Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike
Ding ding ding! The gloves were off last night as Kate Forbes, Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan entered the ring, for the first televised debate in the SNP leadership contest. In the end the debate wasn’t pretty, with Kate Forbes going for Humza Yousaf. In the cross-examination section of the debate Forbes launched into a
A typically robust performance by Suella Braverman on Radio 4 this morning. The Home Secretary defended her plans to clamp down on small boat crossings, telling the Today programme that We are within the boundaries of the law but we are trying new arguments, we are testing novel interpretations of the law. But we do
The remorseless rise of Lee Anderson continues. Having been named Tory deputy chairman last month – and then swiftly started a national conversation on bringing back hanging – the Red Wall Tory has today been named as the latest presenter in the constellation of stars that is GB News. In a statement, the ex-miner declared
After Matt Hancock himself, it seems that the person who comes out worst from the lockdown files is Cabinet Secretary Simon Case. Hancock’s WhatsApps show Case accusing Boris of being ‘nationally distrusted’ and described some lockdown criticism as ‘pure Conservative ideology’. Hardly the model of civil service impartiality… And off the back of those revelations it seems
Social media users were treated to a mysterious post this morning. Just before lunchtime, the Prime Minister tweeted out a stylish QR code featuring the number ‘10’ at its centre. The post – captioned ‘Innovation means growth’, along with a phone emoji – was entirely without context. Keen to figure out what ‘innovation’ and ‘growth’
It’s six months on Wednesday since Charles became King. So, to mark the occasion, Mr S thought he’d ask his fellow royal subjects what they made of the King’s reign thus far. Our septuagenarian monarch had a difficult act to follow in succeeding Elizabeth II but it seems on the whole that he has done
Oh dear. Just this morning Mr S was wondering how Labour can justify its job offer to Sue Gray. And it seems Sir Keir is having similar difficulty in doing so too. Appearing on LBC this morning for his weekly ‘Call Keir’ segment, the Labour leader was asked six times about when the party first
Who watches the watchmen? That’s the question Whitehall is asking after chief panjandrum and sleazebuster extraordinaire Sue Gray’s was offered the job of Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. The revelation that Gray might not necessarily be quite the bastion of perfect probity has sent shock waves through SW1 – not least in the upper ranks
A bizarre late-night row occurred on GB News yesterday. The channel were delighted to welcome lawyer Jonathan Coad on to discuss the lockdown files, with host Steve N Allen welcoming him by saying he was ‘actually recently asked to act for Matt Hancock.’ But Coad bristled at that introduction, insisting that ‘I made it absolutely
Will anyone ever text Matt Hancock again? It’s day five of the lockdown files today and it seems there’s still more revelations to come from the former health secretary’s WhatsApp messages, handed over to Isabel Oakeshott because he wanted a ghostwritten book to commemorate his triumph. Talk about the grift that keeps on giving… One
An awkward one for the strategists in Southwark and Westminster. Mr S has commissioned some polling and it’s official – the public, it seems, are having a tough time telling the Labour and Tory policies apart. Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have recently made major speeches, respectively setting out their ‘five pledges’ and ‘five
Day 5 of the Telegraph’s Lockdown Files and the most startling stories yet. Here’s what’s new: When the more contagious Alpha (then ‘Kent’) variant started spreading in December 2020, many were scared. Good, thought Hancock. The former health secretary told his adviser that ‘we [can] frighten the pants of [sic] everyone with the new strain’
Last night it seemed as if the Matt Hancock WhatsApp messages released by the Telegraph couldn’t get any worse, after the paper published texts showing Hancock’s realtime reaction to his rule-breaking affair being exposed. Yet somehow new depths have been plumbed in Hancock’s correspondence today. For the paper has published texts between Matt Hancock and
Day four of the lockdown files and it’s the juiciest so far. Here’s what the Telegraph released last night: 1. Matt Hancock thought kissing report wasn’t that bad While cursing ‘that f——g CCTV camera’, the indefatigable Hancock said ‘that [the Sun’s] write up is very gentle’, after the paper released pictures of him and Gina Coladangelo in a rule-breaking embrace.
Another day, another painful set of WhatsApp messages about Matt Hancock. Yet again the Daily Telegraph have released another batch of texts involving the former health secretary, this time about his burgeoning public profile in the wake of the pandemic. The paper reports that as Covid arrived on Britain’s shores, Hancock shared with his special
Some good news at last for Damian Green. Theresa May’s onetime deputy has had a difficult few weeks what with his unsuccessful selection bid in Ashfield followed by the news that his nemesis Sue Gray is off to run Keir Starmer’s office. But Mr S hears that Green last night had a bit of good
Ping! It’s day three of the ‘Lockdown Files’ and a whole new tranche of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s WhastApp messages has just landed. Mr Steerpike has taken a look at what the Telegraph released last night: A worried Hancock told Cabinet Secretary Simon Case that the police needed to get a grip on mandating lockdown restrictions.
It’s not been a great day for the Civil Service. First it’s announced that Partygate prober Sue Gray has been offered the role of Chief of Staff for the Leader of the Opposition. And now the Telegraph has released WhatsApps that show Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, mocking those affected by the government’s lockdown policies.
Oh dear. It seems that life in the offices of the world’s wokest paper isn’t all its cracked up to be. For the Guardian’s sister paper – with which it shares an office – has been accused of ‘institutionalised transphobia’ by a disgruntled former writer. James Wong, the Observer’s garden columnist departed last week with
Well, there we are then. Less than 24 hours after reports emerged that Sue Gray could be Keir Starmer’s next chief of staff, the lady herself has confirmed the story by resigning from the civil service. The Partygate investigator will however have to wait at least three months before she can start working for Labour,