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
After a year of surprises across the board from the Tory majority to Labour’s new leader, Westminster’s rebels and insurgents descended on the Savoy Hotel to celebrate The Spectator‘s Parliamentarian of the Year awards. With the awards presented by Alex Salmond — last year’s winner of Politician of the Year, the former First Minister of Scotland made
After Mr S’s colleague Harry Mount wrote in The Spectator that the Labour party has undergone ‘a brain transplant’ under Jeremy Corbyn with a purge of the Oxbridge set, Martin Amis went on to accuse the Labour leader of being undereducated. The best-selling novelist said that he suspected Corbyn — who achieved two Es at A-Level
George Galloway is currently campaigning to be the next Mayor of London, on behalf of his Respect Party. However, given that bookies are giving 50/1 odds on him succeeding, Mr S suspects it is for the best that he also has a business venture up his sleeve. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Galloway discusses his love
When it comes to snooping and surveillance, Glenn Greenwald is one of the most vocal advocates of the dangers of such services. In fact up until 2014, the anti-NSA crusader wrote a column for the Guardian on the ‘vital issues of civil rights, freedom of information and justice’. However, today Greenwald has been accused by a former
When the Iran nuclear deal was debated in Washington, the popular Iranian chant ‘Death to America!’ was a regular point of contention. According to the New Yorker, on one occasion the Texan republican Ted Poe asked John Kerry if the slogan meant that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wanted to destroy the United States:
With Russell Brand no longer an active revolutionary, having officially retired from politics after failing to make an impact on the general election, there’s a vacancy for a new celebrity champion of fashionable political causes. Thankfully Benedict Cumberbatch appears to be doing his best to fit the bill. The Sherlock actor made the news last week after he ranted
After the actress Sienna Miller became subject to vitriol over the weekend for failing to wear a remembrance poppy during an appearance on the Graham Norton Show, politicians and celebrities alike are now doing their best to show off their poppies at any opportunity. Today 10 Downing Street even changed their Facebook profile photo to one of David Cameron
Oh dear. Thanks to today’s technological advances, it’s never been easier to stay in touch with contacts. However, one member of the British Polling Council discovered today that this is not always a good thing. Vote Leave’s Dominic Cummings complained to the BPC about the Confederation of British Industry’s EU survey, which was conducted by YouGov. After
With Tristram Hunt reported to be one of the Labour MPs on the list of targets for de-selection, the former shadow education secretary could do worse than to keep his head down. Unfortunately, a talk he recently gave to Cambridge University’s Labour Club — entitled ‘Principles, Politics and Pathway to Power’ — is only likely to heighten
When the Tory MP Philip Davies called for a Commons debate to mark International Men’s Day last week during a backbench business committee meeting, his suggestion was met with laughter from Labour’s Jess Phillips. Phillips said that despite it being the case that a Commons debate currently marks International Women’s Day, it was ‘laughable’ to suggest
Oh dear. The SNP are so powerful in Scotland at the moment that some of the party’s elected representatives might be forgiven for thinking it can defy the laws of gravity and time. Take Angela Constance MSP, who today thought it might be possible to re-do a live interview. In an interview with the Sunday Politics, she
After Harriet Harman stepped down from the frontbench earlier this year after 28 years, she was asked by Andrew Neil on the Daily Politics which Labour leader had been her favourite to work under. While Harman had praise for Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair — who was nice even when he sacked her — and Gordon Brown, she
Someone at Scottish Labour is having a very bad day. The beleaguered party’s Perth conference has made the news. Alas, it has made the news for the wrong reason after a video posted on the party’s official YouTube channel had an embarrassing typo. The video in question was supposed to help the party win the youth
As stormclouds gathered over London, the most politically connected pooches in the country assembled by the House of Lords for the most eagerly anticipated event of the year – the Westminster Dog of the Year competition. Among the familiar faces – including Alec Shelbrooke’s Maggie and Boris, and David Burrowes’ Chomeley, Steerpike spotted a number of novice
After the Prime Minister was criticised yesterday for warning of the cons of leaving the EU long before his renegotiation has been completed, Cameron will no doubt be relieved to learn that the heat was taken off of him on last night’s Newsnight. Owen Paterson appeared on the current affairs show to put forward the argument for leaving the EU,
After Heidi Allen gave a barnstorming maiden speech last week criticising her own party over tax credit cuts, the Tory MP has found herself in the firing line within her own party. Mr S’s colleague Isabel Hardman writes in today’s Times that a number of Tory MPs are even refusing to speak to her over concerns that ‘her careless
On Monday night the Tories were narrowly defeated in the Lords by 289 to 272 on their plans to cut tax credits. With not even Lord Lloyd-Webber’s last minute flight across the pond to vote enough to prevent the government’s defeat, it only adds insult to injury to note that a number of the newly appointed
When Chuka Umunna pulled out of the Labour leadership race earlier this year, he explained in a statement that he had decided it was time to prioritise his personal life over his political career: ‘I’ve said that I could live without leading the Labour party or politics. For once I decided to put the rest
After Diane Abbott was appointed to Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet in the role of shadow secretary for International Development, some naysayers suggested her promotion could be linked to a brief fling she enjoyed with the Labour leader over 40 years ago. While many Labour MPs failed to come to Abbott’s defence, Ruth Davidson — the leader of the Scottish Conservatives —
Last week Jeremy Corbyn appeared to be on his best behaviour when he attended the state banquet at Buckingham Palace in honour of China’s President Xi Jinping. While he opted to attend the event solo, the republican Labour leader did manage to don white tie, and appeared to successfully make small talk with both the Royal family