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
In the aftermath of ‘traingate‘, one of the most striking things about the incident was not that Jeremy Corbyn had a seat despite claims to the contrary, but that the Labour leader and his team kept providing conflicting versions of events. Although Corbyn eventually admitted he had just wanted to sit next to his wife, this was
Although David Cameron’s resignation honours were widely criticised for cronyism, it’s fair to say that Jeremy Corbyn’s one appointment to the House of Lords caused just as much upset. The Labour leader was accused of a conflict of interest for giving Shami Chakrabarti a peerage after she chaired his anti-Semitism inquiry. Apparently unfazed by the
Given the fragile egos of Theresa May’s three Brexiteers — Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and David Davis — Mr S suspects it’s for the best that none of them were present at today’s press gallery lunch with Nick Clegg. After accusing David Cameron of engaging ‘in a brutal act of one upmanship’ by quitting as the
When Hacked Off first launched in 2011, Hugh Grant was its lead spokesman — regularly appearing on shows such as Newsnight and Question Time to preach the importance of press regulation. While the Notting Hill actor donated the damages he received from News International over phone hacking to Hacked Off, the group were accused by the Register of being
Since the nation voted to leave the European Union in the referendum, Brexit has been described as a lot of things by a lot of people. However, until now Mr S had not heard it be described as sexy. At today’s European Union Select Committee, David Davis — the Brexit secretary — claimed that his brief is
Yesterday Emily Thornberry accused Sky News‘s Dermot Murnaghan of sexism for asking her to name the French foreign minister. While the shadow Foreign secretary has since been the subject of much ridicule over the claims, she can take heart that some comrades still have her back. Step forward George Galloway. Galloway has written a blog post on
Oh dear. It’s fair to say that Emily Thornberry’s appearance on Sky News this morning did not go to plan. The shadow Foreign Secretary — and shadow Brexit Secretary — appeared on Murnaghan to discuss Labour’s stance on Brexit. Discussing her brief, Thornberry — who is married to Sir Christopher Nugee — slammed the government’s
This year’s Labour conference in Liverpool will be accompanied by the rival ‘The World Transformed’ event which will see Momentum host four days of talks. With speakers including Richard Seymour — the journalist who once said if Falklands hero Simon Weston knew anything ‘he’d still have his face’ — it’s shaping up to be an interesting few days.
As Owen Smith’s supporters struggle to stay positive about his chances in the Labour leadership race, the MP can at least take heart that some still have faith. The latest Register of Interests shows that Smith has received a donation of £67,550 from Anthony Watson. This covers the rental, phone and internet costs of Smith’s campaign
After Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee, didn’t know what ‘Aleppo’ was in an interview, hacks at the New York Times thought the gaffe would provide great material for a story. Alas, said hacks failed to do their research before writing it. In correcting Johnson, the article claimed that the Syrian city is the
After seven years of Tory domination at the Westminster Dog of the Year competition, MPs from other parties had clearly had enough. Labour’s Anna Turley and Clem the Shih Tzu (named after Clement Attlee, of course) came down from Redcar in a bid to knock the Tories off top spot (though seemed more interested in
This week Ken Livingstone has managed to cause a stir after he appeared on the BBC to defend Keith Vaz — but ended up talking about Hitler. However, there was another reason Livingstone’s appearance on television piqued Mr S’s interest: why is he still in Britain? During the EU referendum campaign, Livingstone threatened to emigrate if
During the London mayoral campaign, the Evening Standard was accused of showing ‘overwhelming bias’ towards the Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith. The Media Reform Coalition claimed the paper had become the ‘mouthpiece of the Conservative party’ after it ran twice as many positive headlines about Goldsmith than his Labour rival Sadiq Khan. Khan was also the subject
Last summer, Chuka Umunna disappointed his Blairite mentors when he dropped out of the Labour leadership race. Explaining his decision, Umunna said that he was uncomfortable with the level of pressure and scrutiny on both himself and his loved ones. A lot has changed since then. With Jeremy Corbyn leading a fractious party — and
To GQ‘s Men of the Year awards at the Tate Modern. With Russell Brand not around to make Nazi jokes at the expense of a sponsor this year, Amy Schumer did her best to unsettle the champagne-fuelled crowd. Accepting the ‘woman of the year’ gong, the American comedian said she was relieved an awards ceremony ‘finally celebrated men’. However it was Sadiq
Oh dear. After the nation voted for Britain to leave the EU in the referendum, many Remain-ers were left downhearted and depressed over the result. While some have since managed to put on a brave face, others continue to struggle. Take for example Martin Roth, the director of the V&A. Over the weekend, reports surfaced that the museum’s
Today Keith Vaz has stepped down as chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee following a series of claims about his personal life. His decision comes after a number of his Labour comrades tried to help his cause by going onto the airwaves to wax lyrical about their colleague. Simon Danczuk — who is currently suspended from the party for sexting a
Throughout Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party, his links to Sinn Féin have been called into question by his critics. As Mr S’s colleague Douglas Murray has previously reported, Corbyn was chumming up to the Irish republican party even while their military wing was blowing up ordinary pub-goers, shooting farmers in the head and planting
After the Government released its childhood obesity strategy last month, Theresa May stood accused of sidelining the issue. So, Mr S was pleased to receive an invite to an event focussing on the issue. Sharon Hodgson — the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for School Food — is holding a breakfast on Tuesday morning to call on the government
Although a poll in the Times last week suggested that Jeremy Corbyn will win the Labour leadership with an even bigger mandate than last time, some party insiders claim it is a lot closer than many think. So, perhaps that’s why Corbyn has called in the help of… UB40. Yes, the British reggae band are to