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
Britain’s civil service is supposed to be the envy of the world, seamlessly executing the will of whichever government happens to occupy the offices of state. But Mr S wonders whether the reality can be rather different. Disgruntled civil servants have toppled more than one over-mighty minister. Others have admitted actively trying to undermine government
To the G7 summit in Biarritz where Boris Johnson has held his first meeting with Donald Trump since becoming Prime Minister. The two blondes used the breakfast meet to talk up trade, with President Trump saying the UK leaving the EU will be like losing ‘an anchor round the ankle’. A more jolly affair than the
Mr S was curious to spy a puzzling email sent out by CCHQ to their prospective parliamentary candidates today. The message asked would-be Tory runners to send in their CVs so that the party can select candidates for the next general election. Recipients were told that anyone selected as a parliamentary contender would cease to
The time has come to announce the winner of our much-lauded Brexit poetry competition. Earlier this week, we called on our good readers to provide us with a poem to commemorate the UK’s exit from the European Union on 31 October. Our announcement came in response to the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage saying that he
Boris Johnson’s critics predicted that he would be something of a disaster on the world stage, but his debut as Prime Minister in Berlin has got off to a good start. Firstly, he avoided the fate of Theresa May, who managed to get locked into her car when she arrived to meet Angela Merkel. And
Theresa May spent her first day outside of No. 10 at Lord’s cricket ground, watching the second day of the England match against Ireland. The game proved portentous, with Ireland squaring up to presumed English supremacy before the match was called off due to an imminent storm, all while May and her allies watched from
It’s not often Mr S jumps to the defence of the EU, but he is prepared to make an exception. A new handball rule in football caused controversy over the weekend after a last-minute goal by Manchester City was ruled out. The reason? City player Aymeric Laporte was judged to have lightly touched the ball
Conservative party chairman James Cleverly was at the receiving end of another motorist’s ire after a collision on the M11 on Friday evening. Twitter user Asim Khan alleged that the Tory MP clipped the side of his car with his Land Rover 4×4 while he was on his phone. Khan claims that Cleverly accepted liability
Corbynistas are out to get Jo Swinson again after the Lib Dem leader accused Jeremy Corbyn of being a Brexiteer. ‘Jeremy Corbyn didn’t fight to remain in 2016, and he won’t fight for remain now’, said Swinson. It wasn’t long before the usual suspects leapt to the Labour leader’s defence. Step forward, Owen Jones: ‘This
Rolling news anchors are known for their ability to continue chuntering on, even when there is very little actual news. But one of the few problems they can’t waffle their way through is a power cut. Earlier today, Sky News suffered what appeared to be a brief outage, made all the more amusing by the
‘Poetry makes nothing happen,’ a famous poet once said. But Mr S is still disappointed to hear that the nation’s official poet won’t be penning some lines to mark Britain’s departure from the EU. Poet Laureate Simon Armitage said he has ‘no plans’ to commemorate Brexit day on 31 October. Whatever does he do for his annual stipend of £5,750
Jeremy Corbyn has just given a speech attacking Boris Johnson as ‘Britain’s Trump’. But while the Labour leader is happy to dish out criticism, it seems his supporters don’t like it when the tables are turned. A journalist found that out the hard way when he told Corbyn: ‘It’s clear that you do not have
David Attenborough is something of a national treasure, but how has the veteran broadcaster managed to maintain his popularity? ‘It’s easy if you don’t have to do controversial things,’ according to Attenborough, who said in an interview in 2017 that if he does have controversial thoughts, he simply doesn’t share them. That strategy seems to have been
When Jeremy Corbyn put forward his proposal to MPs to help him become prime minister in order to block a no-deal Brexit, the response from the Lib Dems was clear: no. But the Labour leader’s plan has had a warmer reception in an unlikely place – on the Tory backbenches. Guto Bebb told his fellow
Who is Boris Johnson’s political hero? ‘Obviously Winston Churchill,’ said the Prime Minister yesterday. But Boris also named another figure from antiquity who has inspired him: Pericles of Athens. ‘He believed in the importance of the many, not the few,’ said Boris, helping himself to Labour’s slogan. Boris and Pericles have a few things in common,
Sarah Wollaston’s decision to take the Liberal Democrat whip is not altogether surprising. What might surprise her constituents, however, is the MP’s announcement that she will continue as their representative without seeking a second vote. After all, Wollaston’s voters at the 2017 general election didn’t have all the facts – they didn’t know what they
Boris Johnson appeared shell shocked today when he discovered the lengths to which inmates at HMP Leeds go to to exploit prison security. During a tour of the prison, the PM was shown an X-ray scan of the plastic innards of a Kinder egg lodged inside an inmate who was caught sneaking contraband. Johnson recoiled
Philip Hammond’s former top advisor has confirmed what many in Westminster have known for some time. Writing in the Guardian, ex-special advisor Poppy Trowbridge came out all guns blazing, calling Boris Johnson ‘reckless’ and accusing him of ‘mistaken posturing and trash talk’. In the article, entitled ‘Boris Johnson talks tough but still hasn’t said what he’s
‘Only a government of national unity can deliver us from no deal,’ according to Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee. But who should lead it? In these turbulent times, Mr S considers eight challengers who might fancy their chances for the top job as national unity leader: Caroline Lucas Caroline Lucas faced embarrassment yesterday after floating the idea
It’s an emergency! So says Caroline Lucas, who has called for an all-female cabinet to step in and block a no-deal Brexit. The Green party MP said her planned national unity government would hit the ‘pause button’ on Brexit while the likes of Emily Thornberry, Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon
