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
You may have struggled to keep up with all the twists and turns of the group of independent MPs who left Labour and the Conservatives to form their own political party. First, Heidi Allen, Chuka Umunna and co. became the ‘Independent Group’, which was hastily renamed ‘Change UK’. After several more name changes, Change UK
Should Sir Kim Darroch resign as British ambassador in the wake of the row with Donald Trump? It is a simple enough question but clearly not for Matt Hancock, who failed to answer it on 17 occasions during an awkward interview with Piers Morgan. Here is how their testy exchange on Good Morning Britain unfolded:
Tonight’s ITV debate was a much livelier contest than many expected, as both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt engaged in blue-on-blue warfare as they battled to become the next PM. Even in one of the lighter moments of the evening the candidates struggled to be cordial on stage, with both opting to go on the
Tonight, ITV hosted the first head-to-head debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt as they vie to become the next Prime Minister, and leader of the Conservative Party. And while Jeremy Hunt may initially have entered the race as the candidate least likely to engage in blue-on-blue warfare, it didn’t take long for the two
Donald Trump is at it again. Only a few hours after his Twitter outburst last night, the president has taken another pop at the UK’s ambassador in Washington. This time, Trump called Sir Kim Darroch ‘wacky’, ’very stupid’ and a ‘pompous fool’. Trump didn’t stop there though, picking up where he left off yesterday by slating May’s
It’s been three months since the housing tsar and philosopher Sir Roger Scruton was sacked from the government’s Building Better, Building Beautiful commission after he gave an interview to the New Statesman’s George Eaton, in which several of his quotes about China and Hungary were taken out of context. Now, after a lengthy inquiry into
When Michael Gove turned on Boris Johnson in the 2016 Tory leadership contest and decided to stand against his former Vote Leave comrade, it was likened to Brutus’s betrayal of Julius Caesar. But with things looking brighter for Johnson this time around – and the former mayor of London viewed as a shoo-in for No.
Leaked diplomatic cables are a hoot, aren’t they? The Mail on Sunday’s big scoop shows that Britain’s man in Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, has been briefing his government about President Donald Trump in much the same way as the average American news pundit on TV on speaks to his or her audience. That is to
White smoke emerged from the European Council in Brussels on Tuesday, as EU heads of state revealed their recommendations for the next European commission president, head of the ECB, president of the European council, and high representative for foreign affairs. The candidates, who included the German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen and IMF head Christine Lagarde,
Voting is finally underway in the Tory leadership contest. So should Britain’s next prime minister be Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt? Boris is the clear frontrunner but could Jeremy Hunt’s impressive campaign mean that another political upset is on the cards? In some areas, the pair are in complete agreement: they both oppose a second
While the cat’s away, the mice will play. Or, while the two leadership finalists take part in a hustings in Yorkshire and Humber, their supporters will find time to position themselves for jobs, plot and drink some Pol Roger. On Thursday evening, former Tory leadership candidates and cabinet ministers all descended on 22 Old Queen Street
A key part of Jeremy Hunt’s pitch to be the next prime minister is convincing Tory members that he is more popular with the general public than his opponent, Boris Johnson. It’s an effective message, that preys on Conservative members’ fears that Johnson is no longer the Heineken candidate of old, but a Marmite figure who
It’s hard to go anywhere in Westminster these days without spotting Jeremy Hunt. The Tory leadership contender is popping up in all places, posing for selfies on Twitter and sharing videos of himself out and about on the campaign trail. But while Hunt is doing a good job at stealing the limelight, the same hasn’t
Today was a big day for Nigel Farage’s band of Brexit party MEPs. After 29 of the Brexiteers won their seats in the EU elections in May, they finally headed to Strasbourg today, to take their places in the European Parliament. But it appears that while the party may now be part of the European elite,
It may not seem long ago that the Tory leadership candidate Matt Hancock was positioning himself as a key opponent of the frontrunner Boris Johnson, and saying ‘f*** f*** business’ in contrast to Johnson’s alleged ‘f*** business’ remark. A key thing has changed since then though: with Johnson’s victory looking increasingly likely, Conservative MPs have
It’s starting to feel like Ivanka, the daughter of the US president Donald Trump, can’t quite wait to take over the reins of power from her father, even if she isn’t an elected politician. The businesswoman turned President-whisperer had already raised eyebrows at the Osaka G20 summit this week, when she became the only spouse
Last night it was suggested that when Boris Johnson was Foreign Secretary, he was caught on camera by a BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary saying that the French were ‘turds’ for their intransigence during the Brexit negotiations. According to the Daily Mail the Foreign Office then allegedly lobbied the BBC to remove the offending line from the documentary when it aired
Tom Penn and Eve Leigh, the next-door Remainer neighbours of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds who recorded their late-night row, managed to spark a lively debate about the balance between public interest and privacy when they passed the recording on to the Guardian shortly after the incident last weekend. It appears though that the Brexit
Has the excitement of pitching to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats gone to contender Ed Davey’s head? Yesterday, the potential successor to Vince Cable was forced to apologise for his violent language, after he said a Remain alliance should ‘decapitate’ the ‘blond head’ of Boris Johnson in an opinion piece for the Times.
Chris Williamson is back in the Labour party. The controversial Corbynite MP was suspended from Labour earlier this year following comments he made about anti-Semitism in the party. But now after an internal investigation, Williamson is once again a Labour MP. Williamson was slapped with a formal warning after he was filmed at a Sheffield Momentum event
