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
In most countries, it would be a major scandal if foreign hackers successfully mounted a major cyber-attack on the national library. Unfortunately, the UK does not seem to be one of them. On 28 October, the British Library suffered a major incident which has brought the venerable body to its knees. Yet you would scarcely
Oh dear. It seems that the iron law of British politics has held true once again: everything Ed Miliband touches, he breaks. Whether it is the botched Falkirk reforms or gaffes as shadow business secretary, the infamous ‘Edstone’ or even eating a bacon sandwich, the hapless wonk can never seem to do anything right. And
So. Farewell then Michael Matheson. The embattled SNP MSP threw in the towel today after three months battling in vain to save his job as health minister following the row over his £11,000 data bill. The announcement came just hours before he was set to give a major announcement to the Scottish Parliament on minimum
Back in the far-flung days of 2019, the Tories won plaudits for their unconventional use of social media in their landslide electoral triumph. Five years and two leaders on, it’s looking like a tough ask to turn it around this time. But in Rishi Sunak, the party at least has a leader who has never
Rishi Sunak’s transgender jibe at Prime Minister’s Questions has riled Labour and Lib Dems MPs. The PM mocked Keir Starmer for not knowing what a woman is, just moments before Esther Ghey, the mother of the murdered trans teen Brianna, came into the Commons. ‘Of all the weeks to say that when Brianna’s mother is
Today’s lethargic PMQs session was brought to life by a furious row over comments made by Rishi Sunak about transgender people. Labour leader Keir Starmer began the exchange by paying tribute to Esther Ghey, the mother of the murdered teenager Brianna. He then moved on to NHS waiting lists which Sunak had previously promised would
They say politics is show business for ugly people. But at yesterday’s right-wing rally, one celebrity singer managed to disprove that maxim and truly put the ‘pop’ in ‘PopCon’. For Holly Candy – formerly Holly Valance of Neighbours fame – was among those who rocked up to the shindig, alongside her husband, the billionaire property-developer
Oh dear. Just when Sadiq Khan may have thought he could finally claim victory over the Ulez scheme he rammed through in London last year, his pet project appears to have landed him in hot water yet again. The London Mayor has been scolded by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) after Transport for London (TfL),
Jacob Rees–Mogg’s speech at the Popular Conservatism launch went down well with the assembled crowd in Westminster, but the Tory MP was forced on to the defensive when he came off stage. Rees-Mogg was asked by News Agents journalist Lewis Goodall, formerly of the BBC, to defend his attack on ‘Davos Man’. ‘How much money
Happy PopCon day! Liz Truss will this morning launch her ‘Popular Conservatism’ movement in Westminster. The 49-day premier will be speaking alongside the likes of fellow Tory MPs Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lee Anderson – though, sadly, not Simon Clarke nor Ranil Jayawardena, both of whom dropped out after the former’s ill-fated call for Rishi Sunak
Proper prime time viewing this afternoon with a PM on the ropes. TalkTV today broadcast Piers Morgan’s interview with Rishi Sunak, reprising the double act from when the pair last met in Downing Street 12 months ago. The embattled premier no doubt spoke for many when he met Morgan, greeting him with the words ‘Not
Rishi Sunak has made ‘stopping the boats’ central to his premiership. So it is, er, sub-optimal then that word reaches Steerpike that the efforts of the Home Office are being hindered by a lack of top talent. The department might have grown in staff numbers by nearly a third since 2010 but Whitehall sources claim
For Sir Ed Davey, sorry seems to be the hardest word to say. Three weeks ago, the embattled Lib Dem leader was asked to apologise for his role in the Post Office scandal but refused to do so ten times in an interview with ITV. Yet now, with his party plummeting in the polls, the
When is a pledge not a pledge? When the Labour party are making it, it seems. The shadow cabinet is currently grappling with how best to explain their plans for a £28-billion Green New Deal, as set out by shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves in 2021. A fortnight ago, a party spokesman dismissed reports that the
Even Nicola Sturgeon’s enemies agree that the former first minister is a formidable politician. But at the Covid Inquiry, Sturgeon appears to be struggling to keep it together. Asked whether she was the ‘right’ person to lead Scotland following her earlier criticism that Boris Johnson was not up to the job, Sturgeon broke down in
It’s not been a great morning for Nicola Sturgeon at the Covid Inquiry. In August 2021, she promised bereaved families via Channel 4 News that she would disclose all her WhatsApps, even though by that stage she knew that her messages had been destroyed. Today she insisted that she thought ‘anything of any relevance or
Will Labour stick to its pledge to spend £28 billion a year on a green industrial revolution if it wins the election? The party’s leader Keir Starmer appeared to row back on doing so last month by describing the green spending spree as an ‘ambition’. Now, Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has further muddied the waters by saying the
Another day, another Labour U-turn. This morning it’s the turn of Rachel Reeves, who has done another copy and paste job by following Jeremy Hunt’s lead on lifting the cap on bankers’ bonuses – less than 100 days after her own Treasury team lambasted the move. The Shadow Chancellor told the BBC that she had
Angela Rayner has had better starts to the week. The Labour deputy leader appeared on Good Morning Britain today, ostensibly to talk about her party’s plans for housing and town centres. But if the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne MP thought she would get a soft-soap interview, host Richard Madeley quickly proved her wrong. Following her heckling by
All is not well in the DUP. The once-mighty masters of Northern Irish politics last night convened a top-secret executive meeting to discuss a return to power-sharing at Stormont. But the event was spectacularly upstaged by a succession of leaks to loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who proceeded to live-tweet the meeting. Somewhat embarrassingly, these updates