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
Jeremy Corbyn is back in the spotlight again, causing yet more issues for his former party. The ex-Labour leader who at one point fancied his chances of becoming Britain’s prime minister currently sits as an Independent MP after his suspension four years ago. Now, however, he faces being excluded from the party for good. Talk about
Oh dear. It seems that the Eurocrats of Brussels have blundered again. Following the news of the Iranian president’s death, most western governments have chosen to keep a dignified silence. Hardly a surprise, perhaps, given that President Raisi was, in the words of Sky News, the ‘man who launched the first direct attack on Israel
It’s the surest sign that a politician is on maneuvers: a slimmer waistline and a sharper suit. But are some of our leading lights in Westminster getting some extra help in their bid to battle the bulge and take the Tory crown? For the Mail on Sunday today reports that at least two Conservative leadership
For 25 years, Welsh Labour has ruled Cardiff Bay with an iron fist. But these days, the party’s grip over the Senedd is looking distinctly shaky, following the decision of Plaid Cymru on Friday to pull out of their power-sharing arrangement. Vaughan Gething is now on the ropes, ahead of a likely looming confidence vote,
A stern-looking Jeremy Hunt gave a speech in a rented office opposite the Treasury today saying he had come to puncture myths. Labour has said that if he abolishes National Insurance (as he hints) it would cost £48 billion. Asked about this, he said: ‘It is a lie – I don’t make any bones about
The SNP’s Dear Leader never manages to stay out of the spotlight for long. Nicola Sturgeon is back on the speech circuit, this time appearing at Edinburgh University to bestow her wisdom upon some unfortunate souls. In her time away from the Holyrood frontbenches — during which she has spoken only a handful of times
If you thought the Scottish Greens couldn’t get any battier, then strap in. Patrick Harvie’s barmy army has ramped up its baffling stance on gender politics and is now expelling party members for declaring that ‘sex is a biological reality’. There really are no words… The eco-zealots have turned on their own membership after a
To the Commons, where Theresa May was the guest of honour for today’s parliamentary press gallery lunch. The former premier was on sparkling form as she spoke of the crisis facing global democracies. Asked by one journalist as to whether populism worked, May retorted: ‘Well, let me I see – how many successors am I
In a year of tough interviews, perhaps the most unusual one the Prime Minister has encountered thus far was today’s shock appearance on ITV’s Loose Women. Instead of finding himself vis-à-vis with the usual lobby culprits, Rishi Sunak was instead surrounded by the show’s formidable panel of Kaye Adams, Judi Love, Janet Street-Porter and Jane
Back to Scotland, where it appears even the SNP’s own politicians have lost faith in the party’s raison d’être. One of First Minister John Swinney’s backbenchers, Emma Roddick, has apparently decided that an independent Scotland shouldn’t mean the end of the Union — despite her party having argued for secession for decades while many separatists
He’s back and this time he’s got a pledge card. Sir Keir is out this morning in Essex, outlining the bold, dynamic first steps he would take if he wins the next election. Among his exciting new pledges includes a forensic policy to ‘deliver economic stability’ and, er, ‘cut NHS waiting times.’ Truly, riveting stuff.
Who’s been educating the Education Secretary? If ‘what is a woman?’ was an exam question, Mr S is certain Gillian Keegan would’ve flunked the test — given her abysmal performance on the BBC’s Today programme this morning… The Education Secretary was on the airwaves today after she wrote for the Sun on the government’s plans
Uh oh. The dreaming spires are once again caught up in controversy. Ministers have accused Oxford University of attempting to ‘stitch up’ its chancellor selection process to stop another white, male politician from taking the top job. Now, after a number of senior politicians urged the uni to rethink its plans, Oxford has finally thrown
What comes around goes around. Instead of Ofcom doing the scrutinising, the media regulator found itself under the microscope this week. On Tuesday, Ofcom’s CEO was hauled in front of peers on the Communications and Digital Committee during its inquiry into the future of news. After the regulator was recently urged to ‘grow a backbone and
Dear oh dear. Has all Labour’s tough talk on tackling immigration been purely for show? That’s how things appear after a question on illegal migration today saw a grand total of, er, zero Labour backbenchers turn up. Not even Natalie Elphicke, the Dover and Deal defector who made tackling immigration her defining mission, bothered to
The renegade royal never manages to stay out of the news for long. Now the spotlight is back on Prince Harry and his memoir Spare, nominated for a number of prizes at last night’s British Book Awards. But, unluckily for the precious Prince, his book was beaten to first place in every category it was
Back to Scotland, where hapless Humza Yousaf is still managing to cause the SNP problems even after his resignation. It’s been over a month since Yousaf’s controversial Hate Crime Act came into force, and it still isn’t going down particularly well with the people of Scotland — to put things mildly. It now transpires that
How time flies. Half a year has passed since former prime minister David Cameron made a shock return to frontline politics — and the House of Lords. His appointment as Foreign Secretary was a controversial one, with certain sections of the Tory party pretty sceptical at Dave’s big return. His ardent support for Remain ruffled
Another day, another development in the curious case of Angela Rayner’s tax affairs. It now transpires that the deputy Labour leader is set to face a police interview under caution in the next few weeks. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) will quiz Sir Keir Starmer’s second-in-command over which of her two homes was her primary residence
Five days have passed since Keir Starmer’s masterstroke of getting Natalie Elphicke to defect from the Tories and join the Labour party. Yet in Starmer’s rush to secure a defective Tory, no-one in the Leader’s Office (Loto) seems to have wondered whether the Labour party would actually welcome into its ranks a scandal-prone, hardline Eurosceptic