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
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
In the aftermath of the Leave vote, it’s safe to say that not every Brexiteer’s career path has played out as they hoped. After Michael Gove’s leadership bid backfired, the former Justice Secretary has found himself on the back bench. What’s more, his old pals George Osborne and David Cameron appear to have cut him from their
Following the Sunday Mirror‘s claim that Keith Vaz is leading a double life paying young male escorts for sex, the MP for Leicester East is expected to step down from his role as the head of the Home Affairs select committee. In the texts and video footage published by the paper, Vaz appears to inquire about purchasing
During the EU referendum campaign, Eddie Izzard toured the country wearing a pink beret in a bid to convince young people to vote Remain. Alas his efforts failed to have the desired effect, with the Leave result only adding to his growing list of doomed campaigns. While Izzard’s kiss of death has since gone on to lose
Once upon a time Jeremy Corbyn said that he would not bring back Labour’s mandatory reselection of the Eighties if elected leader. However, it seems that the recent Labour coup has caused him to have a change of heart. Just last month, Corbyn refused to rule out Labour MPs facing mandatory reselection battles before being allowed to stand. So, it’s rather
Yes, it was a bank holiday – but did that give the BBC an excuse to launch a licence-fee funded attack on its independent rival? The peg, if you can call it that, was ITV’s decision to turn off all its programming for an hour on Saturday morning as part of its ‘I am team GB’ campaign
Since the British people voted for Brexit in June, there has been a sense of disbelief among luvvies. While Charlotte Church has demanded her ‘f—ing European Union back’, Mr S’s colleague Lloyd Evans reports that the comedy at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe harboured a ‘pleb-hating mood’ when it came to the referendum result. So, Mr S was
After the nation voted in favour of Brexit in the EU referendum, Jeremy Corbyn faced a coup from Labour MPs left unsatisfied with his efforts for Remain. Leading the charge, Hilary Benn sparked a round of mass frontbench resignations after he said there was ‘no confidence’ in Corbyn’s ability to win the next election. However, could it all
When Andy Coulson stepped down as David Cameron’s director of communications in 2011 over phone hacking allegations, it made front page news. In the subsequent trial, Coulson was sentenced to 18 months for conspiracy to hack phones. So as Coulson embarks on a new chapter in his life, Mr S was intrigued to read an interview
So far in the course of the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has been labelled ‘crooked’ and had her political rival Donald Trump suggest that she ought to be in jail. However, has the worst insult only just arrived? Following Nigel Farage’s speech in support of Trump, Clinton took the unusual step of speaking out to discredit
It’s exactly one month until Labour conference and the party’s security shambles just got a whole lot worse. After the NEC voted to boycott G4S, the only firm willing to do the job were Showsec, a non-unionised security firm. This option was deemed unsatisfactory and so the party have had to go ‘cap in hand’ to
After a difficult few days for Jeremy Corbyn following ‘traingate’, the Labour leader has reason to smile again. Today, Corbyn has put his Virgin drama behind him and boarded one of the company’s trains to get to Glasgow for tonight’s debate. What’s more, he has a seat! My kids just got on @VirginTrains from Euston
On Wednesday, Jeremy Corbyn appeared rather rattled when a Sky News reporter asked him about ‘traingate‘ at a campaign event on the NHS. The Labour leader huffed and puffed before explaining that while there were a few empty seats on the train he had wanted to sit next to his wife. Unfortunately, this remark contradicted
As everyone in Britain knows, Brexit became a real possibility only once Nigel Farage was elbowed out of the leadership by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson. But you can forgive Farage for pretending otherwise in his six-minute speech to the Trump rally as he tried to make out that Brexit and Trumpism are the same kind
Last week Donald Trump managed to leave hacks and commentariats confused when he took to Twitter to declare that he would soon be referred to as ‘MR BREXIT!’. While many interpreted this to mean that he would win an election against the odds — just as the Leave vote did in the referendum — Mr S was curious to
This time last year, as images of refugees fleeing Syria dominated the news, a host of charitable figures offered to do their bit and take refugees into their home. Exasperated that David Cameron was not allowing enough refugees into Britain, Sir Bob Geldof, Yvette Cooper and Nicola Sturgeon were among those who publicly vowed to lead by example.
As the internet goes into meltdown over the news that Jeremy Corbyn may have had a seat after all when he filmed a video claiming he did not, it appears that the Labour leader hasn’t done much to help his cause. While his campaign team claim that Virgin Train’s CCTV footage is a ‘lie’, Corbyn can at least
Last week, a video of Jeremy Corbyn sitting in the hallway of a crowded train on the his way to a leadership debate went viral. The footage appeared to show the Labour leader sat on the floor for an entire three-hour train journey after he valiantly declared that it would be unfair for him to
Theresa May was once seen as the continuity candidate to succeed David Cameron. However, since becoming Prime Minister she has gone on to sideline or backtrack many of Cameron and George Osborne’s pet projects. As well as delaying Hinkley Point and leaving the Northern Powerhouse’s future up in the air, she has provoked anger this week over
Although Jeremy Clarkson had to leave the Beeb last year following a ‘fracas’ with a producer over a cold meat platter, in his time there he had already developed a reputation for getting himself into tight scrapes. In one such incident, the former Top Gear presenter caused a furore after he called the then prime minister Gordon
