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
While luvvies have been busy worrying about the future of the BBC in recent months, it appears that Channel 4 may actually be the broadcaster in the government’s firing line. According to Steve Blacks, the Downing Street photographer, an unknown man was snapped heading into 10 Downing Street with an ‘official’ document concerning the future of
Today Labour’s vegan shadow environment secretary Kerry McCarthy has come under fire for comments she has made about meat. In an interview with ‘Viva!Life’ magazine — given before she was given a role in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet — McCarthy said ‘meat should be treated in exactly the same way as tobacco with public campaigns
Oh dear. Sarah Montague is not having a good day. The Today presenter managed to make not one, not two, but three gaffes while hosting today’s Radio 4 show. 1. Things got off to a bad start when Montague began her interview with Simon Kirby, the Chief Executive of High Speed Two, on the Chancellor of
With yet more allegations concerning David Cameron published today as part of the Daily Mail‘s serialisation of Lord Ashcroft’s Call Me Dave, the Prime Minister will be hoping that ‘piggate‘ will soon be all but a distant memory to most. Alas, while the press feast on fresh revelations that Cameron once allegedly said that he was
While Number 10 has refused to comment on the claims made in Lord Ashcroft’s David Cameron biography, the Prime Minister did manage to make a small reference to the book at a dinner last night at the Carlton Club. James Landale, the BBC’s deputy political editor, says that Cameron appeared to acknowledge his old foe Ashcroft’s book
Emily Thornberry has only just made it back onto the frontbench after she had to resign from the shadow cabinet over a tweet she sent of a photo of a house covered with St George flags during the Rochester and Strood by-election. However, despite discovering the dangers of Twitter first hand, the Labour MP has not
As the Liberal Democrats try and find a place for themselves in politics following a disastrous election result, the party can at least pride itself on having the most musical party conference. After their Lib Dem Disco over the weekend, a Lib Dem Glee Club is at conference today: Alastair Carmichael leads #ldconf in song…
With doubts cast over the credibility of Lord Ashcroft’s unofficial biography of David Cameron following ‘piggate‘, his co-author Isabel Oakeshott appeared on Newsnight to defend ‘Call Me Dave’. Cameron’s official biographer Sir Anthony Seldon joined the former Sunday Times political editor in the studio where he raised concerns about the book: ‘Quite frankly, why are we here talking about
With the Downing Street press office declining to comment today on allegations from Lord Ashcroft involving the Prime Minister and a dead pig, Labour has also stayed quiet over the claims. However, members of the Labour press office were unable to resist ignoring the alleged incident completely, with press officers giving out sweets to hard-working lobby journalists. The choice
With Lord Ashcroft’s claim in today’s Daily Mail that David Cameron once enjoyed intimate relations with a dead pig, talk has soon turned to which unnamed Tory MP was the source of the story. With the incident allegedly taking place at an initiation ceremony for the Piers Gaveston dining society – which is named after Edward
Today’s news has been dominated by the claim in Lord Ashcroft’s David Cameron biography that the Prime Minister once had intimate relations with a dead pig. Naturally Cameron has been the subject of much mockery, even though the story has come from only one source, who remains unnamed. While Ashcroft says that the MP who told him the
Given that Lord Ashcroft and David Cameron are known not to be on the friendliest of terms, the former Conservative Party deputy chairman’s biography of the Prime Minister was never going to be a puff piece. Yet Steerpike suspects that even Cameron will be taken aback by today’s Daily Mail front page: Monday's Daily Mail front page:Revenge!#tomorrowspaperstoday
Ahead of the Labour leadership election result, David Cameron warned that Jeremy Corbyn would take Britain back ‘to the days of Michael Foot and Arthur Scargill’ if elected. Well, a week into Corbyn’s leadership of the party — and several gaffes later — it turns out that there is one small snag with regards to Cameron’s
Mhairi Black won millions of fans with her maiden speech in Parliament criticising George Osborne over his cuts to the welfare system. However, today she has offered the nation a glimpse of her softer side, professing her love for Titanic. In a somewhat bizarre interview with Jon Snow, Black plays My Heart Will Go On — the theme from the
Jeremy Corbyn’s first PLP meeting as the leader of the Labour party got off to a shaky start as MPs failed to applaud him. Happily, the attention was soon taken away from him, as a row erupted between his shadow international development minister and a Labour backbencher. Diane Abbott attempted to scold the newbie Labour MP
Jeremy Corbyn has not had much luck with cameramen of late. Since he was elected as Labour’s new leader over the weekend, a war with the media has ensued as Corbyn does his best to avoid most cameramen. One particularly eye-watering encounter occurred on Sunday night with Sky News. Things took a turn for the worse on Tuesday when a
As the wife of Michael Gove, Sarah Vine has been subject to her fair share of political swiping. Still, the Daily Mail columnist is not afraid to give as good as she gets, having previously criticised fellow politician’s wife Justine Miliband for her bland kitchenette. Today it was the turn of the new shadow health secretary Heidi
Jeremy Corbyn tried to take his ‘new kind of politics’ to PMQs today. To do this, the Labour leader asked David Cameron questions which were sent to him by members of the public. While many praised this new approach with the X Factor’s Nick Grimshaw even tuning in, others were less convinced; Iain Dale, the LBC radio host,
It appears that relations between Jeremy Corbyn’s team and the press have reached a new low. Channel 4’s Michael Crick has claimed that James Webb, BBC cameraman, was admitted to hospital last night following an incident outside Corbyn’s home in North London. He says the cameraman has suffered ‘neck and face injuries’ after a ‘Corbyn
Many on the right have raised concerns that a Jeremy Corbyn led opposition could force the government to lurch more to the left in order to pick up votes from disillusioned Labour supporters. But with Corbyn already making waves by hiring a socialist shadow chancellor as well as a vegan shadow Defra secretary, will David Cameron take inspiration from their appointments?
