill. A couple of months ago I was told by the company that it was preparing to name its new chairman to take over when Richard Handover steps down in January. “Wait and see,” said insiders, “we’ve got a real cracker lined up.”

Patience not being my strong suit, I decided to investigate. First I was pointed towards Sir John Parker, chairman of National Grid Transco. But when he was offered the post in March, he turned it down.

By the summer headhunters Spencer Stuart were on board, but they were finding it rather tricky to persuade anyone to go beyond initial talks. So the bigwigs at WH Smith turned to old muckers in the City for help.

The next suggestion was Somerfield’s John von Sprecklesen. But this tentative understanding fell through in August.

By September two profit warnings had turned into the company’s first-ever loss and its share price fell to an all-time low. Now it was all the more desperate to land a top name.

At last Allan Leighton, chairman of the Royal Mail, was persuaded. Talks advanced to talking terms, while Leighton appeared to be playing ball by resigning from a few of his directorships. Then he pulled out, apparently more interested in another high-street straggler.

The tune has changed internally, too. WH Smith says it hasn’t made a decision. Are there any other takers before Martin Taylor, the former chairman, gets recalled?

Cluff goes off to look for gold

YOU can’t keep Algy Cluff down for long. Fresh from his sacking from the board of The Spectator last week, he is bouncing back with the thing he knows best — a new mining company. Cluff Gold is raising £10m on AIM to fund the acquisition of mines in Africa.

Cluff, who owned The Spectator long before the Barclay brothers, said he was “very sad” to be leaving after almost 25 years. He is not the only old hand who may be leaving, of course. Boris Johnson, its editor, is also in a pickle after his Liverpool rumpus. Cluff said: “If Michael Howard elects to appoint himself editor-in-chief of The Spectator, it makes it impossible for the magazine. Something will have to give, and that’s Boris’s choice.”

• IS BA getting political? The airline has painted the slogan “Backing the Bid” on some of its planes to show support for London’s attempt to stage the 2012 Olympic Games.

  But its appearance on an aircraft with the registration G-BUSH (one of BA’s Airbus A320s, above) makes it look as if the airline is taking sides in the American election.

  Not so, said a BA spokesman, it was merely a coincidence. “But if George Bush wins, we would be more than happy to sell him the registration for Air Force One,” he said.

• WHILE Robert Atkins, author of the eponymous cult diet, dedicated his time to extolling the low-carb lifestyle, his widow has developed a taste for the high life.

  I’m told Veronica Atkins has recently paid $7.4m (£4m) for a flat in Palm Beach, Florida. It’s expensive even in this most excessive of areas, but comes with a spa, two guest suites and a theatre for private screenings and parties. If she’s feeling active, there is also a fitness centre, golf course and tennis facilities. Fat chance.