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
And so, with little fanfare and somewhat inevitably, The Independent Group for Change (formerly Change UK, formerly The Independent Group) has announced the gradual cessation of all party activity. In reality, the party was over the moment Boris Johnson successfully managed to engineer a general election, and probably well before then. Undoubtedly this announcement will
The Prime Minister took to his feet in the House of Commons earlier this afternoon to lay out his government’s agenda for the next five years. Johnson called the plans ‘a blueprint for the future of Britain’ before embarking on a whistlestop tour of his ambitions. Those seeking to probe the government’s policy agenda in
The Conservative MP Tracey Crouch was invited to make the so-called ‘loyal address’, a parliamentary procedure used to formally open the debate on the Queen’s Speech. During her submissions to the Commons, Ms Crouch jokingly referred to a number of A Christmas Carol characters, comparing them (with various degrees of favourability) to past and former politicians. Both the
It’s not exactly going to be a fun day at the office for Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader’s decision to stay in post until his successor is found means that he retains the position of Leader of the Opposition, and all the responsibilities that entails. Which means today, not only will Corbyn have to suffer
The newly-elected MP for Leicester East and loyal Corbynite Claudia Webbe spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier this morning. Webbe was asked why her party failed so badly at the general election but appeared unable to answer Nick Robinson’s simple line of questioning. Rather than responding to questions about the popularity of the policies,
As the week rolls on, the recriminations just keep coming. One thing is for sure, its still not Jeremy’s fault. So, despite the best evidence to the contrary, Mr S has decided to update the list of reasons given by Corbynistas as to why their leader fell so flat. The ‘print media’ Dawn Butler was
As soon as the exit poll was released on Thursday night, showing that Labour had been decimated in the general election, most people expected that the party would spend the next few months (or longer) tearing itself apart. Even so, few expected that that its representatives would have begun suing each other so soon after
Has Greta Thunberg been caught out repeating the same trick as Jeremy Corbyn? Thunberg tweeted an image of herself sitting on the floor of what she described as an ‘overcrowded’ train on her way back to Sweden: However, the tweet quickly sparked controversy with German train operator Deutsche Bahn appearing to derail Greta’s suggestion that
The last few days have seen a rapidly coarsening Labour debate over who is ultimately responsible for the party’s historic election loss. Corbyn-sceptics have criticised the leadership’s perceived failures while supporters have been flailing around in a desperate attempt to blame anyone but the leader himself. One such Corbyn cheerleader is Andy McDonald, who spoke
At 10:10pm last night, the shadow chancellor began the inevitable firefight against claims that it was Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour leadership itself that lost the party this election. John McDonnell told Andrew Neil: ‘We knew it would be tough because Brexit has dominated this election… As I say, I think this was a Brexit
Ken Loach is loyal to Jeremy Corbyn to the very end, even after the Labour leader led the party to its disastrous defeat overnight. The ‘Kes’ filmmaker said Corbyn has been the victim of a ‘torrent of abuse that has been off the scale’. Loach said Corbyn was: ‘A man of peace who has been
Jeremy Corbyn was roundly defeated in yesterday’s general election, so what lessons have been learned? Not many, if his interview just now on ITV News is anything to go on. The Labour leader defended Momentum, insisted his party’s manifesto was popular and vowed not to walk away from the party for the time being. On
You wouldn’t know Labour had suffered a dismal night in the polls from Lloyd Russell-Moyle’s acceptance speech. The arch Corbynista and MP for Brighton Kemptown channelled Winston Churchill as he vowed to take the fight to the Tories. Russell-Moyle launched into an explosive rant as he reacted to news of Boris’s big win: ‘The Conservative party
Labour has had a dreadful night. The party has lost 59 seats overnight, handing the party its worst result since 1935. But some Corbynistas are taking a different view of what took place at the election. Pro-Corbyn commentator Grace Blakeley insisted that, however badly the party did, Labour’s policies were not at fault. She told Good
The Beast of Bolsover is no more. Dennis Skinner has lost his seat to the Tories – winning 16,492 votes to the Tories’ 21,791. The red wall has been demolished overnight. Skinner has been the MP for Bolsover since 1970, in a constituency which has never elected anyone other than a Labour MP. Tonight, that
‘Corbyn was a disaster on the doorstep. Everyone knew that he couldn’t lead the working-class out of a paper bag.’ After what looks to be a disastrous night for the Labour party, it appears that Alan Johnson is not happy with the Corbynite wing of his party. The former Labour Home Secretary absolutely tore into the
Tonight’s exit poll has predicted that the Conservatives are heading for a bumper majority of 86 – a remarkable result. And while the exit poll is still just a prediction at this stage, that hasn’t stopped Labour’s various Corbynistas melting down at the result. Here are the best reactions so far: I’m so, so sorry
Jeremy Corbyn held a small rally last night in east London, telling supporters to go and spread the message of ‘socialism, which is about hope’. Many British Jews will have woken up this morning feeling anything but hope. They have seen a Labour party led by a man who many consider to be a harbinger of left-wing
The actor Steve Coogan has started his traditional round of election broadcasts, supposedly in an attempt to whip up support for Labour. Unfortunately for Steve, he had a bit of an Alan Partridge moment earlier today when he told Sky News that Labour is ‘encouraging prejudice’. Mr S would sadly have to agree. You can watch the clip
Vote Corbyn, says Corbyn. That is the unsurprising message from the Labour leader’s brother Piers in a video filmed at Speakers’ Corner in London. But while Piers backed his sibling over accusations of anti-Semitism and Labour’s position on Brexit, it wasn’t an entirely ringing endorsement. Piers Corbyn, who has previously said ‘man-made climate change does
