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
Well, Rishi Sunak’s new flagship policy of reintroducing national service has certainly gone off with a bang this morning. The policy, announced last night, would see 18-year-olds given the option of applying for a military post, or spending one weekend every month for a year working for the fire services, police, the NHS, or local
As the exodus of Conservative MPs continues, Mr S is rather curious about what alternative careers retiring Tories have in their sights. The number of Conservative politicians stepping down at the general election is 78 and counting — and on Friday night, a resignation announcement from a high-profile Tory veteran stunned the nation. Michael Gove,
Richard Tice was out yesterday at Reform’s big election launch, proudly declaring that his party is ready for the upcoming election. ‘We are going to win seats’ he promised, as he revealed that Reform will be standing candidates in all 630 seats in England, Wales and Scotland. One of those areas is Gravesham in Kent,
Oh dear. It’s not yet 48 hours since Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election and already tensions are running high. Now it transpires that Labour backbencher and vocal women’s rights campaigner Rosie Duffield was not invited to her own party’s election launch in Kent despite being an, er, Kent MP. Making a rather
It’s day two of the election campaign and things aren’t looking up for Rishi Sunak. After the downpour on the Wednesday and the Euros blunder on the Thursday, today the Prime Minister produced his third viral moment of the campaign on a visit to Belfast. As the latest polls revealed that his party is still
So. Farewell then to the Covid parliament. It’s been a remarkable five years in British politics, what with the pandemic, Brexit, the change of monarch and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. But with the Commons due to dissolve next Thursday, one of the great features which Mr S will miss the most is the
Amidst the election drama it would be easy to forget about one rather eccentric politician. Today Jeremy Corbyn has announced today that he will stand as an independent candidate for the seat of Islington North — after significant speculation about whether he would be welcomed back into the Labour fold. After holding the seat for
It’s a day that ends in ‘y’, which means more chaos for the beleaguered SNP. Now it transpires that Scotland’s Crown Office has finally received Peter Murrell’s charge sheet – after he was charged with embezzlement from the SNP over a month ago. The husband of former SNP leader and first minister of Scotland Nicola
It’s the beginning of a general election campaign, which can only mean one thing: politicians pretending to care about football to connect with the punters. Rishi Sunak kicked things off, with his first campaign stop at a brewery in Wales this afternoon – a brave choice of venue for a politician many voters think really couldn’t
Uh oh. In non-election news north of the border, the Scottish government’s former health secretary Michael Matheson has been handed both a suspension and salary ban after his rather humiliating £11,000 iPad scandal was exposed. As Mr S has written previously, Matheson has been in the doghouse for months after it was revealed he lied about
Amidst all the election drama and hurried campaign launches, it would be easy to forget the public inquiries taking place at present. But fear not, Mr S has gathered together the most notable parts of today’s Covid Inquiry, where Cabinet Secretary Dr Simon Case is making a rather delayed appearance after he was unable to
As election campaigns officially kick off, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is back on the airwaves today just hours after he called a general election. On a wet Wednesday evening, a soaking Sunak called on the British people lend his party their support. The Tories would improve the economy, enhance national security and get tougher on
Oh dear. Not much time has passed since Rishi Sunak’s bombshell general election announcement this afternoon but already tensions are running high. After being kept waiting for the Prime Minister’s electoral update today, journalists are channelling their pent-up energy into providing rolling Rishi coverage — which includes trying to sneak into the Tory party’s official
Is it madness to call a general election when you’re 20 points behind in the polls? That depends on whether the pollsters and pundits are any more reliable now than when they promised us that Brexit would flop, that Hillary would win and that David Cameron had a 0.5 per cent chance of winning the
Dear oh dear. Rishi Sunak failed to quash election speculation in this afternoon’s Prime Minister’s Questions and now lobby hacks are desperately trying to figure out whether a big announcement really is looming. In their hunt for clues, a number of journalists have drawn attention to the cancellation of two rather high profile events as
The Post Office inquiry rumbles on and now it’s the turn of former chief executive Paula Vennells in the hot seat. It’s the first of her three days of hearings and already the former boss is not having a good time of it… Vennells was quizzed on her leadership during the scandal, and how much
It’s a momentous day for Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay. Today the Tory politician returned to the Commons following a prolonged battle with sepsis after being admitted to hospital with the life-threatening condition last September. After becoming suddenly unwell overnight, the politician was rushed to A&E where he developed disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). In a bid
Uh oh. This time, it seems, mandarins at the Foreign Office have finally gone too far. In a scathing piece penned for the Telegraph, former defence secretary Ben Wallace has opened fire on civil servants after the Foreign Office drew up a statement on the death of Iran’s president. Ministers have refused to use wording
Another day, another drama. This time it involves the BBC’s Today programme, where interviewer Emma Barnett was quizzing Jeremy Hunt on the UK’s economic prospects. The conversation didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned for the Chancellor… Barnett started on how today’s inflation figures have decreased to 2.3 per cent this morning — the lowest
As much as Prince Harry claims to hate the media, he never manages to stay out of the spotlight for long. Now it transpires that the renegade royal has been reprimanded by a High Court judge for trying to bag ‘trophy targets’ — and has been told that he cannot take phone-hacking allegations against Rupert
