But has Mendelsohn's showing in last week's edition of this very publication and his frequent appearances in national newspapers led to an unexpected career change for the embattled lobbyist?
Turn on BBC News and you will find the flak-dodging flak in war-torn Afghanistan, but using the name Alastair Leithead.
A former colleague of Leithead's told Diary this week that he had never seen the two men in the same place at the same time...
