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
Alex Salmond is licking his wounds up north in the wake of his defeat in the Scottish referendum. After describing being booed by golf fans at the Ryder Cup as a ‘peaceful and joyous’ protest, the outgoing First Minister promptly pulled out of his first public appearance south of the border, which had been pencilled
Professional Yorkshireman and Labour attack dog Michael Dugher was quick to jump on the Prime Minister’s claim that William Hague was the greatest living Yorkshireman. Telling the BBC yesterday that Alan Bennett, and Ian McMillan are still alive, Dugher also claimed that one James Hockney was a contender for title. But who is James Hockney?
Many Tories had begun to wonder where Michael Gove had got to. The Chief Whip’s move from the Department for Education was heralded with a briefing that he would be doing far more broadcasting, representing the government front and centre on the airwaves. However, there was only silence. Though he has been dealing with defections
Most Secretaries of State tend to lay low the night before their big conference speech, redrafting and practising. Not so Theresa May. The glammed-up Home Secretary was working the party scene hard last night, flanked by a bolstered entourage. After losing her Special Adviser Fiona Cunningham in blue on blue briefing row, May has brought
No Mark Reckless, no Brooks Newmark and now no Bow Group. The oldest conservative think-thank has announced that they are boycotting this year’s Tory conference. It seems, for Dave at least, bad news really does come in threes. The venerable think tank, founded in 1951 and counting Lords Howe and Heseltine among its members, has charged
Out on the party scene, Mr S enjoyed BIS minister Matt Hancock’s description of his job to the Institute of Directors bash: ‘Working at BIS is a lot a like sending a telegram. You have to speak in short sentences. With a clear message. With everything going through an increasingly irrelevant and obsolete Cable.’ Boomtish, though
While last week’s Labour conference felt like a wake, the mood is a little better here in Birmingham for Tory party conference. There is a certain amount of gallows humour in the bars, with regard to both the resignation of Brooks Newmark, and – more significantly to Tory fortunes – the latest defection to UKIP. From the
George Osborne has just finished delivering his speech at the Tory party conference. More analysis to come, but Mr Steerpike couldn’t help noticing a distinct flavour to it. Edinburgh. Drugs. Irvine Welsh. Ringing any bells? The final part – ‘choose the future’, ‘choose David Cameron’ – felt very much like a re-run from the opening scene of Trainspotting. Who
The Conservative conference pub is back again this year, with its usual bitter jokes about Labour. Mr Steerpike had an exclusive peek at the posters they’re using to poke fun at Ed Miliband’s party. The pub this year is called the ‘Tax & Spend’. Funnily enough, they’ve decided to remind the Labour leader of the
First we had Mrs Miliband redefining her role from elusive lawyer to political campaigning wife; now we have another once shy ‘leader’s wife’ tweaking their public profile. The Liberal Democrats get very grumpy if you refer to Miriam González Durántez as Mrs Clegg, but the Dechert LLP lawyer is described as the ‘wife of Nick
The hall may have been half empty during his speech, but New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said lots of nice things about Ed Miliband during the closing session of Labour Party conference in Manchester. And the similarities between the two politicians are copious. They’re both metropolitan lefties who are far more ideologically radical than they let
Yesterday ‘Gareth’ was just the bloke from a software company, but Ed Miliband helped transform him into an internet sensation and telly star in a matter of hours after mentioning him in his lamentable conference speech. Normally politicians prefer to keep quiet about their encounters on Hampstead Heath. Hats off to Newsnight for this one…
Poor Jon Snow. The veteran presenter has some serious competition from the latest BBC defection to Channel 4; it’s the big one. After months of speculation about his future, and a dire sojourn into stand up comedy, Jeremy Paxman has joined the channel to front their general election coverage, but there is a full ego
Having spent four years sticking to a wave at the end of conference and the odd photograph together with her husband, Justine Thornton has burst onto centre stage at Labour’s conference. Mrs Miliband – and she uses her Miliband name today – has written to Labour activists pledging her commitment to getting her man into
Fancy a cheeky chew on Chuka, a bite of Balls or a munch on Miliband? At last night’s Sky party at Labour conference, the Shadow Cabinet were out in force – on macaroons, presumably to help with the cost of pudding crisis for hardworking people. Those around Miliband often get sniped at for being weak,
Upon leaving the Celebrity Big Brother house, Benefits Street star and Spectator contributor White Dee – also known as Deirdre Kelly – threatened to give ‘David Cameron a run for his money,’ and she’s true to her word. Fresh from this year’s Channel Five finale, Dee is about to enter a different sort of mad
Ed Balls playing football each year at Labour conference is almost as big as Ed Balls Day. The Shadow Chancellor always participates enthusiastically in the annual hacks vs MPs match. Sometimes, he’s a little too enthusiastic. Like today, when he accidentally wounded lobby journalist Rob Merrick. Still, the pair made up by the end of the match.
There is a certain irony in the fact that Miliband is protecting his party’s Scottish advantage by accusing the Prime Minister of allowing ‘this moment to be used for narrow party political advantage’. Rejecting Cameron’s plans for English votes for English laws, Labour have rushed out plans for ‘a full Constitutional Convention rooted in our
As the Saltires are put away and the fireworks dismantled, some celebrities waking up to the Scottish referendum result took it rather badly, the poor lambs. Russell Brand was in his usual Citizen Smith mode: Fear is more powerful than faith. Until that changes none of us are free. — Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) September 19, 2014
‘Ineptocracy: Noun – A government characterised by incompetent leaders.’ A gloriously incompetent attack on incompetence, and the greatest example of Muphry’s Law that Mr S has seen in a long time. The old adage is that if you write anything criticising someone else’s writing, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have
