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
In 1992 the Sun claimed it was them ‘wot won it’, fast forward to the next time the Tories achieved a majority and an editor of a different paper is claiming ‘victory’: FROM: Sarah Sands TO: ES ALL (editorial) SENT: Fri 08/05/2015 10:16 SUBJECT: Congratulations Well done everyone on our superbly professional election coverage. It
Nigel Farage has failed to win in South Thanet. However, he can take some comfort that he came second in the hotly contested seat. Alas the same cannot be said for Al Murray and his FUKP party. The Pub Landlord only managed to muster 318 votes. That means that Murray will need to pay back his £500 election
Oh dear. Not only have the Liberal Democrats only won eight seats so far compared to the 56 taken in 2010, many candidates face losing their deposit. If a candidate fails to win five per cent of the vote in their desired constituency then they are subject to a £500 fine. Unfortunately the Liberal Democrats have had many candidates
An interesting election day parcel has arrived at the Spectator office: it contains a box of ‘party leader cupcakes’ from Sky News. ‘We recommend eating David, Ed, Nick, Nigel, Nicola, Natalie and Leanne whilst they are still delicious and fresh,’ says the accompanying letter. Funny thing, though, somebody at the channel — we suspect a
Was this really the wisest picture for Labour to put on their get-out-the-vote leaflets this morning? We should know which of the parties are toast by breakfast tomorrow.
Today Channel 4’s sister channel E4 has made the bold decision to halt broadcasting any programmes until this evening in a bid to encourage their viewers to vote. The channel, which is aimed at youths between the ages of 16-24, will instead broadcast a cartoon of a purple creature asking viewers to get off the sofa and vote because ‘there
The feral travelling Tory press pack were suited and booted this morning in the pouring Cheshire rain and led up a muddy path to a giant rock. No, David Cameron was not going to unveil his answer to a Miliband’s carved pledge stone, in fact he wasn’t going to say anything at all. You can
A little Twitter fad had emerged this afternoon where fans of Miliband tweet pictures of themselves eating sloppily along with the hashtag #JeSuisEd. It came about after the Sun went to town this morning on the Labour leader, reheating his famous bacon sandwich antics. While Labour can hardly stop their supporters from hijacking the #JeSuisCharlie meme that was set up
Today’s front pages have received criticism across the board for being too party political with the election only a day away. Now questions are also being asked as to why Peter Hitchens’ weekly column was missing from the Mail on Sunday at the weekend. Instead, the columnist, who has been vocal about his disdain for David Cameron, tweeted
When Brian May quizzed Russell Brand about his revolution at a screening earlier this month, the Queen guitarist mentioned that he had launched his own campaign, called Common Decency. The scheme supports ‘decent candidates’ irrespective of their party: ‘We’ve been asking for feedback on who is actually a decent candidate and who would listen, genuinely act for the
After the Bow Group chairman Ben Harris-Quinney urged Tories to vote for Ukip in seats where the party can’t win, the Conservative think tank’s patrons issued a statement distancing themselves from the comments. Then when Harris-Quinney appeared on the Daily Politics yesterday to discuss the incident he was accused of being a ‘Walter Mitty’ character who had lied about his
This week Labour was accused of hypocrisy for allowing gender-segregated seating at a party rally. While the party have since defended their position claiming ‘there was no forced segregation’, many have accused Labour of pandering to the Muslim vote. Now word reaches Steerpike that Labour activists working alongside Gavin Shuker, the Labour Co-operative MP for Luton South, are posting leaflets to
Mr S reported earlier on Lucy Powell’s blunder after she unwittingly seemed to contradict the message of the EdStone: ‘I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the fact that he’s carved them in stone means he’s absolutely not going to break them or anything like that.’ Miliband has now come to the defence of his beloved monument.
Mr S reported over the weekend that Rupert Murdoch has jetted in to Britain ahead of the election. Now in the UK, the media mogul, and arch rival of Ed Miliband, is expected to be running a tight ship across all News UK titles as polling day approaches. So Mr S couldn’t help but wonder which bright spark thought it
Eddie Izzard, Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan and Russell Brand. What is it with professional funny-men backing Labour? It’s a little odd that when Miliband is trying to show the world what a serious, potential statesman he can be, he puts jokers in Labour’s election broadcasts. Robert Webb, of Mitchell and Webb fame, is the latest to come
Mr S has witnessed his fair share of election literature cock-ups this year. First Steerpike revealed how Flick Drummond’s campaign posters had to be redesigned after her name could be mistook for another f-word from a distance. Then Matthew Hancock fell victim to a folding issue with his leaflets. As they say bad things come in threes,
The Bow Group’s chairman Ben Harris-Quinney is not having a good day. Last night Bow Group patrons Michael Heseltine, Michael Howard, Norman Lamont and Nirj Deva MEP released a strongly-worded statement distancing themselves from the think-tank’s Ukip endorsement under Harris-Quinney’s leadership. Now all of the Bow Group patrons, including Sir Gerald Howarth, Adam Afriyie and David Davis, have signed the statement:
Oh dear. Lucy Powell has managed to mess up yet another media appearance. Appearing on Radio 5 Live, Powell attempted to justify Ed Miliband’s decision to commission an 8ft 6in stone with Labour’s election promises inscribed. When the presenter suggested that a stone wouldn’t make voters believe in a politician’s promises, Powell came out with
At last, David Cameron has won an election. First News, a weekly newspaper for school children, organised a national Junior General Election and surprisingly the PM has romped home with 40 per cent of the vote. The Greens beat both Clegg and Farage, and Miliband managed just 22 per cent of the vote. Running these numbers through the BBC’s
Given that the Bow Group are the oldest Conservative think tank and count Michael Howard, Norman Lamont and Peter Lilley among their former chairmen, it’s safe to presume that the Tories would have thought that they could rely on their endorsement for the election. However, the Telegraph reported earlier today that the think tank, led by its colourful chairman
