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
What is the purpose of a local newspaper? Time was, it was to stand up for local people against the tyranny of corrupt councils, daft bureaucracies and badly-behaved businesses. It appears though that the Manchester Evening News has expanded its remit lately: to include tattling on service workers for not toeing the line on identity politics.
It’s back to school for many pupils this week – but it seems Schools Minister Nick Gibb is still in holiday mode. Gibb has been touring the airwaves to try and reassure parents in the wake of the announcement that dozens of schools may need to shut some buildings because of safety fears. But Gibb’s
Some sad news to bring you from the literary world. Those who have saved up £25 for Nadine Dorries’ upcoming The Plot: The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson, will have to keep waiting a little longer. Publication day for the explosive real-world political thriller has today been pushed back from September to November to allow
Parliament is back next week and with that comes the resumption of the age old game of ‘Who’s up, who’s down?’ One name we know who is heading for the exit is Ben Wallace, who has handed his resignation before he can enjoy a last victory lap at the party conference. The Ministry of Defence
Hackney Council taxpayers, breathe easy. The fight against global climate change will be fought hardest, not on a global or even national level, but, er, by the emergency responders at the local council, apparently. The local authority’s apparatchiks are advertising for a ‘climate change director’ to enact their ‘climate action plan: a five-point action memorandum
Michael Portillo. Nick Clegg. Jo Swinson. Every election has its defining moments: the viral clip when a big beast is brought low, humbled by the voters in his or her patch. So, in 2024, who are the long-faced losers likely to be? Steerpike’s crystal ball is by no means infallible, but given the way of
Oh dear. The latest figures for Scotland’s alcohol-related deaths are out and it’s not good news. Deaths registered in 2022 have risen by 2 per cent from 2021 to total 1,276 mortalities overall. Strikingly, Mr S notes that the rise in deaths is attributable to women, with 440 deaths tragically recorded last year. With alcohol-related deaths at
Could Sadiq Khan’s controversial Ulez scheme cost Labour the general election? Even before Ulez came into effect this morning, the policy has already proved costly for Khan’s party, having led to Labour failing to win the Uxbridge by-election in July. This morning, just hours after the scheme went live, Khan was asked whether more votes
Who says Britain no longer produces quality telly? Mr S this weekend thoroughly enjoyed the sight of Nish Kumar – a man who identifies as a comedian – being put firmly in his place by TV presenter Lowri Turner on women’s rights. Invited on to Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 show, Kumar waxed lyrical on the
So. Farewell Then. Nadine Dorries. The departure of the bestselling author from parliament got Mr S wondering just which books her colleagues have been reading this past year. Fortunately, the Commons Library publishes a list of all works purchased and borrowed, allowing us to discover just what is on our honourable members’ minds… The latest
It’s only been a day since Nadine Dorries announced her resignation as an MP – in a scathing letter released to the Mail on Sunday blasting Rishi Sunak’s premiership. But it seems that the former culture secretary still has plenty of ammunition left over. Dorries appeared on TalkTV this afternoon to explain why she felt
Nadine Dorries is off – and this time it’s for real. Following weeks of criticism, the former Culture Secretary has finally announced that she will be quitting the Commons when parliament returns from recess on Monday 4 September. That will trigger a by-election in her Mid-Bedfordshire constituency, helpfully timed to coincide with Tory party conference.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived: Donald Trump’s mugshot has been released to the world. With a furrowed brow and scowl, the former President posed for his mugshot at Fulton county sheriff’s office in Georgia in his trademark navy suit and red tie yesterday. Trump was booked by the sheriff’s office
Following Labour’s shock defeat in the Uxbridge by-election, Keir Starmer suggested that Sadiq Khan ‘reflect’ on his Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) crusade. A month on from that result, how exactly is the reflection going? Tuning into LBC today, Mr S was amused to discover that the London Mayor has found the answer to why
Well, well, well. The SNP’s annual accounts for 2022 are out and it’s not looking good. The party recorded its largest ever deficit of more than £800,000 in the last year of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell’s reign. As if we didn’t need any more evidence that the Nats aren’t good with their money… While the
Lucy Letby this week became only the third woman alive to be handed a whole-life jail term after being sentenced for murdering seven babies and trying to kill another six. But for an outraged British public it seems that sentence is not enough. A new poll for The Spectator by Redfield & Wilton show that
When your wife is worth £500 million, it can be tough to keep remember all her interests. Back in April, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, announced a probe into Rishi Sunak. It followed a Liaison Committee meeting in which Sunak did not mention the shares Akshata Murty held in the company Koru Kids,
Very few people came out well of the Nigel Farage banking scandal – which saw the former Brexit party leader lose his Coutts bank account over his political views. In the end, Farage managed to claim two scalps over the affair, with both NatWest’s and Coutts’ CEOs forced into humiliating resignations. Still it may be that
Oh dear. It seems that, in their earnestness to make capital out of tragedy, Labour have slipped up again. The party yesterday sought to exploit Lucy Letby’s refusal to attend her sentencing, tweeting that ‘Rishi Sunak has dragged his heels over changing the law to make criminals attend their court sentencing. We believe victims deserve
Rab Butler spoke of the art of politics but the politics of art is quite another matter. The summer recess will find many of Britain’s politicians perusing the world’s museums and art galleries. So as a treat to his readers Mr S can now reveal, via a Freedom of Information request, the treasures from the