JAN MOIR: Don't call me David Cameron's Crony Crimper, says Lino Carbosiero as he shares salon secrets following his MBE By Jan Moir Lino Carbosiero pauses mid-cut, scissors aloft a few inches above my head, a vexed look on his face. "I tell you what it has been," he says. It has all been a bit... overwhelming. Since the 49-year-old was recognised with an MBE for "services to hairdressing" in the New Year's Honours last week, he has been caught in a big, soapy media bubble. The reason for this is that he is the Prime Minister's hairdresser; he is the man responsible for switching Cameron's parting from the right to the left and also, say the mischievous, for skilfully disguising a suspected bald patch growing like a lily pad on the back of Cameron's head. Letting his hair down: Lino Carbosiero, pictured with Jan Moir, received an MBE in the New Year's Honours "Oh, he should get a knighthood at least for that," suggests my waspish colleague Andrew Pierce. Lino begs to differ. What rubbish! Mr Cameron is not going bald. Look, if I did this to your hair," he says, gently pulling it in both directions to expose a ravine of scalp, "you would look bald, too. And I can't claim credit for some great, political campaign to change his look, or his parting, or switching him from the right to the left in any way. It's just that I can never remember what side anyone's parting is on. And when I was cutting his hair, it felt as if that was the way it had to go. For me, it looked great. 'Overwhelmed': Since the 49-year-old was acknowledged for his 'services to hairdressing' last week, he has been caught in a big, soapy media bubble. 'It has all been a bit... overwhelming,' he says, with a vexed look Successful: Lino has cut the Prime Minister's hair since 2008 - and regularly visits Downing Street to do so Having been a client of Lino's for more than 20 years, I can vouch for the parting puzzlement. "Umm, which way does it go?" he always asks, his hands filled with wet bunches of hair, his expression suggesting he has just been asked to find a needle in a particularly trying hairstack. The next thing he always says is "Have you been horrible to Anthea again?" as he is particularly protective of his long-time client and friend, the TV personality Anthea Turner. I cry, before trying and failing to elicit some gloriously glossy gossip from him about Hillary Clinton - he does her hair whenever she is in London - or the Camerons. He has been the Prime Minister's crimper since 2008. Famous client: Lino is the man responsible for switching David Cameron's parting from the right to the left Talented: He is also believed to have skilfully disguised a suspected bald patch on the back of Cameron's head Though it is often reported that their professional relationship began after Lino became Samantha Cameron's hairdresser, it is also true that former Tory spin doctor Andy Coulson was a regular client at the Mayfair salon for years. No, he hasn't seen much of Andy recently. Today, Lino cuts the PM's hair regularly - "as often as he needs it" - and has security vetting to go to Downing Street to do so. While there, he is sometimes dragooned into giving others an emergency cut, including - I think! - the Chancellor and his wife. Protective: Lino is particularly protective of his long-time client, the TV personality Anthea Turner He has also been to Chequers on at least one occasion. "Oh, no comment, be quiet," he says, snipping away at his usual high speed. As a lifelong Tory and a devotee of Mrs T - "Oh my God, I would love to have cut Margaret Thatcher's hair. She was an amazing woman" - he considers it an honour to do the PM's hair. "Anyone in the public eye should look neat and tidy, especially if you are representing your country," he says. I personally want him to look smart and well groomed, and that is what I try to do. Still, Lino has been taken aback by the allegations of cronyism and the malignant suspicion by some that he was personally honoured by Cam just because he's his crimper. He says simply that he does a great deal of charity work and is active in the hairdressing industry. When he got the envelope through the post, it was a complete shock to him. It looked so official. I panicked. I thought I hadn't paid my tax. Downing Street has assured Lino that they and the PM had nothing to do with it, but the connection has been too delicious to resist. The story made the front page of the Left-wing Daily Mirror on Tuesday, featured on several news bulletins and some Labour MPs have been making the most of it. This is rather rich after the avalanche of sleaze and cronyism during the Blair years, but there has been no let-up. Labour MP John Mann told newspapers: "It's inappropriate to use the honours system for political patronage. That's what's happening - everyone can see that. It is demeaning for David Cameron to use his position as Prime Minister like this. Lino remains bemused. "I am gobsmacked by the whole Press and media attention," he says. It saddens me a bit that a hairdresser getting an MBE has caused so much negative reaction. People think that we just stand behind a chair and chat, but we do a lot of valuable work in the community. Shocked: Lino has been taken aback by allegations that he was personally honoured by Cameron just because he is his crimper. He says he does a great deal of charity work and is active in the hairdressing industry Certainly, there is bags of snobbery about hairdressers - why shouldn't they be rewarded for the service they perform? Lino has no idea who put him forward for the honour, but he works for a number of charities, including the Dallaglio Foundation - brainchild of the former England rugby captain Lawrence - and a Newcastle-based charity called Coco, launched by former Olympic athlete Steve Cram. He is also heavily involved in the education side of hairdressing and is part of a group pushing for state regulation of the industry. "Any nutter can open a salon and start putting dangerous chemicals on people's heads and there is nothing to stop them," he says. Anyone in the public eye should look neat and tidy, especially if you are representing your country Lino Carbosiero Though he briefly had his own salon, since 1993 Lino has worked in the swish London premises of Daniel Galvin, where pots of orchids scent the air and clients - never customers - nibble on avocado sandwiches and sip glasses of champagne between treatments. He charges new clients £90 (gentlemen) and £150 (for the laydeez) and there is no shortage of takers. His celebrity clients include Sharon Osbourne, Ant and Dec, Amanda Holden, Phillip Schofield, Anna Friel and many more, while he has also tended to the locks of Madonna and Adele. He was the on-set hairdresser during the first few seasons of The X Factor, but most of his clients are ordinary people who appreciate his super-fast skills - he can do a cut and blow-dry in 30 minutes flat - and no-nonsense approach. No, I haven't invented a style. I find that whole invented thing a bit of nonsense really," he says. Every hairstyle is a modification of something that has already been done. Famous or not, he treats everyone the same and will use the private room at the salon only if a client absolutely insists. I have noticed that Sir Paul McCartney is one of those who do. Salon: The swish Daniel Galvin hair salon in Marylebone, London, where pots of beautiful orchids scent the air Today, the shelf by Lino's mirror is piled high with messages from BBC Breakfast, ITV News, Channel 5 and more than one newspaper. Upstairs in the salon's reception area, a tufty-haired man from The Times is hoping to be seen. Downstairs, Lino takes a call from a cartoonist on another national newspaper. "He is drawing me for tomorrow," he says, amazed. Born of Italian parents - his father is from Naples - he grew up in Ascot and "fell" into hairdressing in 1979. His first celebrity client was Mandy Smith, in her post Bill Wyman days, and I can recall the times when he would roar around town with Anna Friel on the back of his motorbike. Famous faces: Lino's other clients include Hillary Clinton (left) and TV personality Sharon Osbourne (right) Today, Friel and her boyfriend, the actor Rhys Ifans, are still regulars. Lino gave Sharon Osbourne her spiky, fabulous carmine crop, and he cuts Ozzie's hair, too, which is perhaps a less creative task. What else is there to know? He is married with two children and is a stepfather to two more. And he is infuriatingly discreet. Trust is the most important thing. You cannot imagine the things I have heard, the situations where people have talked about things and done things. But I do not blab. Ever. Now, do you want to see the back?