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
Is Labour on a legislative go-slow? In recent weeks, Mr S has noticed a theme from conversations in the corridors of power. Across the House, MPs are increasingly noticing the number of ‘one-line’ whips they are on in parliament. This refers to diktats issued by the party whips: a one-line whip means that MPs don’t
Dear oh dear. In the last hour, Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Ashley Dalton MP to replace Andrew Gwynne as health minister – after the latter was sacked and suspended over the weekend over some rather offensive message exchanges. But it would appear that Dalton is not without her skeletons either. Mr S can reveal
Congratulations to Andrew Gwynne who wins the ministerial sack race of 2025. The Labour MP for Gorton & Denton was tonight sacked as a health minister after the Mail on Sunday revealed his vile WhatsApps. After a 72-year-old local resident got in touch with Gwynne’s constituency party to complain about her bin collection, the MP wrote a suggested
Well, well, well. Rachel Reeves has spent much of her seven months in power banging on about budget blackholes and spending cuts, vowing to use the Treasury’s ongoing spending review to find more ways to cut costs. The Chancellor has asked government departments to find 5 per cent ‘efficiency savings’ to help set their budgets
To Scotland, where the SNP is hard at work vetting its candidates for the 2026 Holyrood poll. But in typical Nat fashion, the rather non-transparent process has prompted questions about how thorough the whole thing really is – after it emerged via party insiders that both Nicola Sturgeon and Colin Beattie of Operation Branchform fame
Another day, another Labour U-turn. Now it’s Ed Miliband in the spotlight, after the Energy Secretary appeared to row back on his Heathrow runway stance this morning. Speaking on the Beeb’s Radio 4 Today programme, Miliband has now insisted that the new development would not come at the expense of his precious net zero targets
Back to the assisted dying bill, which has been at the centre of controversy since it came into being. As Mr S noted this week, its committee stage was rather odd – with one Australian MP witness even using the evidence session to argue that ‘voluntary assisted dying is a form of suicide prevention’. Er,
Oh dear. It seems that the new Labour government is rapidly developing a reputation for rudeness. Whether it’s Bridget Phillipson’s charm offensive backfiring or Angela Rayner enraging Grenfell survivors, few in the cabinet appear to be winning friends across the spectrum. And now Mr S brings news of another instance involving one of Keir Starmer’s
When it rains for the Labour lot, it pours. It has emerged that Sir Keir Starmer’s party has become so unpopular among its own base that it has lost more than one in 10 members since the general election – and in recent months has seen one member quit every 10 minutes. Dear oh dear…
Well, well, well. It seems the Good Law Project, founded by Jolyon Maugham of fox-killing infamy, may be rather struggling to find supporters. Who’d have thunk it? The do-gooder group is eager to fill its vacancy for the prestigious position of EU Campaign lead – but it would appear it can’t seem takers for the
Well, well, well. It transpires that four MPs suspended by Sir Keir Starmer for rebelling over the two child benefit cap have now had the whip restored by the Labour party. Today’s move comes a fortnight after John McDonnell took to LBC to urge Starmer to row back on the decision, telling journalists that ‘we’ve
Uh oh. There’s trouble in paradise as it appears the relationship between Sir Keir Starmer and Navin Ramgoolam is becoming a little strained. After the Mauritian PM told his MPs yesterday that Starmer had offered up a new and improved deal on the Chagos archipelago, the Labour leader was forced to fend off questions about
To Westminster, where Prime Minister’s Questions is in full swing. Sir Keir Starmer has delivered yet another tutorial in how to bat away difficult questions – on everything from his reported Chagos deal to concerns about Labour backing a new North Sea oil field to the rather curious matter of the Labour leader’s vocal coach.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party may have only been in power for seven months but in that time the Prime Minister has seen his favourability ratings plummet while trust in his government declines. As the Labour lot fret about their waning popularity, Reform UK is enjoying a surge in support – with two recent polls, by
So. Farewell then Kay Burley. After 36 years, the Sky star has announced she is retiring from the channel. In a two-minute monologue at the end of this morning’s programme, Burley reflected on her career in broadcast journalism, covering stories ranging from the death of Princess Diana and the Concorde air disaster to London winning
To Westminster, where last week Kim Leadbeater’s Assisted Dying bill began the evidence session of committee stage. But rather than provide much needed clarification about the scope of suicide bill, the three days of evidence sessions instead threw up even more questions about the safety of the legislation. After paying careful attention to the hours
Is Sir Keir Starmer determined to make himself more unpopular with the British public? The news of his latest Chagos offer is hardly likely to endear the Prime Minister to his critics – not least given the Labour leader has reportedly offered the Mauritians yet more money and ‘complete sovereignty’ of an island containing a
Oh dear. It’s a day ending in ‘y’ – so that means more bad news for Rachel Reeves. Today, the flack comes from an unlikely quarter: someone you might think was actually on her side. Sacha Lord, who quit last week after more than six years as Andy Burnham’s night-time economy advisor, has today decided
The Foreign Office was once described as a ‘palace of dreams’, yet these days it seems increasingly like a graveyard full of nightmares. Just weeks after the Gaza ceasefire, the outbreak of a tariff war in America is just another fresh headache for the Sir Humphreys of Whitehall. Yet with Trump returning to the White
Oh dear. It seems No. 10 aren’t keen to go anywhere near suggestions that Sir Keir Starmer might have broken lockdown rules. Back in December 2020, the Labour leader was receiving voice training lessons from actress Leonie Mellinger, who claimed status as a ‘key worker.’ This included a visit to Labour HQ on Christmas Eve,