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
Of all the politicians to have a bad 2016, Zac Goldsmith is high on that list. The former Conservative MP for Richmond Park managed to lose not one but two elections. First, the mayoral contest against Sadiq Khan after a tawdry campaign, and later his seat when he called a by-election after the Government approved Heathrow.
Although children can’t vote, Jeremy Corbyn today found time to visit Brentry and Henbury Children’s Centre — as he promised that a Labour government would put a stop to ‘super-sized’ school classes. Alas, this message was distracted from slightly thanks to the faces Corbyn pulled as he read Michael Rosen’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt to the
Theresa May’s surprise call for a snap election on Tuesday led many to praise the Prime Minister for running such a tight ship — with no leaks to the press ahead of the announcement. However, is May now paying a price for having such a small inner circle? As Charles Moore notes in this week’s
Oh dear. Today Jeremy Corbyn kicked off Labour’s general election campaign with a speech on his party’s vision for a fairer society — complaining that the current system was rigged. However, confusion over whether Labour would consider holding a second referendum, if elected, distracted from the message. Now Dawn Butler has dealt the party another
Oh dear. The first rule of political plotting: tell no-one, or at least tell very few. So it was a curious move of the Hackney branch of Momentum to write-up and publish online everything they discussed at Wednesday night’s meeting about the upcoming election. Activists for Momentum — the pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group — have come
Theresa May’s decision to hold a snap election in June has scuppered many MPs’ holiday plans — and one politician’s honeymoon. But now word reaches Steerpike that it will also have a negative effect on the Labour Party’s general wellbeing. Yes, in what is perhaps the greatest tragedy of the snap election yet — the Labour
Some Labour supporters, it’s fair to say, do not like hearing hard truths. So when a journalist at Jeremy Corbyn’s first speech of the general election campaign asked about the party’s dismal support in the polls – and whether Corbyn merely spoke for an ‘Islington elite’ – there was only going to be one outcome.
It’s day two of the snap election campaign and already tensions are running high. In particular, Sky News‘s Adam Boulton is having a rather testing week. After the news presenter speculated on Tuesday that Theresa May’s surprise announcement could relate to an illness, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff sent ‘Bunter’ a text telling him she
Yvette Cooper was the surprise star of PMQs today after she made the Prime Minister squirm with a stinging question about Theresa May’s election U-turn: ‘The Prime Minister yesterday said she was calling a general election because Parliament was blocking Brexit. But three quarters of MPs and two thirds of the Lords voted for Article
With Labour firmly on the back foot over Theresa May’s call for a snap election, many MPs tonight used a meeting of the PLP to raise concerns over their prospects in an early election. So, surely the Corbynites are doing everything they can to help their comrades cling on? Well, perhaps not. Tonight Paul Mason — the
Theresa May’s surprise announcement today has caught hacks and MPs alike off guard. While Labour MPs fret over the prospect of a snap election, is there also reason for a newly independent MP to sweat? Step forward Douglas Carswell. After quitting Ukip last month to stand as an independent, Carswell upset many Kippers by refusing to hold a
This evening, Andy Burnham has whipped social media into a frenzy after the Labour MP decided to wade into ‘barista-gate’. Following reports that the Home Secretary is considering plans for ‘barista visas’ — which would allow young Europeans to work in the hospitality industry after Brexit — Burnham has taken to Twitter to let it
As if Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t already getting it from all sides on the home front, the beleaguered Labour leader has come under a fresh line of an attack from a former Bush aide: propping up Donald Trump. Yes, speaking on The Spectator Podcast, David Frum – senior editor at The Atlantic and former Bush administration staffer – accused
With George Osborne set to start his new part-time job as editor of the Evening Standard next month, the former chancellor could be forgiven for taking things easy for now and just focussing on his two other big jobs — as an advisor for Black Rock and the MP for Tatton. However, given that this
Although Nick Robinson claims the BBC no longer has a duty to be balanced over Brexit now the referendum has been won, what about Scottish independence? With ‘IndyRef2’ on the horizon indefinitely, Mr S was curious to note the approach Andrew Marr took to interviewing the SNP’s Alex Salmond compared with unionist Ruth Davidson. When Davidson
Oh dear. Someone at The New European is about to have a very bad Easter break indeed. Although the pro-EU paper claims it is an advocate for unity and tolerance, it seems they hold no qualms about stirring up division in UK towns. In the press release for this week’s issue of the newspaper, it’s
Oh dear. Today Jeremy Corbyn launched his new small business policy with a press conference at the Federation of Small Businesses. Alas things took a turn for the worse when the BBC’s Mark Lobel attempted to ask the Labour leader about the situation in Syria: .@jeremycorbyn refused to answer a question on Syria at a business conference
As regular Spectator readers will know, universities today aren’t what they used to be. From students at LSE attempting to ban a free-speech society to City University students banning newspapers at the institution famed for its journalism school, censorship is on the rise on campus. What’s more, the election of Malia Bouattia — who called Birmingham University ‘a
There’s no such thing as a free lunch — and Owen Jones is quickly discovering that there’s also no such thing as a free jacket in a fashion shoot. The Guardian journalist has come under fire over his decision to model a £1,080 jacket while discussing the ‘collapse of capitalism’ with the men’s magazine. While Jones
They say a picture can paint a thousand words. So, it was a curious decision by Guardian columnist Owen Jones to wear a £1,080 jacket while discussing the ‘crisis of capitalism’ in an interview with GQ. Discussing the path to true socialism in a wide-ranging interview with Alastair Campbell, Jones rallies against inequality and Tory cuts: ‘With
