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
Labour has been talking a lot about taxpayers’ money in recent days, following the release of their much-hyped ‘GPC files’ about government procurement cards. There’s been much criticism about the use of luxury hotels, fine art and branded merchandise. All good, worthy stuff. But in the interest of balance, Mr S thinks it’s worth reminding
Partygate claimed many victims in Westminster, not least Boris Johnson’s premiership. But one consequence of the relentless focus on the shenanigans of 2021 meant that 2022 proved to be a far less festive occasion than some in the great ministries of state had hoped. Officials have grumbled to Mr S that there was a certain
Ah parliamentary renovation: they talk of little else in the Red Wall. For more than a decade now, Westminster has been obsessed with the subject of our crumbling Commons, with staff forced to dodge falling masonry, leaking pipes and impudent rodents as they navigate the estate. Last month, Dame Meg Hillier of the Public Accounts
Stop press: Fleet Street is officially full of sewage. Flicking through the papers this morning, Steerpike was intrigued to see water pollution feature prominently on the front page of both the Times and the i newspapers. ‘Water firms to be spared threat of £250m fines’ roared the former; ‘Sunak facing Tory rebellion over sewage in
Labour have been out this morning, trumpeting their much-hyped ‘GPC files’ about the use of government procurement cards. Mr S has had a look and there’s some interesting things in there. But was Angela Rayner really the best choice to lead on this issue? Especially when it was Emily Thornberry who did all the work.
Labour got much of the lobby exercised last week with its latest wheeze: mysteriously rebranding its Twitter account as ‘the GPC files’ and sending out a link to ‘theGPCfiles’ to launch 7 a.m Monday morning. Sadly, for fans of the Global Powerlifting Committee eagerly expecting a string of revelations, the website in question focuses on
We haven’t seen much of Andrew Mitchell since his recent promotion and today was perhaps a reminder why. For more than ten years, the onetime Chief Whip languished on the backbenches post-plebgate, until last October Sunak appointed him Minister of State for Development and Africa. It was Mitchell’s turn to do the government media round
First there was talk of a medal; now MPs have had their pay bumped up to more than £86,000. And today Mr S can reveal the latest wheeze to bolster the image of parliament in the eyes of the public. For days now, Steerpike has heard complaint from Commons staff about the appearance of ‘useless’
It’s the reshuffle move that everyone is talking about. The promotion of Lee Anderson to Tory deputy chairman has excited the Westminster press pack no end, with the Ashfield MP making headlines within his first 24 hours in the job. A run-in with a local radio station and his support for capital punishment have prompted
It seems Liz isn’t the only Trussite returning to public life. Her former chief of staff Mark Fullbrook has returned to the world of political lobbying, fresh from masterminding her 49-day regime in No. 10. Fullbrook’s previous activities in this field were a regular feature of news reporting during Truss’s seven weeks in office. And
China is back on the agenda in Westminster, with Liz Truss expected to make a speech on the subject later this month. This week, MPs have been rocked by the news that the Foreign Office has asked the governor of the Xinjiang region for talks. Erkin Tuniyaz – who has been sanctioned by the US – is
This week Mark Steyn became the latest star to leave GB News, following a lengthy leave of absence for health reasons. The TV shock jock has made a name for himself with his diatribes about the Covid vaccine. But it seems that not all at the channel welcomed Steyn’s multiple Ofcom investigations. The presenter uploaded
Ding, ding, ding! It’s been such a busy week in Westminster with the reshuffle and President Zelenskyy popping in that Mr S missed a particularly combative clash at the Senedd on Tuesday. Undeterred by the recent woes of the nationalists at Holyrood, the Welsh government in Cardiff Bay has pressed on with its own controversial
It seems the days of ex-prime ministers going quietly into the sunset of retirement are well and truly dead. By this point, it will come as no surprise to any readers of Mr Steerpike to learn that, in the six months since Boris Johnson left No. 10, he has been keeping well and truly busy.
How can you tell a political movement is well and truly dead? Easy – the Times newspaper finally drops said movement’s advocates from its opinion pages. It’s a process that can take time, as we’ve witnessed with the painfully slow demise of Britain’s media Blairites. RIP. Steerpike was as sad as anyone to learn last
Talk about a broad church reshuffle. Having appointed the socially liberal London MP Greg Hands as the chairman of the Tory party this morning, this afternoon Rishi Sunak named Red Wall right-winger Lee Anderson as his new deputy too. The move has sparked something of a mixed reaction: his friends in the 2019 intake are
The Tories have been left counting the cost of Nadhim Zahawi for some weeks now. The tax affairs of the axed party chairman have triggered a whole debate around sleaze, standards and transparency. Rishi Sunak is now expected to publish his own tax returns within weeks; polling for The Spectator by Redfield and Wilton shows
Strikes. Inflation. Political instability. It’s been a pretty miserable few months in Britain – but some in government are hoping that the coronation in May changes all that. The bunting will be out and the flags on display, to celebrate our septuagenarian monarch (finally) getting his hands on the Imperial State Crown. But with the
The Tory grassroots are revolting – and they clearly aren’t happy either. This weekend has seen two selection battles engulf different Conservatives associations. Local Tories are currently picking their prospective parliamentary candidates, ahead of the expected general election next year. For incumbent MPs, reselection is normally a formality: the sitting member is proposed and re-adopted
To the Hurlingham Club, that seat of sporting privilege. Where better to host the 1922 committee’s centenary dinner? Tory grandees, MPs and donors piled in last night to raise a glass to King and cause. ‘In the 100 years of the ‘22’s existence,’ remarked Rishi Sunak, ‘we have had Conservative prime ministers for two-thirds of
