Steerpike

Steerpike

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

Dominic Grieve: Boris Johnson is a ‘charlatan’

Boris Johnson has only been in Downing Street for a few hours but already Dominic Grieve is trying to stir up trouble. Asked to sum up the new Prime Minister, Grieve responded: ‘He’s a charlatan. I mean that is the clear evidence of his career and the way he has operated politically. And that is

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Watch: protestors try to stop Boris meeting the Queen

Boris Johnson may have been elected by Tory members and become leader of the Conservative party, but until he finally meets the Queen in Buckingham Palace he is not, constitutionally, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Which explains why some, clearly still hoping to stave off his premiership, made a desperate bid to stop

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The danger of the call from Number 10

The appointment of Remain-leaning Mark Spencer to Chief Whip in Boris Johnson’s incoming government has excited Conservative MPs from across the benches. Many will be wondering who else will be chosen to join what could be a broader coalition than had been expected. Perhaps though they should show some caution. Speaking on The Spectator’s Women with Balls,

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Watch: Labour frontbench spoil the party at May’s final PMQs

Theresa May’s time at Parliament’s despatch box is up. The Prime Minister has just faced her final session of PMQs, finishing off by telling MPs the ‘duty’ to ‘serve my constituents will remain my greatest motivation’. Here is the video of the moment she said goodbye: Most MPs stood up and applauded the PM as

Jared O’Mara’s ‘Comms Team’ spectacularly resigns

Jared O’Mara, the former Labour MP (who was briefly suspended from the party in 2018 over a series of online comments) has been something of an enigma in Westminster of late. Although he promised to fight for his constituents when he left the Labour party to become an independent, the politician has since missed a

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When will Tom Watson break his silence on Carl Beech?

Tom Watson’s face is splashed across the front pages of the newspapers today but unfortunately for the typically publicity-hungry Watson it’s for all the wrong reasons. Labour’s deputy leader is facing calls to quit following the conviction of Carl Beech, a fantasist who was yesterday found guilty of making up claims about a VIP paedophile

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Is May’s Islamophobia adviser a parting shot at Boris?

Theresa May has had a busy few weeks, frantically churning out press releases, consultations and policies to build a legacy before she is replaced by her nemesis Boris Johnson. And as one of her final acts as Prime Minister, Theresa May took the unusual step of appointing Imam Qari Asim as a new Islamophobia tsar this

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Ivanka congratulates the new PM of the ‘United Kingston’

Boris Johnson became the next prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative party this afternoon, after Tory members overwhelmingly backed him over Jeremy Hunt. And almost as soon as the result was announced, messages began pouring in from people across the world. US president Donald Trump was the first to pass

The Reverse Gaukeward Squad

Alan Duncan may have been the first to resign ahead of Boris Johnson’s expected coronation as prime minister but he won’t be the last. Philip Hammond has already announced he’ll jump before he is pushed. And the rest of the so-called Gaukeward Squad are preparing to make their feelings about Boris known. But what about

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Alan Duncan’s ‘honourable’ resignation

Sir Alan Duncan became the first minister to resign from the government today, ahead of Boris Johnson’s likely promotion to become the next prime minister. In a letter to Theresa May handing in his resignation, Duncan said that he had left government before the expected change on Wednesday so he could be ‘free to express

Jeremy Hunt slips up

As parliament voted today on an amendment which would make suspending parliament to prevent a no-deal Brexit more difficult, one MP was conspicuously absent from the events. After the vote it was noted that Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has ruled out proroguing parliament if he becomes the next leader of the Tory party, was listed

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Is Leo Varadkar climbing down over Brexit?

Leo Varadkar certainly talks tough when it comes to Brexit, but is the Irish PM preparing to back down? Mr S. only asks because the Taoiseach conceded this morning that he is ‘willing to compromise’ over Brexit. This marks something of a change from his earlier comments in which he has repeatedly dismissed alternatives to the

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Seven of the best moments from This Week

It’s the end of an era tonight as This Week goes out for the very last time. The BBC’s late-night politics show has built up a cult following since it first aired in 2003. A host of politicians, from Diane Abbott and Jacob Rees-Mogg, to Charles Kennedy and Ken Livingstone have all appeared. Singer Pete Doherty,

Jeremy Hunt’s ‘entreprenur’ blunder

Did you know that Jeremy Hunt is an entrepreneur? If you’ve heard any of the Tory leadership contender’s speeches or been at a hustings event, you are bound to, given how often Hunt has mentioned his business background. But while Mr S. doesn’t doubt Hunt’s money-making credentials, he does wonder whether he could do with brushing

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Watch: Dominic Grieve says Tory party has been ‘Talibanised’

There is no love lost between Dominic Grieve and his local Tory party association, but Mr S. thinks that the MP for Beaconsfield’s latest comments will hardly help matters. At an event in London, Grieve said there had been a ‘Talibanisation’ of the Tory party. He also said that a fear of being deselected was

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Watch: Rod Liddle vs People’s Vote campaign boss

Brexit has turned into a ‘mis-selling scandal’, according to Tom Baldwin from the People’s Vote campaign, who popped up on Newsnight last night to talk about the imminent danger of a no-deal Brexit. Baldwin was on the programme alongside Rod Liddle. And – somewhat unsurprisingly – it’s safe to say that the pair didn’t see

Watch: Boris Johnson taken to task over Brexit plan

Is Boris Johnson a man of detail? The Tory leadership frontrunner certainly gave the impression of being one when he revealed his Brexit plan to Andrew Neil. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before he became somewhat unstuck. Boris claimed that in the event of a no-deal Brexit it ‘might be possible…that both sides agree to a

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Watch: Jeremy Hunt: I’m not ‘Theresa in trousers’

Jeremy Hunt has a lot in common with Theresa May. As Andrew Neil pointed out in his interview with the foreign secretary tonight, both are Tory technocrats. And both backed May’s Brexit deal three times. So is Jeremy Hunt just ‘Theresa in trousers’? ‘Certainly not,’ according to Hunt, who said that while he was loyal to

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Six of the biggest gaffes from the Tory leadership contest

The Tory leadership contest reaches its high point tonight as Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt sit down for one-on-one interviews with Andrew Neil. But even if the pair manage to avoid any slip-ups, the race for No.10 has so far produced plenty of gaffes. As this year’s contest reaches its final stages, Mr S. lists

Jacob Rees-Mogg: the next Chief Secretary to the Treasury?

Liz Truss has made her pitch for No.11. But if she gets her wish, who might replace her as Chief Secretary to the Treasury? Step forward, Jacob Rees-Mogg. That at least was who Truss touted as a possible successor at a Press Gallery lunch this afternoon. Truss revealed that preparations for the handover are already underway