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
Last year it was a bicycle, this year it’s a dove. Yes, Jeremy Corbyn has refrained from using a photo of himself for Labour’s annual Christmas card for a second year: However with May, too, opting for an illustration, Mr S is beginning to miss the Cameron and Miliband years.
It’s handbags at dawn over in Downing Street. Last week, Nicky Morgan used an interview with the Times to criticise Theresa May for wearing trousers costing nearly £1,000 while claiming to be in touch with the ‘JAMs’. The former education secretary said that she herself had never spent that much on anything ‘apart from my wedding dress’. Now Morgan has
During the coalition years, Lib Dem conferences were well-attended events with many businesses, too, opting to exhibit. However, since the party went from 57 seats to eight in the 2015 general election, they have struggled to maintain their allure. So, perhaps brains at Lib Dem HQ can be forgiven for attempting to capitalise on Sarah
Oh dear. Today Jeremy Corbyn tried to move the conversation from Labour’s bad polling to human rights, with a speech to mark International Human Rights Day. However, while Corbyn wished to speak about championing women’s rights across the world, Peter Tatchell and anti-war campaigners had other ideas. As the Labour leader spoke at Methodist Central Hall, Tatchell interrupted to accuse
Although David Cameron tended to put a photo of himself and his wife Samantha on the front of his Christmas cards during his tenure as prime minister, Theresa May takes a different approach. Today the Prime Minister has released her official Christmas cards for 2016. Following her annual tradition as Maidenhead MP, May has chosen cards designed
Theresa May, you may have read, is fed up with obsequious civil-servants and their ticky-box ways. ‘From the officials’ point of view, what they owe to the minister, and what the minister expects, is the best possible advice,’ she tells Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth in The Spectator Christmas issue. ‘Don’t try to tell me what you
In today’s Article 50 debate, MPs from across the House offered their two cents worth on what Brexit means. However, one Remain MP got more than they bargained for when they sparred with Brexiteer Bill Cash in the Chamber. After Cash argued that the vote for Leave was perfectly clear, Ken Clarke intervened with a counter
Although the BBC has traditionally been accused of showing anti-Conservative bias, since Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader the party has found itself waging war with the Beeb on numerous occasions. However, today Steve Baker swung it back to the Tories. The Brexit-backing backbencher used a question at PMQs to accuse the BBC of breaking
Christmas doesn’t start until Nigel Evans sends out his annual card. This year’s is no exception, with the Conservative MP’S 2016 offering as modest as ever. He has, however, decided to share the spotlight with another man this time around. Step forward Donald Trump. Perhaps Evans could help No. 10 forge ties with the president-elect
Here we go again. As Paul Nuttall tries to prove that Ukip is a professional party on the path to electoral success, he may wish to have a word with his party’s campaigns team. With Ukip fielding a candidate in the Sleaford and North Hykeham by-election, Nigel Farage headed there today to do some broadcast
Last month, word began to spread around Whitehall that the Prime Minister would not take kindly to any ‘mansplaining’ — after No 10 took umbrage at male politicians, officials, diplomats and journalists talking over, patronising or failing to listen to May. As the Times revealed, the row was triggered after Sir Mark Lyall Grant, the national security adviser, managed
Claws out in Westminster. Since Theresa May was appointed Prime Minister, several of her one-time cabinet colleagues have taken issue with her government’s Brexit stance. After May sacked Nicky Morgan as education secretary, Morgan has become a key member of the post-Brexit awkward squad — regularly voicing criticism of the PM. Over the weekend, the pair’s relationship took another
In 2011, when the Liberal Democrats’ poll ratings had fallen to 10 per cent, Nick Clegg ordered a rebranding exercise, even looking at whether the party’s name should be changed to distance the Lib Dems from their betrayal on tuition fees. Today, the Lib Dems are still polling around 10 per cent (on a good day). But what about
Throughout the EU referendum campaign, Nicholas Soames stood firmly on the side of Remain — warning that a vote to Leave would be a ‘terrible mistake’. Since the nation plumped for Brexit, Soames has called on the hard Brexiteers to keep their options open with regards to the deal. When Iain Duncan Smith penned a ConHome
Sarah Olney’s honeymoon period as the newly elected MP for Richmond Park has come to an abrupt end. Hours after ousting Zac Goldsmith from the seat, the Liberal Democrat appeared on Talk Radio to give an interview to Julia Hartley-Brewer about her victory. Alas things didn’t get off to the best start when Hartley-Brewer began by asking ‘when’s
This week, it’s not gone unnoticed that the BBC have given Fidel Castro’s death a lot of air time and a lot of tributes. As Andrew Roberts noted over the weekend, BBC News described him as ‘one of the world’s longest-serving and most iconic leaders’ only mentioning in the fourth paragraph that ‘Critics saw him as
Last night the Liberal Democrats managed to overturn Zac Goldsmith’s 23,000 majority in Richmond Park. While Goldsmith was visibly downcast over the result, the former London mayoral candidate did manage to put his disappointment to one side as he wished his successor Sarah Olney well in her role. Alas, the same can’t be said for
Last month, the president-elect declared war on Hamilton — the broadway musical — after his vice-president elect Mike Pence was booed and jeered at during a performance. At the end of the show — which tells the story of Alexander Hamilton — the cast addressed Pence and warned that they were ‘the diverse Americans anxious you will not protect
After Ukip’s new leader Paul Nuttall said he planned ‘to replace the Labour party and make Ukip the patriotic voice of working people’, Jeremy Corbyn’s party are under pressure to re-connect with their traditional working class voters. With that in mind, Stephen Kinnock appeared on the Today programme on Tuesday to talk Labour and immigration.
With Emily Thornberry en route to Cuba to attend the funeral of Fidel Castro, back in Blighty landbound socialists — with selective memories — continue to take to the airwaves to heap praise on the late dictator. Happily during one such appearance, from Richard Gott — a former literary editor of the Guardian — on Sky News,