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
As Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet reshuffle rattles on, it seems all that power is going to his head. The Labour leader has taken to Twitter to congratulate himself on appointing Diane Abbott and Emily Thornberry to the roles of shadow home secretary and shadow foreign secretary. Corbyn concludes that he is ‘proud’ that two of the three
It’s not been a great conference for the Cameroons. After George Osborne and Michael Gove decided to give the event a miss, Nicky Morgan was left alone to face the flak as the whips kept a close eye on her at fringe events. Now it seems the Chipping Norton set has, too, been left in
After four days of speeches and panels at Tory conference, there is now at least a little consensus over what Brexit means Brexit means and much concern over the quality of Philip Hammond’s jokes. However, while a number of conference speeches proved dry, Mr S is glad to report that the after hours soirees were free-flowing. At the
Brexit means Brexit. But for some, remembering that definition can be a challenge. For Welsh Tory leader Andrew Davies, it seems Brexit means something else altogether. Davies took to the stage at the Conservative party conference and proudly declared that: ‘Mark my words, we will make breakfast..Brexit a success’ Davies said after his gaffe that he
At this year’s Labour conference, the absence of several centrist MPs at the annual event was taken as a sign that the party was far from a united one. So, what about the Conservatives? It hasn’t gone unnoticed that the majority of the once omnipotent Notting Hill set have stayed away from Tory conference in
Jacob Rees-Mogg has been looking mightily pleased with himself at this year’s Conservative party conference. After the arch-Brexiteer spent years calling for Britain to leave the European Union, his wish was finally granted in June. However, he sill has work to do when it comes to convincing Remain-ers that Brexit will be a good thing. At a Politeia fringe event,
Spare a thought for Rachel Johnson. After the Mail on Sunday columnist was invited to speak on gender equality at this year’s Tory conference as part of a Bright Blue debate, she thought that with her brothers — Boris and Jo — and father Stanley in town, it wasn’t entirely out of question that one
With Nicky Morgan the new Peter Bone of the Conservative party, the former Education Secretary is making her mark at this year’s conference as a Cameroon without a brief. Her opposition to Theresa May’s grammar school plans has not gone down well with No.10. Today Patrick McLoughlin used his interview with the Mirror to question why Morgan had allowed
Although there have been efforts in recent years to make the British media less London-centric, problems persist. While the BBC opened their Salford office in a bid to widen the net, it’s Channel 4 who now seem to be struggling to get to grips with the North. Cathy Newman — the Channel 4 news presenter — has
On Sunday afternoon both Boris Johnson and David Davis gave speeches on Brexit in the main hall at Conservative conference. Happily, their fellow Brexiteer Liam Fox was not too left out and had a chance to share his thoughts at the Conservative Voice’s ‘Brexit, Europe and the world’ reception that evening. Clearly stung after Nick Clegg
While Scottish Labour struggle to fill their events with supporters, the Scottish Conservatives can take heart that their resurgence is still going strong. Attendees for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party reception queued around the bend to hear Ruth Davidson speak. Davidson spoke of her surprise that officials had put the Scots in a room where they
What a difference a year makes. This time last year Lord Feldman was giving a speech as party chairman to welcome Conservative party members to Tory conference. Now no longer chairman, Feldman is out of government along with the majority of the Notting Hill set. However, this hasn’t stopped Feldman from attending this year’s event in Birmingham. While
With Seumas Milne rumoured to be on the way out, Jeremy Corbyn could soon be on the prowl for a new Director of Communications. Although Paul Mason has denied that he is interested in the job, he is still a favourite to join the Leader’s Office. So, with that in mind, Mr S was curious to hear his
This year, Labour’s Women Conference saw Harriet Harman take to the stand to describe Theresa May as ‘no sister‘. Hoping for a bigger platform next year for their feminist message, party members have since called for the event to be integrated into the main conference. While Mr S wishes them luck with this, the ladies
As Labour conference draws to a close for another year, over the past four days there has been plenty of drama played out in both the conference hall and the fringe events. However, the after hours soirees have also proved eventful. At Sky News‘s bash, attendees got to choose whether they were a champagne socialist or a
Recent reports on the situation in the socialist haven of Venezuela suggest that not everything is so tickety-boo. With five-hour queues for toilet paper, the prospect of forced labour looming and a mass food shortage, Mercosur — the South American trade bloc — has threatened to expel the country over human rights violations and not
There was a time when it looked as though this year’s Labour conference might not go ahead as they struggled to find a company to provide security at the event. The party’s usual supplier G4S had been deemed unsuitable after the NEC made a decision to boycott them over its prison contracts and links to
Oh dear. It’s not been a great conference for Seumas Milne. Jeremy Corbyn’s director of comms managed to make himself the story this week after he altered Clive Lewis’s speech on Trident at the last minute. The shadow Defence Secretary was said to be so angry over the changes that he punched a wall after
Although David Cameron faced flak over his resignation honours list, it was Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to give the chair of his anti-Semitism inquiry a peerage that attracted the most criticism. Today Shami Chakrabarti — now Baroness Chakrabarti of Kennington — appeared on the Daily Politics where Andrew Neil. While she freely admitted that her findings
Back in May, Boris Johnson was awarded first prize in the Spectator’s ‘President Erdogan Offensive Poetry competition’, for the following poem: There was a young fellow from Ankara Who was a terrific wankerer Till he sowed his wild oats With the help of a goat But he didn’t even stop to thankera. Fast forward a