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
Emily Thornberry’s decision to appoint disgraced spinner Damian McBride as her media adviser has upset a number of her constituents. However, the shadow Defence Secretary will be hoping that the expertise McBride can offer will outweigh any negative publicity. So, after Thornberry angered Labour MPs at a meeting of the PLP over Trident and then was left
After Super Tuesday, Donald Trump is the clear favourite to be the Republican candidate in the US presidential election. As naysayers go into panic mode over the possibility of President Trump, an unlikely ally has come to Trump’s aid. Step forward Piers Morgan. The former Mirror editor waxed lyrical about the presidential hopeful on the
Under Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour party has been rather quiet when it comes to fighting for Britain to remain in the EU. Happily, Chris Bryant got the chance to put the pro-EU argument forward at last night’s Great Brexit debate, organised by the University of London Brexit Society. Sitting on a panel alongside SNP MP Stephen Gethins,
Punch and Judy politics is clearly the mood of the moment in the House of Commons. Last week, David Cameron offered Corbyn some motherly advice on his dress sense, while a Tory MP heckled Jeremy Corbyn by yelling ‘who are you?’ during an EU debate. This morning, it was Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’s turn to be
Jeremy Corbyn left Labour MPs angry last night after he ducked out of answering questions at a meeting of the PLP in order to appear on ITV’s The Agenda. So, with members of his own party turning against him once again, the Labour leader decided it was an opportune time to revisit another old feud —
Although the Tories currently find their party divided over Europe, they can at least take heart that the opposition face greater internal conflict. In fact, rather than attack Matthew Hancock in the Commons today over the Cabinet’s Brexit issues, Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson opted to make a joke about his own party’s misery: ‘Mr Speaker sadly I am not in the strongest
After months of playing nice, Marco Rubio has finally turned on his Republican candidate rival Donald Trump. After criticising Trump for his approach to business during the CNN debate, Rubio has now gone one step further and gone after his manhood. Speaking to his supporters at a rally, the Florida senator appeared to take aim at the size
Given that one of the major findings of the Beckett report into Labour’s general election loss was that the party were not trusted with the economy, it’s safe to say that John McDonnell has his work cut out when it comes to winning back voters on this issue. So, the latest individual to be appointed as
During the Scottish independence referendum, the SNP claimed that Scotland’s oil revenues for 2016-17 would be somewhere in the region of £7.9 billion. However, since then the oil price has plummeted meaning the revenues will likely be just a fraction of their estimate. So, now would be an opportune time for the SNP to show that despite
With the Sunday papers filled with stories suggesting David Cameron’s party is in turmoil over the EU, Sky’s Dermot Murnaghan decided to raise the issue with Anna Soubry during an appearance on his show. Alas he got more than he bargained for when the Minister for Small Business — who is known not to mince her words — proceeded to
This week Sarah Vine used her Daily Mail column to reveal the details of the roast lamb supper her husband Michael Gove used to plot a move to back Brexit with Boris Johnson. Now the Mayor of London’s sister Rachel Johnson has gone one better and lifted the lid on her brother’s subsequent Brexit deliberations. Writing in the Mail on
The week the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London have been at loggerheads over the EU. After Boris Johnson declared his support for Brexit, David Cameron launched a thinly veiled attack on him in the Commons. So, can expect to see a ‘posh bloke’ fight before the referendum takes place? Is it feasible that David Cameron and
Despite the In campaign’s best efforts to reach the youth vote with the help of Britain Stronger in Europe board member June Sarpong, some youngsters still find themselves leaning towards Brexit. Both Liz Truss and Diane Abbott learnt this the hard way on last night’s Question Time when a young audience member offered up her argument for leaving the
In the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks, Kay Burley became the subject of much mockery online after she tweeted a photo of a dog in the French city, with the caption ‘sadness in his eyes’. Readers were quick to question whether it was an appropriate message in the wake of 129 deaths. Sadness in
Oh dear. Today Time magazine released a list of the 100 most-read female writers in American colleges. On the list were Jane Austen, J K Rowling, Kate L. Turabian and… Evelyn Waugh. Yes, the Brideshead Revisted author made it onto the all-female list despite the fact that he was a man. In their defence, Waugh’s first name has
Yesterday PMQs descended into ‘Punch and Judy’ style politics after David Cameron responded to a heckle about his mother by laying into Jeremy Corbyn’s fashion sense. David Cameron criticised Corbyn’s shabby appearance: ‘Put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem.’ However rather than take the criticism on board, it
After Tory MPs took part in some ‘Punch and Judy’ style heckling on Monday, David Cameron was in no mood to tone things down during PMQs. The Prime Minister was asked by Jeremy Corbyn about health cuts in Cameron’s constituency. At which point a heckler shouted ‘ask your mother?’ in reference to Mary Cameron signing an
Last night Sadiq Khan appeared on Newsnight to discuss his bid to be the next Mayor of London. Evan Davis grilled the Labour mayoral candidate on his extended family’s supposed links to extremists as well as his approach to business which appears to be at loggerheads with Jeremy Corbyn’s: ED: Corbyn has said ‘now is the
Over the years David Cameron has faced much scrutiny over his close relationship with Rupert Murdoch — as well as News UK’s Rebekah Brooks. However as far as Mr S can remember, the Prime Minister never allowed Murdoch to sit in on important meetings with Cabinet members. So Steerpike was interested to read Sarah Vine’s account in
Although David Cameron insists that he wishes to remain on good terms with his Brexit-supporting Cabinet members, he’s not planning to make life easy for them. Today Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, has issued new guidance relating to the referendum that means SpAds and civil servants are banned from assisting Eurosceptic ministers with any material that could be used to back Brexit
