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 Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to tackle her party’s ‘cybernats’ over the online abuse of those who do not support Scottish independence, the SNP leader may need to reassess her current efforts following this weekend’s events. After news broke that Michelle Mone is to be awarded a peerage by the Tories, the lingerie entrepreneur was
Water cannons at the ready: the Tory leadership contest is officially underway. How does Mr S know this? Well, in a clear sign that George Osborne means business, he has changed his Twitter profile picture. Osborne is now in Conservative blue, offering a confident grin as he embarks on his campaign to move into Number
Although the Milifandom wasn’t enough to lead Ed Miliband to victory at the polls, the cult movement did at least bring the former Labour leader’s lagging campaign some momentum in the final weeks of the election campaign. So perhaps it’s little surprise that the new Labour leadership hopefuls have been courting Milifandom founder Abby Tomlinson in a
Ahead of the election, Ed Miliband’s senior advisor David Axelrod was asked if the Labour politician had as much potential to succeed as his former client Barack Obama. His reply? ‘I think Obama’s a once-in-a-lifetime candidate.’ However, could Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn be the candidate to make it two-in-a-lifetime? Mr S only asks after the independent
With the newspapers frequently filled with tales of former public schoolboys misbehaving abroad, Mr S was unsurprised to hear reports that a Westminster School alumnus had enjoyed a rather lively flight from Asia to Britain. Still, given that the man in question was aboard the Prime Minister’s private jet, perhaps he ought to have known better. Step forward Patrick Wintour. Word
Although Andy Burnham started out as the frontrunner in the Labour leadership race, according to the latest polls he is now struggling to even remain in second place behind Jeremy Corbyn. What’s more, the unions Burnham hoped would endorse him have in large opted for Corbyn, with Unison this week also choosing to back Jeremy over
The Labour leadership candidates have been canvassing the yummy mummies on Mumsnet and today it was Andy Burnham’s turn. Steerpike was shocked to learn from the Q&A that he has never bought mascara, nor opened a bottle of jet black ‘Just for Men’. But there was a much more damaging revelation: Burnham revealed that he doesn’t eat
Yesterday Lembit Opik spoke out in defence of Lord Sewel after the Sun on Sunday published photos of the Labour peer snorting cocaine in the company of prostitutes over the weekend. While the peer has now stepped down from the Lords, should he want to make a comeback he can also rely on Karen Danczuk to
Although Ukip is said to have a ‘women problem’ thanks to low ratings from females in comparison to other parties, their leader does at least seem keen to reach out to the fairer sex. Nigel Farage reportedly gave a woman cause for concern today after she discovered him in the female toilet of a restaurant: https://twitter.com/tanyamTV/status/626380119540674560 While
Yesterday Lord Sewel stepped down from the Lords after the Sun on Sunday published photos of the former deputy speaker snorting cocaine through a five pound note in the company of two prostitutes. While Labour were quick to suspend him from the party, one man has come to the defence of the disgraced peer. Step forward Lembit
Over the weekend, CCHQ selected the four Tory candidates for London mayor who will proceed to an open primary in September. Playing it safe they opted for experience over celebrity, with Andrew Boff, Zac Goldsmith, Syed Kamall and Stephen Greenhalgh all chosen. This means both Sol Campbell and Ivan Massow have not been selected. While the
Last night Derek Hatton claimed that he has successfully rejoined the Labour Party 29 years after they expelled him. Hatton — who joined Labour with the Trotskyist group Militant — boasted about his membership on Newsnight while defending Jeremy Corbyn. ‘In my pocket I’ve got a Labour Party card,’ he said, after tweeting a picture of his card earlier
This morning Jeremy Corbyn told Radio 4’s Women’s Hour that a thread on Mumsnet in which he was described by one user as being ‘attractive in a world weary old sea dog sort of way’ was ‘the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever heard’. So it must have been with some trepidation that Corbyn agreed to take part
Things could start to get very strange indeed if Jeremy Corbyn is successful in his bid to be the next Labour leader. Corbyn’s old chum George Galloway has today voiced his hopes that he will be able to ‘work closely’ with Corbyn in his bid to be the Mayor of London: I'm running for Mayor of
Although Nick Clegg is under increasing pressure in some quarters to write a tell-all book about his time in coalition, the closest he has got to this so far is by signing up to an agency that has advertised his services for up to $55,000 per speech. Happily, Clegg’s former speechwriter comes at no such
As Jeremy Corbyn edges closer to victory in the Labour leadership race, his critics grow more vocal with both Tony Blair and John McTernan attempting to thwart his campaign this week. However, for all the naysayers, Corbyn is at least managing to slowly amass a celebrity fan club. After Steerpike reported that the Silk actress
After much speculation, the Financial Times has today been purchased by Nikkei, the Japanese media group, for £844 million. Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei is buying Financial Times from U.K. publishing group Pearson for $1.29 billion http://t.co/x26Px8sXfW — MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) July 23, 2015 This comes after the paper’s owner Pearson confirmed it was on sale this morning. However,
Last week the SNP MP Mhairi Black gave her maiden speech to Parliament. The young politician inspired the nation with her story of a man in her constituency who came to her crying after a trip to the job centre went wrong: ‘I said to him “how did you get on?” And without saying a word he burst into
As staff at the BBC face cuts and budget tightening following the Government’s plans to reform the Corporation, their director-general Tony Hall has offered his own defence of the licence fee. Writing the diary in this week’s Spectator, he mentions that Tracey Ullman was recently transformed into Dame Judi Dench as ‘M’ in the James Bond films.
After weeks of speculation over who will be the BBC’s next political editor, a senior BBC employee today announced on Twitter that Laura Kuenssberg is to be Nick Robinson’s successor. However, just moments later the tweet was hastily deleted. Happily, the Mail’s John Stevens managed to screen grab it before it disappeared: The tweet that mysteriously vanished pic.twitter.com/FJnyHRq9uI
