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
Britain’s top Civil Servant Mark Sedwill, who is standing down as Cabinet Secretary in September, received a pleasant package in the post on Wednesday evening. In a public letter from the Prime Minister, it was announced that the departing civil servant would receive a whopping £250,000 boost to his pension pot – an incredible amount
The coronavirus pandemic has posed challenges for organisations right across the country – including the BBC. Although the corporation has said it has had to slim down its current affairs output temporarily as a result of social distancing, they have still managed to put out a series of podcasts for the younger generation – including
Pantomime has been an essential part of British theatre for generations. Not only is it often a child’s first, magical experience of the stage, but it is also arguably one of the few consistently profitable sectors in the industry, that often props up theatres and other shows that don’t have the same financial heft. It
The government had plenty of good news to share with the arts world today, after it unveiled a £1.57 billion support package for cash-strapped theatres and venues who are unable to open because of the coronavirus crisis. The £880m in grants and £270m in loans are the latest of several whopping support schemes signed off
As the first Black Lives Matter protests began to take place in the UK, following the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, several organisations and individuals quickly saw that they could jump on the movement’s bandwagon. Shortly afterwards, several organisations had adopted the logo and backed the official Black Lives Matter UK campaign. Even the English
The Lib Dem leadership showdown between Layla Moran and Ed Davey has become something of an ideological battle over the soul of the party. Moran is explicitly courting disgruntled left-wingers, telling Business Insider that under her leadership the party would be ‘even more radical than Labour’ and is pledging to match the Corbynite promise of free broadband. Meanwhile,
Update: It has been reported that the former BBC and ITV journalist Allegra Stratton will be Downing Street’s new press conference host. This morning, Boris Johnson confirmed on LBC that the government is planning to introduce daily televised press briefings not too dissimilar to White House press conferences. Replacing the off-camera afternoon lobby briefing, the conferences aim to build on the
When George Osborne stepped down as editor of the Evening Standard, it was unlikely the former chancellor was going to fall on hard times. Not only did Osborne have another eight jobs to fall back on, he was handed a plum position by the Standard as its new editor-in-chief. But now, less than a month
It was a tale too good not to share: one man’s encounter with a Brexit-voting couple who had just realised their mistake in wanting Britain to leave the EU. ‘Just had conversation with a British couple who have a holiday home near us,’ wrote RS Archer on Twitter. ‘They voted for Brexit and have made
We’ve all been in a situation where our mobile phone starts ringing at the worst possible moment – whether it’s in a meeting, the middle of a play or in the silence of a church. Still, it was rather unfortunate for Labour MP Claudia Webbe that her phone went off right in the middle of
Theresa May is known for having an icy side – and it certainly isn’t the first Michael Gove has felt the cold. However, those in the Commons this afternoon were subjected to a veritable blizzard when the former PM interrogated Gove over David Frost’s appointment to the role of national security adviser. May clearly felt
The Liberal Democrats were once the progressive voice of fiscal restraint. Not anymore. Leadership hopeful Ed Davey has tabled nearly 130 written questions over the last two weeks in a bid to generate some much-needed coverage – costing an estimated £140 a pop. According to Mr Steerpike’s back-of-a-fag-packet calculations, these often pointless interventions set the taxpayer back a cool £18,000. Probing
How did Britons enjoy this recent bout of nice summer weather? Many people certainly headed to a nearby beach. Some opted for a local park, National Trust site or countryside walk. And many people stayed at home in the garden on a sun lounger. Mr Steerpike is fairly confident though that sun-kissed Brits did not
Is Israel to blame for the tragic killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota this year? It’s not a question that has crossed many people’s minds as protests have swept across America in reaction to the unarmed man’s death. For certain sections of the left though, a connection with Israel can always be found.
Business minister Nadhim Zahawi was sent out to bat for his colleague Robert Jenrick on the Today programme this morning and let’s just say it didn’t quite go to plan. The housing secretary faces a cash-for-favours row over allegations he gave preferential treatment to a Tory donor and his multi-million pound planning bid after the pair chatted at a Conservative
Today, the UK Independence Party announced that Freddy Vachha will become the newest leader of the party. Vachha has been Ukip’s London Regional Chairman since 2016 and takes the reins from Richard Braine, who resigned just weeks before the general election last year after clashing with the party’s NEC. For those who’ve struggled to keep
No one seems to think Boris Johnson has handled this crisis particularly well. But who might have done a better job than him? According to the Great British public, the answer is obvious: Mrs Thatcher. A poll carried out by Redfield & Wilton Strategies suggests that 34 per cent of people think that Maggie would have
Earlier this month, The Spectator‘s chairman Andrew Neil announced that we would be handing back the government furlough money. He wrote, ‘Instead of depending on furlough money from taxpayers, I have tasked the editorial and management teams to grow sales of The Spectator to 100,000 as quickly as possible.’ Reader response was phenomenal, with thousands signing up
Donald Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton has made a series of bombshell revelations in a new tell-all biography. Claims that the White House does not want aired in public, with Trump’s administration launching a legal bid to block the book’s publication. However the volume, which is supposed to be released next week, has been leaked in its entirety to the
Oh dear. It seems Matt Hancock has forgotten his own rules. Shortly before PMQs this afternoon, the Health Secretary was spotted slapping a chum on the back in a blatant breach of the two-metre distancing regulations. Less than a minute later, Hancock again disregarded his ministry’s own guidance when he leaned in to have a
