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
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
Although Stella Creasy has proved to be one of the most vocal pro-European politicians, the Labour MP may have unwittingly managed to convince one Tory MP of the cons that come from remaining in the EU. David Cameron is facing a potential Commons defeat over the ‘tampon tax’ after a group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs decided to
After Mr S’s colleague Harry Mount argued in the Spectator that the Labour party ‘has had a brain transplant’ under Jeremy Corbyn with a purge of the Oxbridge set, Martin Amis has accused the new Labour leader of being undereducated. Writing for the Sunday Times, the best-selling novelist has launched a verbal attack on Corbyn over his ‘slow-minded rigidity’. The life-long
Oh dear. The Halloween plans of a group of Ukip supporters look set to turn into a nightmare for the event’s organiser. After Guido Fawkes reported earlier this month that a Farage-sceptic branch of ‘Kippers were planning a Halloween party with the theme ‘Nigel Farage and his creepy henchmen’, word reaches Steerpike that the event has now been
After the Jeremy Corbyn-backed ‘grassroots network’ Momentum was launched, several Labour politicians voiced fears that the campaign group could be used to oust moderate Labour MPs in favour of Corbyn champions. The campaign group has since insisted that although it grew out of the Corbyn campaign, it is independent to the party’s leadership. Now things have been made official with the Labour
As Corbynmania continues to divide the Labour party, it appears that casting directors at ITV are keen to bring the party’s inner turmoil to the small screen. With several Labour MPs resigning from the frontbench after Jeremy Corbyn was announced as the new leader, producers have been sniffing around disillusioned party members in the hope of luring them onto
Today Theresa May has hit out at the lack of black and Asian officers in the police forces, arguing that the current diminutive figures are ‘simply not good enough’. She said that the current forces must increase ethnic diversity in order to represent their communities, claiming that there are no black officers in Cheshire, Durham, Dyfed-Powys and
Given that Ivan Massow failed to be picked as one of the four final candidates in the race to be the Conservative candidate for London mayor despite a flashy campaign, it’s safe to say that Massow still has some work to do when it comes to mastering how to succeed in politics. So Mr S was
Last night’s state banquet saw Jeremy Corbyn join David Cameron, President Xi Jinping and Her Majesty to raise a glass to the beginning of a golden era of partnership between China and the United Kingdom. With Corbyn meeting the Chinese president earlier in the day to raise grievances regarding the country’s human rights track record, his
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