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: Humza Yousaf slams ‘institutionally Islamophobic’ Tories

It’s a day that ends in ‘y’ which means the leader of the SNP is once again harping on about independence. Today Humza Yousaf addressed a crowd at the the London School of Economics about the economic woes of Brexit and how, surprise surprise, ‘achieving independence’ is the only solution for the people of Scotland.

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Watch: Donelan apologises for tweeting defamatory letter

Michelle Donelan has been no stranger to the spotlight lately. The Science and Technology Secretary was forced last week to retract the false accusations she made about an academic and pay the damages and costs. But she didn’t just fire off a letter of complaint to UK Research and Innovation about its board members. Donelan

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Will Lee Anderson be ousted from PopCon?

Liz Truss launched her Popular Conservatism movement — catchily dubbed PopCon — just over a month ago. Taking aim at ‘left wing extremists’, Truss hit out at colleagues more interested in pursuing policies popular at ‘London dinner parties’ and explained that her new group would champion true Tory values. But it wasn’t just lefties that

Tory donor under scrutiny for Diane Abbott remarks

Oh dear. The Tory party’s biggest donor Frank Hester is under fire for remarks he made about Diane Abbott in a 2019 meeting. The West Yorkshire businessman is facing intense criticism for unprofessionalism at work after it emerged he had told colleagues that looking at Abbott makes ‘you just want to hate all black women

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Lee Anderson’s top three spats with Reform

Well, well, well. The rumours turned out to be true. This morning the former deputy chairman of the Tory party — who lost the whip last month for refusing to apologise for ‘Islamophobic’ comments — defected to Reform UK. The red wall Rottweiler told reporters that ‘constituents like my mum and dad told me they

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Lee Anderson defects to Reform

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson has this morning defected to Reform UK. Party leader Richard Tice made the announcement at a London press conference this morning, where he praised Anderson as a ‘champion of the red wall’ and told reporters: ‘We want to replace the Tories as the main alternative to Starmergeddon.’ GB News, which

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Michael Gove’s ‘hate tsar’ quits before he’s even begun

Michael Gove’s mission to tackle extremism has got off to a shaky start. Fiyaz Mughal, the man who was reportedly lined up to officially begin as the government’s anti-Muslim hatred tsar today, has quit after being bombarded with hate mail. Mughal said he received a ‘torrent of abuse’ from both Islamists and far-right extremists just

Picture agencies ‘kill’ royal photo over editing fears 

Kensington Palace made headlines on Sunday night — but not in the way officials hoped. A photo that was meant to quell conspiracies about Kate Middleton’s absence from public life on health grounds has only spurred further speculation as to what is really going on with the Princess of Wales. The picture showing Kate surrounded

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Leaked Sturgeon video becomes focus of SNP police probe

As yet another day passes, the good people of Scotland remain in suspense about the outcome of the police probe into the SNP. The three-year long investigation — which has seen multiple arrests, the impounding of a £110,000 campervan, a military-style raid of SNP HQ and the construction of a rather large forensic tent outside the

Alastair Campbell’s Brexit delusion

In these tumultuous times, it’s difficult to be certain of anything for too long. But one thing that’s never going to change is Alastair Campbell’s ever-inflating ego.  The former Labour spinner spoke to BBC journalist Kirsty Young this week for her BBC podcast Young Again, where she dissects the lives of her guests, quizzing them on

Pro-Palestine protestor tries to derail ‘Social Fabric’ summit

A rich irony today at the ‘Restitch’ conference. A pro-Palestine protestor was forcibly removed from the stage as she attempted to derail Security Minister Tom Tugendhat’s speech with questions about Israel — at Restitch, ‘The Social Fabric Summit’. What better example of how ragged the community cloth of Britain has become, eh? The conference saw

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Meghan Markle’s PR push

The Queen of Privacy is doing it again. After a brief hiatus from the spotlight, the Duchess of Sussex has appointed a PR guru to help resurrect her UK image. Mr S isn’t all that surprised the Sussexes are setting their sights back on Britain — they were, after all, dubbed ‘Hollywood’s biggest losers’ at

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Listen: Minister struggles to defend Donelan’s libel costs

As the dust begins to settle on Jeremy Hunt’s Budget plans, there’s one Tory MP who won’t be quite as keen to see the papers move on. Science Secretary Michelle Donelan is coming under increasing scrutiny after it emerged that not only had she got her facts wrong and lost a libel case — she’s

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Theresa May to quit parliament at the election

Another one bites the dust. Theresa May has today become the 60th Tory MP to announce she is standing down at the next election – and easily the most high-profile. The Maidenhead backbencher, who served as prime minister from 2016 to 2019, generously gave the scoop to her local newspaper. In a statement, she told

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Penny Mordaunt comes to Michelle Donelan’s defence

It looks like more bad press is headed Michelle Donelan’s way. The Science and Tech Secretary had to issue a humiliating apology on Tuesday and retract false accusations she made about an academic after not checking her facts properly. It also transpires that Donelan received legal advice about tweeting her letter of complaint before she made

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Papers deliver verdict on ‘fiscal drag queen’s’ Budget

Jeremy Hunt is facing a day of reckoning after announcing the Budget on Wednesday. The Chancellor framed his statement as a tax-cutting package, but has faced considerable blowback for taxing by stealth. He was even dubbed the ‘fiscal drag queen’ on the Radio 4’s Today programme – watch out Ru Paul. This was no election-winning Budget There’s

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Cummings takes his revenge on Sunak

If Jeremy Hunt didn’t have enough on his hands with post-Budget tensions rising within his own party, he’s now got the wrath of Dominic Cummings to contend with. Not long after the Chancellor announced the Spring budget, Cummings took to Twitter to issue some timely reminders… If [Boris Johnson] had stuck to the deal…you’d be

Watch: Angela Rayner’s fury at Hunt’s Budget jibe

Jeremy Hunt failed to raise many laughs with his Budget gags – but his quips went down particularly badly with Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner. After picking on Keir Starmer with a rather crude jibe at his weight, Hunt then turned the guns on Rayner, who has recently been reported to the taxman over allegations