Lord Ashcroft Faces Criticism For Refusing Interviews Over Cameron Book

    The post-pig hangover.

    Lord Ashcroft spent Monday creating headlines after his biography of David Cameron referenced an alleged act with a dead pig – but he faces growing complaints from media outlets, especially those that didn't buy the rights to his forthcoming biography.

    After Ashcroft unleashed a media storm with a claim about the prime minister's time at university, TV and radio stations are becoming annoyed that he isn't playing ball and giving them access.

    Three national broadcasters contacted by BuzzFeed News said they had been bidding for interviews with the peer but that he had declined opportunities to appear and be cross-examined on their current affairs shows.

    The man himself was on holiday – on a tour of the battlefields at Gallipoli in Turkey – leaving his co-author, former Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott, to handle the press on her own and defend the book from Conservative attempts to discredit it as both lightly sourced and lightweight.

    "We've been furiously bidding for Lord A... to no avail," complained one broadcaster.

    Another suggested that Oakeshott had been put up on purpose to deflect the impression that this was a personal vendetta. "Interesting time for him to be away," they commented.

    Media requests to speak to Ashcroft are being handled by Biteback, the company publishing his book and which is partly owned by the peer. A spokesperson confirmed that Ashcroft was "not available for interview" but insisted there was no particular reason for the decision to eschew media at a time when he and his book are the main political story in the country.

    Instead, Ashcroft chose to remain largely above the fray, retweeting the occasional piece of praise and supportive article while also feigning detached interest from the news.

    Just finished my third day on the Battlefields of Gallipoli. Fascinating experience. Must catch up with what's happening in the UK.

    In response, the Conservatives have maintained their media lockdown on the book. Downing Street has continued to insist it "will not dignify" the book with a response, ensuring it not only avoids not only talking about pigs but also avoids discussing allegations of the prime minister's drug use and when he knew about Ashcroft's non-dom tax status.

    Meanwhile, Tory MPs contacted refused en masse to comment on its publication, any of its contents, and whether Conservative party HQ had ordered them not to talk to journalists about the book.

    After the internet exploded in delight on following over the book's allegation that the prime minister interfered with a dead pig, parts of the media spent Tuesday turning on the former Conservative party donor.

    The lack of direct comments from Ashcroft created a void in which even the Labour-supporting New Statesman wrote a piece questioning the peer's motives, and The Guardian used its front page to describe the book as an act of revenge.

    'Revenge of Lord Ashcroft' | here's a look at that @guardian front page #piggate

    Critical pieces had already appeared on Conservative-supporting websites but by the time of the second day of revelations Ashcroft's decision to communicate largely through cryptic tweets and comment pieces in the Daily Mail – which paid a substantial sum for the serialisation rights – had started to become problematic for other outlets. Coverage of the second day's revelations about Cameron fox-hunting and generals criticising his military record was substantially more muted.

    Eventually it took Cameron himself, in comments reported by the BBC, to push Ashcroft into a more aggressive public position. The prime minister reportedly told an audience on Monday evening that he had needed an injection from a doctor that day.

    According to Cameron, the doctor warned that "this will just be a little prick, just a stab in the back". The feeling, the prime minister said, "rather summed up my day".

    Ashcroft immediately shot back, saying he felt same way when Cameron failed to give him a supposedly promised government job back in 2010.

    Good to see PM retains his sense of humour. We must have the same doctor. I had the same in 2010 when the PM reneged http://t.co/yKeiZDEOE7

    Despite this, at least one broadcaster said it expected Ashcroft to do a full media round in the coming weeks, once the initial dust has settled.

    Either way, his publisher isn't complaining – sales are looking so good that its managing director happily tweeted that bookshop Waterstones "just quadrupled their initial order".