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
This evening, as Parliament prepares to be dissolved ahead of a winter election campaign, MPs gathered in the Commons Chamber to hear the valedictory speeches of members who have made the decision to retire. Among their number was the Labour MP Kate Hoey, who is leaving her Vauxhall constituency after 30 years. Although the MP
Jacob Rees-Mogg was doing the broadcast round for the Tories this morning, to discuss the Conservative party’s plans for Brexit and the country, as the general election campaign gains pace. But instead of singing the government’s praises, the Leader of the Commons instead ended up being embroiled in a row about the Grenfell fire disaster
When Tory MPs look for reasons to be optimistic about the incoming election, one thing they point to is the fact that this time around Nick Timothy is not involved. Theresa May’s former aide is widely blamed within the Conservative party for the 2017 manifesto which saw the Tories shed popularity over the so-called dementia
Jacob Rees-Mogg looks like he is in a fight to retain his seat at the snap election. Or so you might think from the Lib Dems’ campaign literature, which appears to give the Tory MP a slender six per cent cushion against the Lib Dems. But if you read the small print, the actual question
Could Donald Trump help Boris Johnson stave off the threat of the Brexit party and enable the Tories to win the snap election? He certainly seems to be doing his best to help out the PM. Nigel Farage has interviewed Donald Trump for his radio phone-in show on LBC tonight and the president urged the
John Bercow has received his fair share of fawning eulogies of late, as the House of Commons laments his departure as Speaker. But, unsurprisingly, several MPs are equally happy to see him go. Today was Tory MP Andrew Bridgen’s turn to pass on his farewell – the MP was in Parliament to debate the recent
There is no doubting Labour’s green credentials, according to the party’s MP Catherine West. After all, Jeremy Corbyn has a bike – and an allotment. Speaking on Sky News, West said of the Labour leader: ‘He was green before the greens existed. He rode a bike. He’s got an allotment. He will do both. He
Jess Phillips’s frustration at Britain’s trains is a feeling plenty of commuters can relate to. But Mr S isn’t so sure the MP for Birmingham Yardley is right to blame Boris Johnson for the current misery at Euston – or for spoiling her son’s birthday: The problems at Euston are caused by a broken down
There is no love lost between John Bercow and Boris Johnson but the Prime Minister managed to bite his tongue as he bid farewell to the Speaker in the Commons just now. Boris paid tribute to Bercow’s ‘Tony Montana scowl’ and called Bercow an ‘uncontrollable tennis ball machine’ for peppering parliament with his numerous interventions
At long last, it looks like there’s going to be a general election to break the Brexit deadlock. The House of Commons has voted to hold an election on 12 December, after MPs on both sides of the political aisle backed a one-line government bill, which now moves on to the House of Lords. But rather
Anyone looking at the glacial pace of this recent Parliament when it comes to Brexit, and its tortuous decision to extend Article 50 once again, will probably understand why Boris Johnson is so keen to call an election this Christmas – especially when he doesn’t currently have a majority in the House of Commons. For
It’s all out chaos at the People’s Vote campaign today, after the outgoing chairman of Open Britain (one of the campaign’s five organisations) Roland Rudd attempted to fire the group’s head of communications, Tom Baldwin, and its director, James McGrory. In their place, Rudd wished to appoint Patrick Heneghan, the former head of campaigns for the Labour
Oh dear. As Boris Johnson attempts to call a general election, this could be the week that supporters of a second referendum get together and push for a so-called people’s vote before any snap poll. One of the big Tory worries is that a majority of MPs could coalesce around such a position. However, that
When Rory Stewart declared his candidacy for the London mayor, there was some concern in CCHQ that the former Conservative MP could eat into Tory candidate Shaun Bailey’s vote share. Stewart has been keen to pitch himself as an outward looking politician in touch with modern Britain. While there’s still some way to go to
Boris Johnson has announced that MPs in the House of Commons will vote next week on holding an election on 12 December, in an attempt to break the Brexit impasse. And as expected, plenty of Labour MPs are already lining up to think of reasons to avoid being accountable to the electorate. Mr S wonders
George Osborne may have stepped away from the front-line of politics when he become editor of the Evening Standard, but the former Chancellor still clearly hasn’t lost his reputation for political ruthlessness. Osborne’s knives were out this morning, after CCHQ’s press office criticised his paper’s coverage of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. The Standard had accused the government
‘A general election will solve nothing,’ Anna Soubry has just told the Commons. But it seems not all of her parliamentary colleagues agree. Labour MP John Mann responded to Soubry by repeatedly yelling out: ‘It will get rid of you’ It’s safe to say Soubry was not impressed: ‘Can I just say actually, I don’t
David Lammy has said Boris Johnson’s bid to fast track his Brexit bill through Parliament means MPs won’t have enough time to scrutinise it properly. Lammy said ‘giving MPs so little time to scrutinise one of the most consequential pieces of legislation we’ll vote on is as transparent as it is cynical’. But while fellow
Boris Johnson can be forgiven for feeling worried when Theresa May took to her feet in the Commons just now. The former prime minister started with the words: ‘I intend to rebel…’. Fortunately for her successor, she then added: ‘…against all of those who don’t want to deliver Brexit.’ May said she intended to back
It’s been a hard couple of days for the Extinction Rebellion protestors. First, the group’s disastrous attempt to block the underground yesterday spectacularly backfired, turning the public against them. And today, the ongoing drama in Westminster over Boris’s Brexit deal has overshadowed their protests. Which may explain why one intrepid protestor resorted to more extreme
