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
Hapless Humza Yousaf certainly picks his battles – and this week the former first minister has taken aim at Elon Musk. On a Tortoise media podcast, Yousaf rather pompously claimed that the tech billionaire was part of a campaign to ‘besmirch’ his reputation and insisted he was ‘certain’ the Twitter CEO had access to his
The circumstances of David Lammy’s Chagos deal get murkier and murkier. This week, the incumbent Mauritian government went to the polls – and got roundly thrashed. Pravind Jugnauth’s MSM party won just two of the 62 seats in parliament, with the Labour party taking the other 60. Now, five days after losing office, the Mauritian
Good old Remainiacs: where would be without them? It is eight years now since the UK voted to quit the EU and nearly five since we actually left – but a small band of Hiroo Onoda-impressionists are still refusing to accept those basic facts. Chief among them is ‘Led by Donkeys’, the self-identifying ‘satirists’ who
Oh dear. It is more than a week since Steerpike broke the news of Downing Street’s Diwali debacle. Many Hindu attendees at the No. 10 reception were horrified to be served alcohol and meat at the event, which aimed to improve the links between Labour and the British Indian community. When Mr S first Downing
Whether it’s falling masonry or rats, staff in the Houses of Parliament have to put up with a lot in their workplace. Since 2020 they have to endure the daily delight of navigating New Palace Yard in various states of repair. Parly bosses boast that this is to ‘deliver better and more inclusive accessibility, enhanced
To New Zealand, where parliamentary proceedings have become rather, er, heated during discussions on the Treaty Principles Bill. During a debate about the relationship between Māori and the crown tabled by the libertarian Act party – in which the minority coalition partner is seeking to remove principles from the treaty of Waitangi that protect Māori
First they came for the Guardian, and then they came for the Clifton Suspension Bridge. In a move that will surely come as a blow to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s global social media platform, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Museum has announced that it too will boycott the online messaging site over a ‘rise in
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby this week announced he will resign from the top job after the pressure piled on from Church of England bishops. The move follows the publication of the Makin Review’s report on the Church’s handling of ‘serial child abuser’ John Smyth – which suggested Welby did not deal with complaints
It was Norman Tebbit who joked that the Ministry of Agriculture looked after farmers while ‘the job of the Foreign Office is to look after foreigners.’ So Mr S has done some digging and it turns out that the men and women who run FCDO have ensured HM’s government are making a pretty penny or
As Sir Keir Starmer’s fortunes go from bad to worse, things only seem to be improving for Nigel Farage. While Reform eye up a possible by-election in Runcorn and Helsby with hopes of getting a sixth MP into parliament, the party will have been given a boost today after new YouGov polling has revealed Farage
The absurdity of the Guardian never fails to amuse. Now the lefty newspaper has decided it is too good for one of the world’s most used social media platforms and today announced it will no longer use Twitter – by posting on, er, Twitter. You couldn’t make it up… Sharing a link to an article
Back to Scotland, where parliamentarians are under scrutiny over questionable expenses claims – this time on heating their second homes. It transpires that between 2023-24 Scottish politicians claimed a whopping £36,000 in energy bills for their rented homes in Edinburgh, with the Nats and Labour lot making up £26,000 of the total cost. Alright for
The Terminally Ill Adults has at last been published and MPs can finally pour over the detail. But one supporter of assisted dying who might want to brush up on her answers is Christine Jardine, the Honourable Member for Edinburgh West. Jardine – who is co-sponsoring Kim Leadbeater’s bill in the Commons – appeared on
They’re the redoubtable men and women who keep our legislature safe. But is the thin blue line around the Commons looking a little bigger these days? Mr S has done some digging and found a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the Metropolitan Police on fitness tests undertaken by the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has this afternoon announced he will resign from the role after days of pressure from Church of England bishops. The move follows the publication of the Makin Review’s report on the Church’s handling of ‘serial child abuser’ John Smyth – which suggested Welby did not deal with complaints rigorously
Goodbye Sue Gray. A mere 32 days after taking a ‘short break’ from No. 10, Keir Starmer’s ex-chief of staff has today confirmed she will not continue working for the Prime Minister. Quelle surprise. Gray, who was axed after less than 100 days in the role, was offered the consolation prize of being Starmer’s ‘envoy
Farmers across the country have been in uproar since Rachel Reeves’s Budget. Just weeks ago the Chancellor announced that agricultural land and property worth over £1 million would be subject to an inheritance tax – sparking widespread outrage among family farmers fearing for the future of their businesses. Yet while Sir Keir Starmer and his
When it rains, it pours for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour lot. The polls have gone downhill since Starmer’s army got into power, and the latest More In Common survey is no exception. In the newest survey of Westminster voting intention, it now transpires that the Tories have a two-point lead over Starmer’s lefty bunch –
Another day, another SNP drama. This morning the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn announced he will stand as a candidate in the 2026 Holyrood election in an op-ed written for the Press & Journal. ‘I’m chucking my bonnet in the ring,’ Flynn wrote jubilantly, adding that if successful in the race to secure an MSP
While Sir Keir Starmer faces the world’s media today at Cop29 in Baku, his Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is on the airwaves fielding questions from the UK press. As the cost-of-living crisis persists, Miliband has been keen to assure listeners that, under Starmer’s army, his clean power by 2030 plan will not drive up household