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
David Cameron’s speech on the union this morning prompted many questions. Why was he in London? Why were there so many empty seats in the Olympic velodrome? Etc, etc, etc. But Mr Steerpike wants to know why the speech was peppered with song lyrics. ‘We don’t walk on by,’ said Dave – unlike Dionne Warwick.
The prime minister was waxing lyrical about ousted England slogger Kevin Pietersen when speaking to BBC Lancashire earlier today. The PM confessed that he is ‘an enormous fan of KP.’ And added: ‘Some of my most enjoyable times have been watching him tonking the ball all over the park.’ Some members of the media pack
Mr S has been keeping a beady eye on the Home Affairs Select Committee, after tensions between Chairman Vaz and Tory committeeman Michael Ellis boiled over at the end of last year. Readers may recall that, in the wake of a public disagreement with Ellis, Vaz told Mr S that his colleague ‘just needs more sex’.
The leading article in last week’s Spectator, which urged Tory rebels to stop rebelling for the sake of it, has upset many gentlemen of the shires/backwoodsmen. The right-wing rump believes that their crusades against the liberal menace and the EU are far more important than Cameron’s party management or coalition realpolitik. So imagine their indignation
There were lots of sniggers at the back when Ed Miliband failed to make the list of the Most Connected Men in Britain, drawn up by Editorial Intelligence for GQ. Plenty of Labour stooges did make the list, so we can reject claims of bias. Ed’s grumpy spinmeister Tom Baldwin is on it, as is Shadow
Ed Miliband certainly looks a little shifty as he examines the products of Five Points Brewing Company in Hackney. Mr Steerpike is very keen for readers to suggest what he’s up to. Captions in the comments please.
Another day, another female MP decides to quit politics. Ann Clwyd has announced that, after 30 years in the Commons, she will not be standing in 2015. Female MPs have been in the news of late – either because they are retiring or fighting de-selection. On yesterday’s edition of the Andrew Marr Show, Harriet Harman
The French media might prostrate themselves before their own leaders; but they are a little more adventurous with ours. Le Figaro reports that the original plan for today’s Anglo-French Summit at RAF Brize Norton, followed by a pub lunch, was to have been a far grander affair. Hollande was to be invited to Cameron’s constituency
The killjoys at the Department for Communities and Local Government have quashed an (admittedly rather hopeful) attempt by Bob Stewart MP to allow politicians to vote from the pub. Colonel Bob asked if Eric Pickles might bring forward legislation that would let councillors ‘attend’ meetings remotely. Sadly, junior minister Brandon Lewis was having none of it:
The row over the immigration status of Ed Miliband’s American guru Arnie Graf rumbles on (with a question at PMQs). Sprung with the story on TV yesterday, Labour’s Chris Leslie dismissed it as ‘mischief’ and then mumbled something incomprehensible about Lynton Crosby, the Tories’ Aussie guru. I’m told, however, that Crosby has a Tier 1 visa
Ed Balls had a tricky time at Treasury Questions today. But fortunately, it seems he had his colleague Chris Leslie watching his back. Or, more specifically, his backside. Mr Steerpike was intrigued to see that Leslie’s contribution during a particularly robust round of heckling was to pat the Shadow Chancellor on the bottom as he
‘[T]he old tax havens have no place in this new world. We now call on all countries to apply international standards,’ said Gordon Brown back in 2009 when he was prime minister. Mr Steerpike only mentions this because Brown’s philanthropist wife Sarah has made an odd choice of home for her charity. Sarah Brown is the
Jon Snow’s interview in the Standard today makes for perfect post-lunch reading: ‘Sex comes into every evaluation of a woman, there’s no doubt about it. It’s there. Once you’ve established a friendship or a working relationship with a woman, it’s parked. But it’s an interesting barrier. When you’ve gone through it and arrived at the
Restauranteur Richard Caring is leading the charge against Labour for their pledge to reintroduce the 50p tax rate. The billionaire owner of Caprice Holdings, which includes Le Caprice, The Ivy and Scott’s, said over the weekend: ‘I am deflated to see this negative political attack on those trying to support the fragile recovery in these tough
Mr S has long admired Essex Tory MP Douglas Carswell. Not only does the rebel with a cause bring a fascinating aspect to the political debate, it also turns that out the lawmaker fights lawbreakers: Just chased and caught a shop lifter in Clacton…, waiting for police — Douglas Carswell MP (@DouglasCarswell) January 24, 2014
More unwanted drama for the Lib Dems. Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock’s son has been filmed allegedly assaulting a photographer outside his father’s home, with Hampshire police saying that ‘a reporter received an injury to his nose’. The alleged assault by Hancock’s 37-year-old son comes just as the MP is suspended from the Lib Dems following
Robin Birley’s 5 Hertford Street, the eye-wateringly expensive club in Mayfair, has been given until March to sort out its kitchens or face serious consequences after receiving an abysmal one star rating for hygiene from the food inspectors of Westminster Council. This comes after the departure last summer, in apparently acrimonious circumstances, of the designer
Mr S was in the bath thinking ‘My word, isn’t nature wonderful?’ when he heard the pleasing sound of an email hitting his inbox. It contained the photograph above. The man in the picture is none other than Richard Royal, who is on the Conservatives’ candidates list for the 2015 general election. RR is what we euphemistically call a “political consultant”, and he is also a former
Roy Greenslade has set the hare running with his claim that Alexander Lebedev and his mini-mogul son Evgeny are looking to offload the Independent titles. The ‘viewspaper’ is understood to be haemorrhaging cash. ‘This is not new news,’ one insider tells me; although, as Greenslade reports, ‘the official line’ is that Independent Print (which makes
Bruce Springsteen spent years ignoring his self-proclaimed biggest fan Chris Christie, but relations thawed between the two beasts of New Jersey last year in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The Republican governor and the staunchly Democratic legend ‘hugged it out’ backstage at a fundraising concert for storm relief, which Christie failed to remain cool about: ‘When we
