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
Who should be able to celebrate Durham’s proud legacy of mining? Maybe those who represent the miners’ constituencies in Westminster? Not according to the man who organises the annual miners gala, which takes place every July. Durham Miners president Alan Mardghum told the BBC: ‘To paraphrase Johnson, I’d rather be found dead in a ditch
After Labour’s catastrophic showing in the 2019 general election, most sensible people in the party decided that now was the perfect time to reflect on the result, and try to understand why it had lost so many voters in its former heartlands in the North and Midlands. Well, for Ian Lavery, the bellicose Corbynite MP
When the actor Laurence Fox appeared on Question Time last week, and laid into the growth of identity politics in the UK, it’s fair to say he didn’t make many friends online. The actor has since been bombarded with abuse for refusing to apologise for his comments and was even denounced by the actors’ union
Keir Starmer has clearly decided that in order to win over the membership he must appear sympathetic to Corbyn and Corbynism. His campaign launch video was a masterclass in repositioning, presenting the soft-left Starmer as some kind of socialist stalwart. Indeed, speaking at the Fabian Society conference this afternoon, the frontrunner was asked by the
Leading members of Labour’s left-wing met on Thursday evening to rally the troops and reflect on what went wrong in the election. ‘I’m sure we’ve all had a good time to mourn and analyse what went wrong and why we didn’t win the election,’ uttered the chair opening the event. ‘I think there were many
‘Let’s be really clear about what this is,’ said a Question Time audience member of Meghan’s treatment by the press: ‘let’s call it by its name: it’s racism’. Not so, said Laurence Fox, who was on the Question Time panel. ‘It’s not racism. We’re the most tolerant, lovely country in Britain,’ he insisted. But that
This afternoon, the newly elected Conservative MP for Bishop Auckland, Dehenna Davison, delivered her first speech in the House of Commons. The northern MP, the first ever Tory to take her Durham seat since it was formed in 1885, has already caused a bit of a stir in Westminster, and been at the forefront of
When Jeremy Hunt made it to the final two of the Conservative leadership contest, many presumed this meant he had secured at the very least a senior job in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet. Alas it wasn’t to be. When Johnson won, the then-foreign secretary was swiftly offered the role of defence secretary. He declined – insisting
After the election, when discussions turned to Boris Johnson’s inevitable cabinet reshuffle, most pundits were certain Julian Smith was destined for the door. The Northern Ireland secretary had made himself unpopular with No. 10 following several cabinet table outburst – the most notable being over Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament. So when it was announced
When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced last week that they were stepping down as ‘senior’ members of the royal family to ‘carve out a progressive new role within [the royal] institution’, plenty of eyebrows were raised at the couple’s suggestion that they would work toward financial independence as well. After all, how will
Flailing leadership hopeful Clive Lewis has weighed in on the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle debacle, telling those at his campaign launch this morning that Britain needs another referendum – this time on the existence of the monarchy. Unsatisfied with the degree of discord sown in the wake of 2016, Lewis has decided that we
At present, it seems like the bells of the Elizabeth Tower will remain silent at 11pm on 31 January, as Britain leaves the EU. Although the new Speaker Lindsay Hoyle vowed at the end of last year to not block Big Ben ringing on Brexit day, an attempt to legislate the matter, by amending Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal
Will Barry Gardiner enter the race to become leader of the Labour party? The Shadow international development secretary certainly thinks he has what it takes. Following reports last night that he was mulling a shock late entry into the leadership contest, Gardiner appeared on Victoria Derbyshire’s BBC show this morning, live from Abu Dhabi, where
Jeremy Corbyn is a two-time election loser who condemned his party to a dismal defeat at the hands of Boris Johnson last month. So how would those vying to replace Corbyn rate his time at the top? Asked to give a mark out of ten, Rebecca Long Bailey had this to say: ‘I thought Jeremy
In recent weeks, a former head of the civil service has been quoted almost incessantly in the pages of the British press. Lord Kerslake today warned the government over its supposed plans for Whitehall reform. Last week, he criticised the ‘serious and extraordinary’ leak of personal New Year’s Honours list data. Before that, the same Lord Kerslake called on
Labour’s Rebecca Long Bailey formally announced her leadership bid last night, and formally planted her flag as the Corbyn continuity candidate. In a piece in the left-wing Tribune magazine, the aspiring Labour leader said the she didn’t just agree with Jeremy Corbyn’s policies at the last election, she ‘spent the last four years writing them’, and
For true socialists up and down the land, last night must have been a bitter blow. Electoral defeat might be something they have come to expect, but as we know the actual job of a left-wing leader is to remould the party and cast out the Blairites. So to lose the only real revolutionary in
Oh dear. It’s not even 2020 yet and already the Labour leadership contest has descended into farce. Despite numerous private conversations over Jeremy Corbyn’s successor ahead of Labour’s election disaster, the Corbynistas have so far been unable to unite around one candidate. John McDonnell’s preferred successor Rebecca Long-Bailey has taken so long to get her
In previous years, Boxing Day has proved an occasion in which high profile Tories can find themselves in the firing line for taking part in various fox hunts across the country. However, this Boxing Day, it’s another political figure making headlines for their interactions with a fox. Step forward Jolyon Maugham QC. The Remain-supporting lawyer
The newly re-elected MP for Leeds West Rachel Reeves has never got on particularly well with the far-left wing of her party. When Corbyn was elected as Labour leader back in September 2015, Reeves announced she would not be serving in his shadow cabinet. Since then, she has regularly criticised Corbyn, suggesting that he should
