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
Poor old Theresa May. Last week, a portrait of the Prime Minister was unveiled at Oxford University as part of their ‘wall of geography women’. But the PM’s time on the wall at her former university has been short-lived. A group calling themselves ‘Not all Geographers’ is claiming success after May’s portrait was taken down
Cabinet is certain to be tetchy this morning after Boris Johnson called the PM’s preferred customs arrangement ‘crazy’. Things were no different on Sky News just now when Iain Duncan Smith popped up to discuss Brexit. IDS clashed repeatedly with Adam Boulton as the pair discussed borders, Brexit and whether Boris would do a better
The local election results have raised questions about both Labour and the Conservatives’ viable route to a majority at the next general election. In that vein, Paul Mason – the Corbynista former broadcaster – has written a piece for the i paper explaining why Labour must win former Ukip votes: Alas Mr S suspects Mason
After winning the ‘broadcast journalist of the year’ gong on Tuesday at the London Press Club awards, Kay Burley topped off a busy week with a debut on the Andrew Marr show. The Sky broadcaster joined Amanda Platell and Ayesha Hazarika for the paper review segment of the early morning current affairs show, Only while discussing the
The Conservatives better-than-expected election result has been dampened somewhat by CCHQ’s decision to reinstate a councillor suspended for comparing an Asian man with a dog last June in order to take control of Pendle council. Labour have been quick to go on the attack – accusing the Tories of abandoning decency in favour of a power
Happy Karl Marx day. To mark the 200th anniversary of the revolutionary philosopher’s birth, a statue of the revolutionary philosopher (funded by the Chinese, natch) has been erected in his German hometown Trier to protests, Owen Jones has tweeted a picture of his cat reading Das Kapital and a range of pieces have been published across the
In the flurry of excitement over the local elections, Chi Onwurah’s Question Time appearance has been cruelly overlooked. Happily, Mr S is on hand to right this wrong. The Labour MP’s attempt to criticise the Tories over student loans backfired last night. The Labour MP spoke of her apparent fears that a working-class student could be put
Has Labour’s anti-Semitism row cost the party in the local elections? Given their disappointing results in areas with a large number of Jewish voters, such as Barnet, it would seem so. So is Ken Livingstone feeling apologetic for repeatedly talking about Hitler? Not so, if his interview on Sky News just now was anything to
Ukip has had a dismal night in the local elections: the party is so far down 92 seats, and retains only two council seats across Britain. Some politicians might do their best to try and put a gloss on things – but not Ukip’s general secretary, Paul Oakley, who has compared his party to the
It’s been a somewhat disappointing night for Labour, and Mr S wonders whether his party’s failure might have upset John McDonnell. Earlier this morning, the shadow chancellor was taken to task for his comments about Esther McVey being lynched. Claire Perry called for McDonnell to say sorry – an opportunity McDonnell turned down. Here’s how their
Owen Jones has been on a mission of late – a mission to unseat Tories. The Guardian columnist has been taking his campaign to key Labour target seats. Only despite the Guardian columnist’s best efforts, Labour have had a rather underwhelming night in the local elections. So, in order to help with future planning, Mr
Oh dear. It’s not been a great night for Labour. Although Jeremy Corbyn’s party has managed to make gains in the cities, Labour has not managed to meet the sky high expectations they had for the local elections. However, it’s safe to say that Corbyn’s close ally Chris Williamson – the MP for Derby North
As voters head to the polls today, the Conservatives are hoping their reputation for bin management will trump any concerns over the government’s Brexit plans. However, Mr S suspects not all of the Tory literature used will have the desired effect. In Ilford Town, a leaflet went out to residents listing four reasons to vote
MPs are busy debating criminal barristers in the House of Commons: not the most exciting of topics, admittedly, but some are at least doing their best to liven up the discussion. Step forward, Tory MP Bob Stewart, who responded to being rebuked by John Bercow by saying: ‘As ever I take a spanking without any
Although the Conservatives have managed a successful expectation management campaign ahead of the local elections, were the Tories to lose control of Kensington council, it would be hard to spin it as anything other than a total disaster. So, a letter from a former Conservative MP in today’s Evening Standard declaring his intention to vote
Dominic Raab has finally broken his silence on the key question every one wants to know the answer to: does he eat the same lunch every day? The Daily Mirror reported last week that one of his staff members, who had been caught out in a sugar daddies sting, revealed that Raab’s daily lunch order
Emmanuel Macron’s global charm offensive continues. But his bid to woo the Australian Prime Minister Down Under appears to have backfired somewhat. Thanking his host, Malcolm Turnbull, for his warm welcome, Macron had this to say: ‘I wanted to thank you for your welcome, thank you and your delicious wife for your warm welcome…Thanks to
Chris Williamson is no stranger to appearing on Russia Today, and it seems the Corbynista MP is not going to break the habit any time soon. Or could he? The latest register of interests reveals that Williamson landed himself £300 for a TV appearance back in January. So where was the money from? Williamson declared
Although Gavin Williamson has managed to get through the week without telling any world leader to ‘go away and shut up’, he’s also had to deal with a new leadership rival entering the scene in the form of Amber Rudd’s successor Sajid Javid. Not one to be outdone, Williamson has made sure to have a
Although John Bercow once said he would only serve as Commons Speaker for only nine years, the Conservative MP has since suggested that he plans to stay on longer. But will he get a say in the matter? Mr S only asks as Bercow is in the line of fire after an explosive Newsnight package
