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
When Jeremy Corbyn was battling to retain the Labour leadership back in 2016, Corbyn was given a helping hand from Momentum. The pro-Corbyn group handed Jez’s campaign a £50,000 loan to help in his bid to fight off Owen Smith’s challenge. With Corbyn’s time at the top now over, however, it seems that Corbyn will
Back when John Bercow was in the Commons’ hot seat, a Tory telling-off was part of the daily run of events. Things have changed under his replacement Lindsay Hoyle. But today the speaker took no prisoners as he berated the government over its use of emergency coronavirus powers. At the start of PMQs today, Hoyle accused
The Prime Minister has never been known as a details man — and he shows no sign of changing his style anytime soon. Boris Johnson was unable to explain the details of his newly announced lockdown rules in North East England. During a Q&A after a speech in Exeter this morning, the PM was asked about the new
Tim Davie has this month taken on the role of BBC director-general in spectacular fashion, announcing plans today for auntie to be given the authority to strip its stars of their Twitter accounts if they breach impartiality guidelines. This will no doubt come as a shock to some. Gary Lineker, a staunch Boris Johnson critic, has been regularly
The Times reports today that parliament’s bars are exempt from the 10 p.m. curfew as well as from mask-wearing on the grounds that they are formally considered ‘workplace canteens’ — providing what some see as a legal get out for MPs and Lords hoping to enjoy privileges denied to the rest of the country. But
Steve Baker is well-known for his rebellious streak, famously causing Theresa May major problems with her Brexit negotiations. It now appears Baker has found another PM that he can rail against. Speaking to Ross Kempsell this morning on Times Radio, the MP for Wycombe said: People have got a great deal of faith in Boris
Former editor of The Spectator and Daily Telegraph Charles Moore is tipped to become chairman of the BBC. Despite being proactively encouraged to put himself forward for the job of director-general earlier this year, Moore made clear he would not be applying for the role. Firstly, he didn’t think he’d get it, writing in his Spectator notebook
There will be cheers in Labour HQ today as an Opinium poll has given Labour its first poll lead since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister. In some quarters this has been heralded as a party conference boost – even if the whole event was online this year. Starmer used that conference speech to claim Labour is becoming a
Paul Dacre, the former editor of the Daily Mail, has reportedly been asked by the Prime Minister to chair the broadcasting regulator Ofcom. This is the same Paul Dacre who, when put in charge of the Press Complaints Commission, Boris Johnson compared to ‘putting the Boston Strangler in charge of the code of practice for
As the government’s 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants came into force this week, Mr. Steerpike can’t imagine that the outcome is exactly what No.10 were hoping for. Multiple videos on social media show pub dwellers being thrown onto the streets at 10pm, only to congregate together outside and pack onto public transport. Members of
The National Trust has been making headlines of late over its decision to dip a toe into woke waters. As well as a previous drive for rainbow lanyards and trading antique furniture for beanbags, they recently came up with a dossier listing the country pads of Winston Churchill, Rudyard Kipling and William Wordsworth as properties with connections to ‘colonialism and
Gasps abounded in the Commons this afternoon after a testy exchange between Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and his Labour opposite number. A clearly riled Wallace decided that he had had enough of John Healey’s interventions during the second reading of his bill to limit prosecutions of servicemen and women. The cabinet minister told the House:
As the BBC’s new director general Tim Davie works to change the perception of the BBC – with social media crackdown and an alleged plan to tackle left wing comedy bias – there seems to be an acceptance across the corporation that they need to work harder to reflect modern day Britain. So, it was perhaps bad timing
With the country facing a possible second wave and the prospect of further restrictions to our daily lives, Labour’s Kate Green has an entirely different train of thought. The shadow education secretary wondered how best to exploit the coronavirus for political gain. Speaking at a Labour Connected event, Green said: ‘I think we should use the opportunity,
Is Tory mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey a fan of renaming things or not? It’s hard to tell. When London mayor Sadiq Khan announced a commission to review statues, road names and plaques, Bailey was furious: But now it seems he has changed his tune, at least when it comes to the names of stations. Bailey
Actor Alan Cumming used an interview over the weekend to talk about the difficulty of being a Scot in London. Cumming, who is best known for appearing in TV show The Good Wife, said Scots like himself faced an ‘insidious and subliminal racism’ in the capital. He said: ‘I feel…assumptions are made about your intelligence, your background,
It would be fair to say that Piers Morgan was one of the top cheerleaders for caution during our initial response to coronavirus. Since March he has consistently urged his Good Morning Britain viewers and social media followers to restrict their daily activities to help fight the virus. On Sunday he tweeted in support of cancelling Christmas in
This afternoon, leading human-rights lawyer Amal Clooney (and wife of George) handed in her resignation to the government. Clooney has been a UK special envoy for media freedom since July last year, when she promised to use her position to stick up for embattled and persecuted journalists around the world. Her relationship with the UK
Shots fired. The ‘rule of six’ has divided opinion in Westminster and beyond. While Health Secretary Matt Hancock championed the limit on group gatherings as the safest option – several of his Cabinet colleagues took the view that it was a step too far. Not that this has stopped ministers since taking to the airwaves to wax lyrical
Cancel culture has come for Belfast’s finest son. Ulster singer-songwriter Van Morrison, consociationally worshipped god of Norn Irn dad rock, is under fire for a trio of new, anti-lockdown songs. One particularly on-the-nose number is No More Lockdown, which contains the lyrics: ‘No more lockdown No more government overreachNo more fascist bullies Disturbing our peace.No