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
After a prolonged spell of avoiding media interviews, Boris Johnson finally came out of hiding today and appeared on breakfast television. The Prime Minister was interviewed by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on ITV’s This Morning. And while Boris handled questions on the coronavirus, flooding and the Priti Patel bullying scandal with relative ease, in the end it was a
Nothing brings people together quite like a late night kebab. That was certainly the lesson that Mr Steerpike learnt on Tuesday evening when the Westminster Village descended on the British Kebab Awards. The annual meat-based bash saw politicians, hacks and restauranteurs rub shoulders at the Park Plaza hotel in Waterloo. But Mr S wasn’t the only one
What does Britain stand for post-Brexit? What is our role in the world? Mr Steerpike often wonders: it’s not as if Johnson’s administration has always been entirely forthcoming. For all the talk about opening up to the world, being a proud beacon of economic liberalism, the government has been opaque as to what that means.
There’s much speculation (and conspiracy theory) about why Boris Johnson chose today to announce that he’s becoming a father for the sixth time. Was it to get the resignation of Sir Philip Rutnam off the front pages? But to many in Westminster, the real question is how they have kept it quiet for so long.
In recent days, the UK government has been criticised for not doing enough to update the public on the potential for a coronavirus outbreak. No. 10’s boycott of the Today programme meant that it was former health secretary Jeremy Hunt who was left to take the slot on Friday rather than a minister. However, Mr S wonders
Oh dear. Failure comes in many forms but it usually stings a little more when it also involves large sums of money. That’s the situation the Liberal Democrats are in following their disappointing election result in which they failed to make overall gains – and then party leader Jo Swinson lost her seat. This morning
Lord Kerslake is back. This time he’s been discussing Boris Johnson’s ‘levelling up’ agenda. In an article published in the Financial Times today, he implored the prime minister to spend £1 trillion over then next 20 years on closing the north-south divide. The FT wrote: In a report to be published on Thursday, the UK
You’ve got to hand it to Richard Burgon, the man’s not short on ideas (whether or not they’re good ideas is another matter). First, it was his plan to give Labour’s left-wing members a veto on UK military action. Now he’s promised to set up the ‘Tony Benn School of Political Education’. And what would
James Grundy became the Conservative MP for Leigh last December after managing to overturn a 10,000 vote majority and 97 years of Labour dominance. Less impressive, however, is a recording of Grundy obtained by LBC which appears to show the MP flashing in a pub back in 2007. Grundy, who went on to become a
Could the Six Nations rugby tournament be the first high profile victim of the coronavirus? England supporters are expecting to decamp to Rome’s Stadio Olimpico in just over two weeks time for the final round match against Italy. But the chances of the game going ahead seem to be fading as fast as Italy’s hopes
Spare a thought for the Corbynites. Not only have they spectacularly crashed the only viable parliamentary vehicle for the left, they’ve also managed to screw up what was meant to be a socialist coronation. So it must be particularly difficult for David Graeber, an anthropology professor at the LSE and avid Corbyn supporter. He tweeted
Keir Starmer is the favourite to take over from Jeremy Corbyn, but is he too boring for the top job in the Labour party? Starmer’s critics insist he is and that he lacks the personality to take on Boris Johnson. Unfortunately his attempt to counter that argument rather backfired this morning. Asked by Nick Ferrari
Everyone knows what the oldest profession in the world is supposed to be. But what came afterwards? Labour deputy leadership hopeful Dawn Butler has put forward her suggestion: accountants. In an interview with Pink News, had this to say: ‘Sex work is the oldest profession in the world…It’s older than accountants. Apparently, sex work came
Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach, has tendered his resignation. After gambling his political career on an election in which he hoped Brexit would be the defining factor, the Irish voters decided they cared about pretty much anything but. In fact, just one per cent of Irish voters cited Brexit as a decisive factor for them
Throughout the Labour leadership election, Lisa Nandy has sought to pitch herself as the more moderate candidate in the race – the candidate who can break away from Corbyn’s rule of the party, and win back traditional, working-class Labour voters in the North and Midlands who abandoned the party at the last election. So it
Sajid Javid has just taken a pop at Boris Johnson following his departure from the cabinet earlier today. The ex-chancellor said no ‘self-respecting minister’ would have been able to accept the terms presented to him by the PM if he wanted to stay in the job. He told the BBC: ‘The conditions that were attached…I
Oh dear. Nothing seems to be going right for the SNP these days. Not only has Nicola Sturgeon lost her finance secretary after he sent inappropriate texts to a teenage boy, but her party is now facing a police investigation in Belgium. The naughty Nats appear to have caused a diplomatic incident after they decided
How would you define bullying? Perhaps it involves aggression or intimidation? Or perhaps bullying might include name-calling or the use derogatory language? But according to Labour’s would-be deputy Dawn Butler, bullying goes quite a bit further than that. During an interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge this morning, Butler told the presenter that she thought the
Ever since leaving parliament, George Osborne has been piling up jobs almost as fast as he piled up the national debt when in office (nine, at the last count) But he might soon have an easier balancing act, with his editorship of the Evening Standard in question. The rumour from Derry Street is that the
Iain Dale was joined this morning by Corbynista Grace Blakeley on Good Morning Britain. The pair were there to discuss reports that an autistic teenager who threw a young boy off the Tate Modern’s viewing platform had warned his carers beforehand that he planned to push someone off a building in London. Blakeley of Tribune