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

DexEU chief: staff should try 10 minutes of ‘chairobics’ a day

As the Cabinet’s Brexit crunch meeting draws closer, there’s heightened speculation that it’s Olly Robbins – the Prime Minister’s Europe Adviser and former DexEU Permanent Secretary – who is calling the shots rather than Brexit Secretary David Davis. On Monday, Davis met with Theresa May but it’s not clear he was even updated on the

Watch: Kit Malthouse wrong-foots his boss

Oh dear. Esther McVey has rather a lot on her plate right now with the faltering universal credit roll out. Today, however, her problems became physical while answering work and pensions questions in the Chamber. Only it wasn’t the Opposition causing the issue. Junior minister Kit Malthouse lost his balance as he stepped away from

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No more BBC Mairs for Boris Johnson

The news that Eddie Mair is departing the BBC for LBC has been met with disappointment by his former comrades. However, Mr S suspects that there is one man who will today be breathing a sigh of relief. Step forward Boris Johnson. It’s no secret that the foreign secretary has a frosty relationship with the

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Sajid Javid takes the lead

According to weekend reports there are now 20 Tory MPs preparing leadership bids should Theresa May fall. However, one minister tells Coffee House that’s not right – it’s actually more like 40. So, with ambitious politicians plotting their next move, who is the frontrunner? Mr S was curious to note that Sajid Javid – the

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Osborne at a loss over Evening Standard

Evening Standard editor, Kissinger Fellow, Honorary Economics Professor, Blackrock Advisor and Stanford Visiting fellow George Osborne is a skilled man at many things – namely job applications. However, as Chancellor Osborne struggled with deficit reduction, repeatedly missing his targets. He seems to now be experiencing economic turbulence in one of his new jobs, as editor

Danny Dyer on Brexit and Cameron: ‘where is the geezer?’

England may have lost their World Cup match to Belgium but happily some Thursday night entertainment was found in ITV’s Good Evening Britain. Danny Dyer – the EastEnders actor – hit out at David Cameron, also known as ‘t––’, over Brexit: ‘This whole Brexit thing when you’re judging them. Who knows what Brexit is. You

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Matt Hancock’s World Cup struggle

Ahead of England’s crunch World Cup game against Belgium tonight, you might expect that support for the Three Lions is reaching fever pitch in the cabinet. Not so, Mr S is sad to report. Theresa May is more of a cricket fan, while Boris has been busy talking down England’s chances. It seems that culture

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Two years on: six of the worst Brexit predictions

It’s just over two years since the UK voted to leave the European Union in what proved to be a shock result that caught both politicians and commentators off guard. Unlike Lord Ashdown’s hat-eating, or Matthew Goodwin’s book eating after the two most recent General Elections, many didn’t get held accountable to their off the

Love Island fever sweeps the Labour backbenches

Recess is fast approaching and many MPs are looking for a hobby to occupy them over the long summer break. Happily, a group of Labour MPs have hit upon the perfect thing to keep them busy: Love Island. Mr S hears that Lucy Powell, Jess Phillips and Stella Creasy have even set up a WhatsApp group

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Liz Truss and the last straw

Oh dear. Although free-thinking Cabinet members are not hard to come by nowadays, Liz Truss still managed to cause a stir with her speech to the London School of Economics. Only it was notable not just for her defence of free markets and fiscal restraint but for what she didn’t say. In the pre-released speech on

David Miliband takes in the refugee crisis… from Aspen

Oh David Miliband – never change. Labour’s prince across the water continues to surprise. Although friends of Ed Miliband’s brother have reported that David is ‘still attracted’ to Britain, as of yet the former Labour politician has not been tempted enough by Blighty to quit his £425,000 a year job as the chair of the refugee

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John McDonnell fails to put on a united front

Is Len McCluskey a signed up member of a ‘corporate cartel’? That’s what his close ally John McDonnell appeared to suggest in the Chamber as Tory MPs voted en masse to back plans for a third runway at Heathrow. With the shadow chancellor representing a constituency in the flight path of the proposed runway, McDonnell

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Tom Watson’s gambling hypocrisy

When it was announced that the crackdown on fixed-odds betting machines could be delayed for up to two years, Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson made his feelings loud and clear: ‘The state of this government. It’s pathetic,’ he tweeted. That outburst wasn’t the only time Watson has called for action against the bookmakers. Here he

Two years on: six of the worst Brexit predictions | 25 June 2018

It’s just over two years since the UK voted to leave the European Union in what proved to be a shock result that caught both politicians and commentators off guard. Unlike Lord Ashdown’s hat-eating, or Matthew Goodwin’s book eating after the two most recent General Elections, many didn’t get held accountable to their off the

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Greg Hands makes life difficult for the Foreign Secretary

With a key vote on Heathrow’s third runway due later today, the bulldozers ominously loom whilst the Foreign Secretary is missing in action. The once anti-Heathrow Boris Johnson will helpfully miss today’s vote though the exact whereabouts of Johnson remain unknown – with the Prime Minister saying last Thursday that ‘[he] will be what I would

Tory MPs turn on Gavin Williamson

Despite the good weather and England’s good World Cup result, it hasn’t been a relaxing weekend for all. Step forward Gavin Williamson. The ambitious defence secretary has found himself in the line of fire, with the Mail on Sunday splashing on reports that he has threatened to topple the prime minister unless defence spending is increased