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
Jeremy Corbyn was caught out yesterday pretending he watches the Queen’s Speech, only to be rumbled when he said he watches it in the morning (it’s actually broadcast at 3pm). But while the Labour leader’s blunder has made the front pages of today’s newspapers, he does still have some loyal defenders. Step forward, Angela Rayner.
Could Sir Mark Sedwill’s time as cabinet secretary be coming to an end? There were reports earlier this year that Sedwill might be in line to be replaced if Boris Johnson were to win the Tory leadership election. That proved to be unfounded and in the months since, the Prime Minister and Sedwill appear to
‘Do you sit down to watch the Queen’s Speech, Mr Corbyn?’ It’s a simple question, but one the Labour leader appeared to struggle with during his interview on ITV. Corbyn responded by saying: ‘It’s on in the morning, usually we have it on some of the time.’ The only problem? As Julie Etchingham pointed out,
Jo Swinson’s campaign ground to a halt this morning in Brixton after climate change activists dressed as bees stuck themselves to the front of the Lib Dem battle bus. The party has gone big in its manifesto on tackling what it calls the ‘climate emergency’, vowing to ensure Britain leads ‘the world in tackling’ the
During this year’s general election campaign, Labour has attempted to repeat their 2017 strategy of costing each commitment made in their manifesto. Given the sums involved, it seems only fair expect the party to lay out – in detail – what they are planning to spend and how they are planning to pay for it.
Air Force One touched down at Stansted Airport last night for the annual Nato summit, held just over a week before the British public go to the polls. So far, Donald Trump has avoided becoming embroiled in the campaign. He told reporters: ‘I’ll stay out of the election’. Spectator USA editor Freddy Gray took to the
The Lib Dems unveiled their secret weapon to revive their flagging election campaign this week. The party managed to win the backing of actor Hugh Grant, who joined Lib Dem candidates Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna on the campaign trail to plug a so-called ‘Remain Alliance’ between several parties to keep the Tories out of
Jeremy Corbyn has finally said sorry for anti-Semitism within the Labour party. The Labour leader was asked five times by This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield to apologise to worried Jewish people. Finally, he backed down and said he was ‘obviously very sorry for everything that has happened’: Schofield: ‘Here is your opportunity now to apologise
One of Labour’s key messages throughout this election has been the future of the NHS. The party has used confidential US-UK trade documents to drive home their message that Boris Johnson wants to sell off parts of the health service to American businesses. But last night, social media experts told Reuters that the leak of these sensitive
A big part of Jeremy Corbyn’s election pitch is claiming that the Tories want to flog the NHS to the United States. That’s nonsense, says Donald Trump. The president told reporters in London that even if the NHS was ‘handed to us on a silver platter, we want nothing to do with it’. He said:
Is the Labour party starting to panic? After a YouGov forecast this week suggested that the Tories could win scores of seats in the North of England, the Labour party appear to have made a rushed attempt to address regional inequality today. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell announced this morning that not only would his party have
Charles Walker, the former chairman of the influential Conservative 1922 Committee, took to the airwaves last night in an attempt justify Boris Johnson’s growing list of TV no shows. The interview followed a Channel 4 leaders’ debate on climate change in which the public service broadcaster decided to replace Boris Johnson with a melting block
The Conservatives have launched a new party election broadcast that ran for the first time this evening on BBC One and ITV. The video (which you can view below) is made up of lots of different voters explaining why they’re backing Boris Johnson. But what does this advert tell about the Tories’ overall election strategy?
Elections are a frantic time for parliamentary candidates, as they scrap for a place in the House of Commons. Nonetheless, one of the few things you expect from them is to know the seat they’re actually standing in. Apparently not though. Step forward John Nicolson, who was the SNP MP for East Dunbartonshire before he
Jeremy Corbyn claims he has the ‘proof’ that the NHS is at risk in a post-Brexit trade deal with the US. The Labour leader this morning called a press conference to reveal a series of leaked UK papers from trade talks with the US, which he said contained comprehensive evidence that the NHS was for
Jeremy Corbyn was grilled by Andrew Neil last night in an interview for the BBC (you can read the full transcript here). The results were less than flattering. Labour’s leader was asked about his party’s response to anti-Semitism and gave a reply that raised more questions than it answered. Corbyn referred Neil to Shami Chakrabarti’s
Jeremy Corbyn is desperate to move on from talk of his mauling at the hands of Andrew Neil last night but some journalists still won’t play by the Labour script. At a Labour event this morning, two reporters asked questions about anti-Semitism. It’s safe to say it didn’t go down well with shadow international trade
The Labour party have their work cut out this election if they want to close the gap in the polls and make up for their leader’s disastrous interview with Andrew Neil last night. Unfortunately, it appears that the Labour party campaign machine might not be quite up to the challenge. Local Labour activists in South Thanet
Jeremy Corbyn’s interview with Andrew Neil is likely to be a defining moment in the Labour leader’s election campaign. Corbyn struggled to spell out his position on Brexit, refused to apologise over allegations of anti-Semitism and also failed to do his homework when it came to saying how his government would fund its multi-billion pound
It’s safe to say Nicola Sturgeon had something of a rough ride in her interview with Andrew Neil last night. The SNP leader was taken to task over her party’s record in Scotland. And in a blistering 43 seconds, Sturgeon was challenged over whether the NHS is safe in the SNP’s hands: ‘You haven’t hit