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, well, well. After Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes announced she was stepping down at next year’s Scottish parliament election, speculation about who could stand for her Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency has been rife. Some have suggested that Ian Blackford, the former SNP MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber and onetime Westminster group leader,
Oh dear. Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir Frankly was always going to have its detractors, given how divisive a figure the SNP’s former Dear Leader has become. A number of those people will not have read the former first minister’s tome in full (for those who want to save themselves the time, Steerpike has compiled a handy
Well, well, well. The US Vice President has taken a family trip to the UK this summer, to enjoy a stay at an 18th-century Georgian manor in the Cotswolds. But although this getaway was supposed to provide some leisure time for JD Vance, the VP has made space to meet with a stream of British
To the Beeb, which these days is better at making news headlines than creating them. On Radio 4’s Thought of the Day this morning was Dr Krish Kandiah, who centred his sermon around fear. While he started gently, talking about feeling afraid of leaving his newborn children alone or taking them to school for the
They say good things come to those who wait, but Steerpike will let readers be the judge of that when it comes to Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir Frankly. The 450-page account by Scotland’s former first minister was supposed to be hitting bookshelves on Thursday, but some shops decided to release it ahead of time and Mr
Oh dear. If Scotland’s former Dear Leader thought she could have an interview about her legacy that didn’t touch on the question of putting male rapists in women’s prisons she was sorely mistaken. Nicola Sturgeon has come under fire for a promotional clip ahead of tonight’s ITV interview with the ex-SNP leader. In the clip,
To Lord Hermer, Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial Attorney General. It transpires that the British barrister will be given the final say on whether hundreds of protestors arrested for supporting Palestine Action at the weekend will be prosecuted – with the Tories piling pressure on the government to ‘enforce the law’. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick
What comes around goes around. After a short stint in Westminster after he won the Rochdale by-election in February 2024, George Galloway is now eying up a political comeback north of the border. The leader of the Workers Party of Britain has revealed that he will be the party’s second option on the regional list
As the issue of immigration continues to assert itself as one of the top concerns facing the country, Brits are increasingly concerned about small boats crossings in the English Channel. So much so that some people have started seeing migrant crossing where there, er, aren’t any at all. Take for example ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe,
It wouldn’t be recess without a sleaze scandal, eh? Now Sir Keir Starmer’s wife is in the limelight, after it transpired that she has accepted yet another set of freebies. Victoria Starmer accepted free tickets to Royal Ascot worth hundreds – almost exactly a year on from when Lady Starmer and the Prime Minister were
‘The testing of your faith produces perseverance’ – James 1:2-3. That may be the case, but too much testing can also result in secularism apparently. In an interview with the Beeb, Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch has said that while she was ‘never that religious’ growing up though would have ‘defined myself as a Christian
Well, well, well. After quitting the Beeb amid an antisemitism storm, it transpires that Gary Lineker has been picked up by none other than rival broadcaster ITV. The left-wing right-back will reportedly present a new Saturday night show called The Box, which will see a group of people, possibly celebrities, undergo a series of challenges
Back to the monarchs of Montecito, who are not have a good time of it at the moment. It transpires that Prince Harry has lost his battle for control of the charity he launched in his mother Princess Diana’s memory – after the charities watchdog blasted him for his part in a ‘damaging’ bullying row.
Another day, another poll. This time YouGov has found that almost six in ten Brits say that immigration is one of the most important issues facing the country – almost double those who rate health as their number one concern, and more than double those worried about crime. Crikey! Fears about immigration have climbed by
Back to the Online Safety Act which, since it came into force just over a week ago, has sparked outrage across the country as social media posts showing rioters fighting with police have been suppressed while those referring to sexual attacks have been automatically flagged as pornographic. As the Spectator‘s cover piece noted last week,
To Reform UK, which is in its third week of its crime crackdown campaign which looks to tackle ‘Lawless Britain’. The party claimed Monday’s press conference was the most significant one yet, with two new recruits unveiled. The first was former MEP Rupert Matthews, who – after 40 years as a member of the Tory party
Uh oh. As if Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch didn’t have enough on her plate with the rise of Reform eating into the Tory vote, now one of her predecessors has taken a pop at her. Liz Truss has taken to the august pages of the Telegraph to attack Badenoch, accusing the Leader of the Opposition
While the Supreme Court in April backed the biological definition of a woman, it would appear that in Scotland the ruling hasn’t yet been taken into account. Women’s rights campaigners have taken aim at an Edinburgh Fringe venue – Underbelly Bistro Square – for allowing biological men to use women’s toilets. Dear oh dear… The
Another day, another dispiriting quangocracy revelation. This time the spotlight is on the Valuation Office Agency, whose performance has been rapidly declining year on year – while complaints about the organisation have skyrocketed. Freedom of Information data received by the TaxPayers’ Alliance shows that call wait times have more than doubled over the last three
Well, well, well. It transpires that in plans to make Whitehall more working class, civil service internships will only be offered to, er, students from low income families. The Cabinet Office has said that only those from ‘lower socio-economic backgrounds’ will be able to apply to Whitehall’s internship scheme – with eligibility based on, um,