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
Oh dear. Labour under Jeremy Corbyn is about to get a whole lot stranger. The Labour leader has appointed none other than Guardian columnist Seumas Milne as his ‘executive director of strategy and communications’. Milne starts the job next week and joins on leave from the paper. Joining @jeremycorbyn's office next week as @UKLabour strategy & communications director, on leave
John Bercow’s war with the Conservatives looks set to return after a lively exchange of words this lunchtime. The incident occurred after Javid responded to an urgent question from Labour on the steel industry regarding the 1,200 job losses Tata Steel. Bercow decided that Javid had taken too long to answer the question and told him
Although President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Britain is supposed to herald the beginning of a golden era of partnership between China and the United Kingdom, the visit has already been marred in controversy with many questioning why the government is teaming up with a country with a history of human rights abuses. Still, readers of today’s broadsheets could
The launch party for Call Me Dave proved to be an eventful affair as it was revealed that Lord Ashcroft was unable to attend after falling critically ill around the time of the book’s launch. As guests munched on cocktail sausages and sipped champagne, his co-author Isabel Oakeshott took to the stage to give a speech. To kick things off, Oakeshott
With Lord Ashcroft notably absent in the days and weeks following the release of Call Me Dave, guests at the book’s official launch at Millbank Tower waited with anticipation for Ashcroft to make his grand entrance. However, when it came time for the speeches, it fell on the book’s publisher Iain Dale to break the news to guests
Although Russell Brand has stopped producing his YouTube series The Trews after tiring of being in the spotlight, fans of the comedian-turned-revolutionary can now get their fill in the new documentary Brand: A Second Coming. While the film, which is directed by Ondi Timoner, was originally supported by Brand, he later got cold feet on viewing
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Britain today to embark on his official state visit. While the visit aims to build on George Osborne’s own trip to China to reinforce trade relations, Jeremy Corbyn is expected to ruffle feathers by bringing up the country’s bad track record on human rights when he meets the president this week.
Nicola Sturgeon and the Daily Mail hosted a drinks reception for journalists last night. The unholy alliance included speeches from the First Minister and Scottish Daily Mail political editor Alan Roden. Roden recounted a fashion show he had covered at the Scottish parliament which had involved Sturgeon as one of the models, and two Mail
This year’s SNP conference has proved to be a somewhat tame affair with Nicola Sturgeon playing down talk of a second independence referendum. While hacks hoping to meet the party’s army of cybernats have so far been left disappointed, Mr S has compiled a selection of photos showcasing the slightly stranger elements of this year’s conference:
Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour’s new leader, few of his colleagues have been more supportive than Diane Abbott. As well as defending John McDonnell on the Today show this week over his fiscal charter U-turn, the shadow secretary for international development — who reportedly once enjoyed a romance with Corbyn — took it upon
Oh dear. With Boris Johnson needing to mount a political comeback pretty soon in order to have any hope of stopping George Osborne’s bid to be the next Conservative leader, the Mayor of London could do with some good PR. So unfortunately an incident that occurred on his trip to Japan is unlikely to prove helpful. Johnson
As Labour’s new shadow City Minister, Richard Burgon will be hoping to prove that his party isn’t as anti-business as they were seen to be in the last election. Alas, his interview with Cathy Newman on Channel 4 news last night will have done little to help his cause. Burgon — who was one of the
Earlier this year Sandi Toksvig stepped down from her role on Radio 4’s The News Quiz to launch a career in politics as part of the newly-formed Women’s Equality Party. Speaking about her decision to leave the BBC for politics, the presenter-turned-politician said that she had had enough of making jokes about politicians and instead wanted
Although Jeremy Corbyn has decided to adopt a more civil approach when it comes to PMQs, the message appears to have not yet reached all Labour MPs. After a fairly polite exchange between Corbyn and Cameron today, it fell upon Labour’s Kevin Brennan to lower the tone with a pig jibe. Speaking about Lord Ashcroft’s David
It’s fair to say that during Nick Clegg’s time in the coalition, the former deputy Prime Minister appeared to make a number of catastrophic mistakes when it came to the wellbeing of his party. However, when asked in an interview on Newsnight what he would list as his biggest regret, the former deputy Prime Minister chose not
Last night BBC staff and musicians alike assembled at Portcullis House to back UK Music’s Let it Beeb campaign. As guests including Lord Hall, Sandie Shaw and Anneka Rice raised a glass to the campaign which aims to protect BBC music services from the threat of charter renewal, MPs including Ed Vaizey and Jess Phillips made
At this year’s Tory conference Jeremy Hunt defended the government’s tax credit cuts, claiming they would make the British people work as hard as the Chinese. While Hunt has since claimed that his comments were misinterpreted, tonight Labour’s Helen Goodman hit out at the Health Secretary for the comments. She says if things are so great in China
This morning Nicola Sturgeon said in an interview on the Andrew Marr Show that a second referendum on Scottish independence is now ‘inevitable’: ‘I’ve always believed and I still believe today that Scotland will become independent and it will become independent in my lifetime.’ While many unionists were quick to point out that Sturgeon had said
In Mhairi Black’s maiden speech in the House of Commons, the young SNP MP voiced her opposition to the Tories by criticising George Osborne over his party’s housing policy. However, despite calling the Conservatives ‘a really dangerous party’ in an interview with the Guardian, it appears Black has at least softened in her approach to some members of
This week’s Tory conference made the headlines after journalists and Tory supporters attending the event were spat at and egged. With Labour MPs quick to condemn the actions of protesters in Manchester, today it fell upon the Guardian‘s Zoe Williams to come to the defence of the spitting protesters. Speaking on the Daily Politics, Williams said