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

Watch: John Swinney’s comments come back to haunt him

What comes around goes around. John Swinney has this afternoon become Scotland’s seventh First Minister after being appointed, unopposed, as SNP leader on Monday. It was a coronation event like no other – where Swinney was threatened by a contest from a rank and file activist within his own party after hapless Humza Yousaf paved

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Rufus Wainwright blames Brexit for his failed musical

These days it seems there’s little you can’t blame on Brexit. From low ratings to school bullying, Britain’s departure from the European Union has served as a wonderful catch-all, consequence-free excuse for various individuals and institutions to explain their shortcomings. A vintage example of this was offered today by Rufus Wainwright, the Canadian-American singer-songwriter. His latest production ‘Opening

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Milei asks: who is Liz Truss?

Since coming to office in December, Javier Milei has won right-wing fans across the world for his bombastic rhetoric and fervent championing of libertarian ideas. Among them is Liz Truss, who sees Milei as very much an ideological ally. In a recent interview to promote her book, she was asked by GB News to name

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Greens embroiled in anti-Semitism row

Oh dear. The Green party is in hot water after it emerged that one of its newly-elected councillors labelled a rabbi a ‘creep’ and a ‘kind of animal’. The party is under fire for failing to suspend Mothin Ali, who was elected to Leeds city council in last week’s elections, after the new councillor was

John Swinney’s three worst moments in office

And so we have it: a nationalist coronation, as yet another First Minister resigns. John Swinney, formerly Nicola Sturgeon’s deputy FM and onetime leader of the SNP himself, has been elected – unopposed – as the new leader of the Scottish National party. Thought to have been parachuted in by the party establishment, Swinney’s coronation

Watch: Galloway hangs up on LBC

The fall-out from the local elections continue. In the West Midlands, Labour pulled off a shock upset to unseat Andy Street by 1,500 votes. The Starmer army’s triumph there was all the more impressive when one considers that the pro-Palestine independent Akhmed Yakoob finished third on 11 per cent. Yakoob, who won the votes of

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Suella Braverman: we will be lucky to have any Tory MPs soon

So, it didn’t take long for the recriminations to begin. After Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives were subject to a massive drubbing in this week’s council elections, and were hit with the loss of the West Midlands mayoralty last night, the blame game is well underway. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman certainly wasted no time in giving

Sadiq Khan’s five worst moments as London mayor

Back to London for the city’s mayoral elections – and the verdict is in. In a win for Labour, Sadiq Khan has been hailed as victor for an unprecedented third term with an increased vote share of 44 per cent, while the Conservative’s Susan Hall has been relegated to second place with a 33 per

Reform comes fourth in Anderson’s backyard

The fighting talk continues over at Reform HQ as local election results continue to drip out. The Farage-founded party’s right-wing campaign has seen leader Richard Tice proclaim Reform UK is ‘rapidly becoming the real opposition to the Labour party in the North of England’. Tory defector Lee Anderson has even gone so far as to

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Tory MP calls for Boris to return amid election losses

Election results are coming in thick and fast – and the bad news is piling up for Rishi Sunak. Labour beat the Tories in the Blackpool by-election and Sunak’s party lost 130 seats in councils around England. Although Sunak allies like transport secretary Mark Harper insist that it’s too early to make judgement calls, the

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Labour keeps the spirit of Karl Marx alive

Purging the left has been one of Keir Starmer’s main goals since his election as leader four years ago. His team has taken the whip off Jeremy Corbyn, junked much of the party’s 2019 manifesto and moved to block left-wingers on Labour’s National Executive Committee as part of their bid to show that the party

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Watch: Tories are ‘socialists’, claims Tice

It’s only the beginning of a long weekend of election results, but so far so bad for Rishi Sunak’s Tory party. Even the veteran Tory commentator Tim Montgomerie has had enough, telling the BBC that the ‘results are so bad’ that Sunak ‘should go’. Meanwhile polling guru John Curtice predicts this weekend’s results will be

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‘You’d be toast’: Ashworth taunts Gullis over elections

Oh dear. As local election results start to trickle in, it’s not looking good for the Conservatives, with Rishi Sunak’s party losing councillors in Leave-voting areas like Hartlepool and Thurrock. And from the early morning media appearances, it sounds like some of the Starmer army are really rather enjoying revelling in today’s Tory misfortune… Appearing

Boris Johnson forgets his ID to vote

With millions of voters heading to the polls today, how many will forget to bring along suitable photo ID? One of the more noteworthy, it seems, is, er, Boris Johnson who was reportedly turned away from a polling station earlier today after failing to bring acceptable identification. According to Sky News, which broke the story:

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Top Republican: Lammy ‘far preferable’ to Cameron

There’s a certain type of Tory who goes a bit gooey-eyed whenever David Cameron speaks. Since his Lordship’s return to the frontline of British politics last November, many a moderate can be heard gushing about the former leader’s mastery of communications. ‘At last’, they cry ‘The grown-ups are back in the room!’ The sentiment among

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John Swinney launches SNP leadership bid

Back to Scotland, where the SNP remains in a state of disarray. After hapless Humza Yousaf rather badly mishandled the ditching of the Greens from government, he was forced to announce his resignation when he realised he would lose a confidence vote in his leadership. And now, after a period of 72 hours in which

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Tory members prefer Farage to Sunak

Happy local elections day, one and all. As voters head to the polls across the country, the talk in Westminster is how bad the result is going to be for Rishi Sunak. His party is tipped to lose around 500 councillors, with mayors Andy Street and Ben Houchen among the potential casualties. Faced with the

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Scots favour a Kate Forbes premiership

Back to Scotland, where it’s set to be another turbulent day. The SNP continues its slow-motion implosion while leadership frontrunners Kate Forbes and John Swinney ponder about standing for the top job. To add insult to injury, Scottish Labour’s motion of no confidence in the Scottish government will be voted on this afternoon. As the