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
It’s a red letter day for Nigel Farage. The former Ukip leader entered parliament this month at the eighth attempt of trying and today delivered his maiden speech to fellow MPs. In an address that mixed wit and wisdom, Farage observed the custom of paying tribute to a member’s predecessor by saying of Giles Watling
To the House of Commons, where today Reform’s Nigel Farage made his maiden speech after returning from Milwaukee’s RNC. Attempting a number of times to gain access to the Commons, Farage was successful on his eighth shot this election – and this afternoon’s speech shows he’s wasting no time getting down to business. In his
Back to the BBC, which these days is better at being in the news than making it. The six-figure salary list for 2023-24 has been published and with it come some quite interesting revelations. Top earner Gary Lineker received £1.35 million, while Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball isn’t too far behind on £950,000. Big names
After President Biden announced he would be standing down on Sunday evening, it’s been all go in the White House. But while speculation about the next Democrat nominee continues, there is a separate side plot that Mr S is rather interested in – involving Biden’s son. Robert Hunter Biden has spent a fair amount of
Another day, another drama – only this time it’s not MPs in the spotlight. Now politician-turned-pundit Nadine Dorries has taken aim at journalist Emily Maitlis and her ‘cosy “centrist” podcast’ The News Agents. In a scathing attack laid out in the fine pages of the Daily Mail, Dorries slams Maitlis’s ‘neurotic’ perspective of politics, her obsession
To Scotland, where First Minister John Swinney appears to be trying to make a career for himself as a spin doctor. The leader of the Nats has a new tactic to win back support for his beleaguered party – convince voters that, contrary to their daily experiences, his party has actually been, er, ‘formidable’ over
Dear oh dear. With all that’s happening in the US Democratic party just now, one might have thought it would be near enough impossible for politicians elsewhere to catch the eye of the media. Well, fascinatingly, the Green party has defied all odds. The eco-zealots have found themselves in the spotlight this afternoon after a
To Scotland, where the SNP infighting continues. After dozens of nationalist MPs were ditched this month by the electorate, some are already channelling their disappointment at MSP colleagues. It transpires that ex-MP Mhairi Black – who herself announced she was stepping down at this election due to Westminster’s ‘toxic’ culture – has taken aim at
Back to Westminster and the looming Tory leadership contest. No one has officially announced their candidacy yet, but the rumour mill is in overdrive as the list of potential runners and riders continues to grow. And who better to pour petrol on the sparks of speculation then Boris Johnson’s longtime ally, Nadine Dorries? She has
And so now we have it: the first official contender for the Scottish Conservative leadership contest. Russell Findlay, the party’s current justice spokesperson announced this morning that he was throwing his hat into the ring — after his party’s rather underwhelming general election campaign. In a lengthy article for the Scottish Daily Mail, Findlay first
Over the past four years, Joe Biden has featured on 18 covers of The Spectator. They range from the upbeat – the halcyon days of 2020 and 2021 when he swore to restore the world order – to the sombre – such as the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the chaos in the Middle East. Overall
There are rare few quiet days in politics and today is not one of them. Tonight President Joe Biden has abandoned his campaign to win a second term in the White House, writing that ‘it is in the best interest of my party and country’ to stand down. President Biden has been fast to endorse
Well, it’s finally happened. After all the speculation, the spin and the denials, Joe Biden has today, finally, announced he is dropping out of the race for the White House. The last President to do so was Lyndon Johnson in 1968, but that was in March of that year, rather than late July. Biden has
Uh oh. While Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity has had a post-election bounce (with an approval rating now at 19 per cent compared to -1 before the Labour win) not everything is looking rosy for the new Prime Minister. Splits over certain policy stances are beginning to emerge and the two-child benefit cap is taking centre
Back to the Commons, where Kemi Badenoch has been making waves. The shadow housing secretary has been ruffling feathers in her own party as its attention turns to a looming leadership contest and Badenoch has not been making life easy for opposition politicians either – and this time it’s Angela Rayner in the firing line.
Well, well, well. Off the back of his thumping majority, Sir Keir Starmer has been making good use of the perks of being premier. Given Labour’s long history of bashing Rishi Sunak for flying private, one might have thought that the fleet of government jets at their disposal would be stowed away in a hanger. That’s not
Uh oh. The Covid inquiry has been ticking along in the background for the last two years, and finally its first report has been published. A shock to no one, it transpires that neither the UK nor Scottish governments come out of it particularly well. It appears both were rather unprepared for a pandemic –
To Scotland, where the Scottish Conservatives are facing problems of their own. North of the border, a leadership contest is looming after outgoing leader Douglas Ross announced his resignation mid-campaign. Since then there have been animated discussions about who his successor will be. And while contenders for the UK party are already making their mark,
David Lammy is in the firing line over comments he made in the past about Donald Trump. The Foreign Secretary was quizzed this morning on BBC Breakfast about his past attacks on the presidential candidate – particularly when Lammy called Trump a ‘neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath’. What a charmer… Instead of showing contrition, the Foreign Secretary
Today’s King’s Speech was filled to the brim with bills – the most jam-packed since 2005. While Sir Keir can’t be accused of submitting a lightweight list of announcements, some of his political opponents have been quick to criticise. One of these is former prime minister Liz Truss, who is particularly displeased about how much
