Steerpike

Steerpike

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

What to expect from Owen Paterson’s think-tank launch?

Whatever could Owen Paterson be up to? The sacked Environment Secretary gave a punchy speech a few weeks back on climate change and is now set to intervene in the another important conversation. Tomorrow will see the launch of Opatz’s new vanity think tank called UK2020 that, according to the invitation, will be ‘dedicated to

Nicky Morgan, Education Secretary – a modern tragicomedy

Another day, another cock up from Nicky Morgan. The Department for Education’s official Twitter feed has hastily deleted a message stating:- Doh! As plenty of social media users were quick to point out, equal rights for all people – regardless of who they bed – should probably be covered by ‘British values’, not least in

Caption Ed Miliband and see Alex Salmond’s face in the Halloween pumpkins

Even the po-faced Associated Press (video above) couldn’t but describe as ‘toe-curling’ Ed Miliband’s encounter with a homeless hijabi. Pundits agree that Ed appeared ‘terrified’ of the beggar in Manchester. Mr S was there, however – on unrelated business, of course – and can confirm that the opposition leader really did only have 2p in his pocket

Jim Murphy – is Scottish Labour dyeing?

While watching Scottish Labour leader frontrunner Jim Murphy launch his campaign today, you might be forgiven for thinking the teetotaller has been hitting the bottle. The bottle of hair dye, that is. There is a noticeable change in tone from when Murphy was a minister in the last Labour government. Mr S doubts that will

Sup with a long spoon at the new Shepherd’s

The news that Westminster lunch ‘institution’ Shepherd’s is to reopen its doors after closing them eighteen months ago has been greeted with enthusiasm, not least by the cheese soufflé devotees of SW1. But should it actually stick in the throat? According to Public Affairs News the Tory lobbyist Lionel Zetter is the man behind the resurrection, and he

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Did she say that out loud? Gay marriage muddle from Nicky Morgan

Mixed messaging from education secretary Nicky Morgan, who also moonlights as the equalities minister: Despite saying previously that ‘marriage to me is between a man and a woman’, and voting against gay marriage legislation, today Morgan said she probably would vote for gay marriage, telling the BBC’s Today programme that you ‘learn’ on the job.

Westminster’s gone barking

It’s that time of year again – sandwiched between conference season and the Autumn statement – when the nation’s political pooches (and their owners) descend on Westminster. Yes, yesterday saw the Westminster Dog of the Year show, 2014. Last year’s winner, Noodle the cockerpoo (and her owner, Alan Duncan) had been promoted to the judging panel

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Breitbart’s loss is Nigel Farage’s gain – or is it?

It’s no great surprise that Raheem Kassam, the troublesome managing editor of Breitbart London, has left his job. Kassam is a wildly self-important figure who flits about on the internet Right. Mr Kassam is famed for his inflated sense of self-importance, and Mr S particularly enjoyed the write up of the new job, mysteriously under an

Meet the NFL player who admires Iain Duncan Smith

Connections between Iain Duncan Smith and NFL players may be few and far between. But Mr S is pleased to have discovered one. Colin Kaepernick, an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, has referenced IDS’s famous soundbite in his Twitter bio: There’s nothing else included in his bio, so Mr S can only assume

Robert Peston falls for the Spirit Level theory of equality

Robert Peston was recently at Lincoln’s Inn for the launch of schools charity Primary Futures, which all sounds very worthy. He started off apologising for looking scruffy, then spoke at some length about the problems he has with private schools. He thinks they are divisive. Plus, they promote inequality and research shows inequality holds back prosperity.

Champagne Tories, and a ring of truth from Bell

It was Eighties night at Mark’s Club on Thursday evening for the launch of Tory PR guru Lord Bell’s memoirs. Some refreshing honesty from the spin man, who admitted ‘I don’t know why I wrote this book.’ A who’s-who of Tory peers, including Lords Chadlington, Archer and Lloyd Webber, knocked back champagne, with Michael Portillo

What’s the opposite of a champagne socialist? Phillip Blond

Phillip Blond, sporting tinted specs for this morning’s devolution debate, is famed in the wonkier side of Westminster for his unique style. The self-styled ‘Red Tory’, who split with the Cameroons in favour of ‘a new Tory economics that distributed property, market access and educational excellence to all’, has his shirts and jackets handmade, adding a splash

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Mrs Neil Hamilton for Ukip MP?

Like a bad smell, Neil Hamilton continues to linger around Westminster. The disgraced MP, who came to embody Tory sleaze by the time he lost his seat in 1997, has reinvented himself as Mr Ukip, with first a seat on the party’s powerful National Executive Committee before scaling the dizzy heights of Deputy Chairman. Despite numerous

Nigel Farage takes inspiration from Al Gore

Al Gore is an unlikely source of inspiration for Ukip – in fact the party once pledged to ban the former Vice President’s controversial climate change documentary from schools, calling it dangerous global warming ‘propaganda’. But might they have more in common than either of them would care to admit? During the count for the

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Ed Miliband does not want to talk about Heywood and Middleton

listen to ‘Podcast: Ukip’s Clacton victory’ on audioBoom Labour are doing their absolute best to put a positive spin on their result in the Heywood and Middleton by-election, despite coming within a whisker of losing their once-safe seat to Ukip. With Ed Miliband duty-bound to congratulate his new MP Liz McInnes in person, a hurried

New party, same old politics for Douglas Carswell

Douglas Carswell is not like normal politicians; he’s authentic, genuine and in touch with real people. Or so the spin goes. So what was today’s by-election-day stunt at a polling station in Clacton all about? Emerging with his thumbs up, Ukip’s soon-to-be-MP for Clacton looked every inch the candidate, taking part in the usual election-day