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
Ping! An email in Steerpike’s inbox lands, subject line: ‘SNP’s attack on refs.’ Is this, at last, a moment of nationalist self-reflection? Have the 45 per cent-ers finally clocked most Scots don’t want another plebiscite? Could some SNP drone finally have switched off the autopilot to question the wisdom of a neverendum? Sadly for Scotland, the
Oh dear. Ever since Boris Johnson announced that Simon Case would lead a probe into last year’s Whitehall Christmas parties, lobby journalists have repeatedly asked questions as to whether the Cabinet Secretary himself was in attendance at any of the lockdown-breaking shindigs. And now it appears that Case was at least aware of parties being held by
While Tories in Westminster have ummed and erred about whether to stick the knife in, there’s been no such hesitation over in Kensington. A veritable orgy of executive blood-letting has engulfed the hacks at Northcliffe House as first Geordie Greig and then Martin Clarke were unceremoniously dispatched from their respective posts at the Daily Mail and
So, how bad is the North Shropshire by-election result? All across the country, that is the question which Tory members, both in Parliament and out are now asking themselves. Winner Helen Morgan took the seat by nearly 6,000 votes, overturning a Conservative majority of almost 23,000 on a 34 per cent swing. Turnout was 46.3 per
So Owen Paterson managed in a month what 100 years of opposition efforts couldn’t: turn his true blue seat to yellow for the first time since the aftermath of the Boer War. Mr S wonders if his newly elected successor Helen Morgan will show her appreciation in her maiden speech – ‘thanks Owen, couldn’t have
Oh no! Is this another highly unfortunate snap of the Prime Minister caught in flagrante — this time sat maskless on a South Eastern train yesterday? It certainly looks that way. But closer inspection reveals that Boris Johnson is in fact wearing a mask under his chins, the sort of sloppy face-not-covering that could have
Betting markets are famously more reliable than pundit prognostications or political polls. Steerpike was intrigued, therefore, to note this morning that bookmakers are now saying that Boris will not be party leader by Tory conference next autumn. On the Betfair exchange overnight, the price has moved towards Boris Johnson being gone by autumn as the favourite outcome. At
‘Always look on the bright side of life’ sang Monty Python. But it seems that for at least one of the legendary sextet, such sentiments are now a thing of the past. For the octogenarian John Cleese has today announced he will complain to the BBC over an interview conducted with one of their reporters. What heinous
The spirit of the Stepford students is back with a vengeance at our top universities, judging by the hysteria which greeted Rod Liddle’s remarks at Durham. Having organised both a walk out and a protest in response to Rod’s after-dinner speech, angry undergraduates have now organised an open letter, which Mr S has just received.
Can Boris Johnson’s month get any worse? Plagued by mutinous backbenchers, Omicron variants and Pippa Crerar, the beleaguered PM’s unhappy double-act of doom tonight with Chris Whitty will have done little to lift the gloom around No. 10. The consensus among Tory MPs appears to be that the Christmas recess has saved their leader. Most now expect
Oh dear. For four years, Best for Britain have fought the most ferocious rearguard action since Dunkirk, desperately seeking to overturn the 2016 Brexit vote. But despite their millions, a sixteen-man team and the dubious patronage of newly appointed chair Lord Darroch – our former man in Washington – the rabid Remainers have yet to see
Southampton – it’s where so many great chapters in English history have begun. From the Agincourt archers to the Pilgrim Fathers’ discovery, the ‘Gateway to the Empire’ has seen countless memorable journeys over the years. Unfortunately, one of those leaving Soton’s berth yesterday did not live up to such past glories after exercising a last minute U-turn with all
In spite of a last-minute plea from Boris Johnson to the 1922 committee, exactly one hundred Tory backbenchers voted against the government on the introduction of Covid certification passes. With Labour announcing in advance that they would support Sajid Javid in implementing the so-called ‘Plan B’ measures, it was obvious that they would always pass.
So despite a last-minute plea from Boris Johnson to the 1922 committee, exactly 100 Tory backbenchers voted against the government on the introduction of Covid certification passes. With Labour announcing in advance that they would support Sajid Javid in implementing the so-called ‘Plan B’ measures, it was obvious that they would always pass. But few
It’s match day in Parliament as MPs gather to vote on Boris Johnson’s ‘Plan B.’ Sajid Javid kicked things off in the Commons with a plea to Tory rebels to back Boris Johnson’s last-minute compromise, there’s still much anger on the green benches, with Mr S hearing further names could be added to the 85-strong list
There’s white smoke blowing over the House of Commons today as Sajid Javid declares ‘Peace in our Time.’ The Health Secretary – Daladier to Johnson’s Chamberlain – has emerged with an olive branch to the dozens of Tory MPs opposed to Covid passes. In a bid to placate potential rebels like Danny Kruger, Javid and Johnson
It’s fair to say that J.K. Rowling’s latest intervention has put the cat amongst the pigeons. The Harry Potter author criticised Police Scotland’s new policy for trans suspects after the force confirmed it will record rapes by offenders with a penis as carried out by a woman if they identify as female, regardless of whether they have legally changed
Mr S has been keeping a close watch on the number of mounting Plan B rebels these past few days and is delighted to see the numbers totting up to more than 80 at the time of writing. But one thing that did catch Steerpike’s eye was the number of onetime Mayites who look set to vote
Today is the big day. MPs are set to vote on the ‘Plan B’ package of restrictions by 6:30 p.m tonight with many Tories publicly denouncing the winter restrictions as a step too far in a society protected by what Boris Johnson once called the ‘huge wall of immunity’ from vaccines. The big question of course
The antics of the mandarin masters of Whitehall have long been of interest to Mr S. Back in September, Steerpike revealed that the Director for Civil Service Modernisation and Reform was appointed last year without any external or internal competition. This is despite much hot air and hyperbole from the master of spin himself, Michael Gove, the recently-departed
