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
The Irish poet Seamus Heaney had a brilliant way with words, so you would almost certainly want his thoughts on the passing of the Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, who died this week. Perhaps that’s why the Guardian decided to quote the poet paying tribute in their obituary for the singer yesterday. The paper wrote, ‘Seamus
Congress could never be accused of working well at the best of times. But yesterday Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, appeared to be the literal embodiment of political gridlock when he froze mid-sentence during a news conference. The 81-year-old abruptly stopped speaking during the weekly Republican leadership media session before being led away by
Nigel Farage blasted Nick Robinson for his ‘condescending tone’ during a fiery interview on the Today programme. The BBC host asked the former Ukip leader whether he was planning a political comeback following his run-in with Coutts bank. But Farage lashed out at Robinson, telling him he was ‘sick to death’ of his line of
Last night, the board of NatWest announced that it had ‘full confidence’ in Dame Alison Rose as its chief executive. But just after 2 a.m. it announced she was leaving by mutual consent. Rose had admitted she was the source of the inaccurate briefing to the BBC about Nigel Farage’s Coutts account and she apologised.
Sorry doesn’t seem to be the hardest word over at the BBC. The Corporation has had to issue another grovelling apology – after a BBC reporter asked Morocco’s captain Ghizlane Chebbak whether any of the Women’s World Cup Squad are lesbians. In Morocco, it is illegal to have a gay relationship. Do you have any gay players in
All is not well in Labour land. After last week’s row over Ulez, the dispute between Sadiq Khan and Keir Starmer shows no sign of relenting. This time, the casus belli is, surprise, surprise, Brexit. In a veiled swipe at his boss, Khan criticised the UK’s policy towards Europe in comments to (who else?) the
It’s a safe bet to say that, with her spectacular implosion at the beginning of the year, Nicola Sturgeon may have sounded the death knell for the SNP. But it appears that, when it comes to the independence party’s support base, that might be much more literal than anyone had imagined. Analysis of SNP donation
Mr S likes Manchester. It’s a fun, fetching and successful city. But is it the best place for a game of cricket? On Sunday, Australia retained the Ashes after the Old Trafford Test was drawn thanks to Manchester’s infamous rain. Down south, there would have been enough sun on Sunday for England to level the
If you U-turn on a U-turn, does that make it an O-turn? That’s the question Mr S is wondering this morning given the mess ministers have managed to get themselves into on plans to ban new diesel and petrol cars. The ban is due to come into effect from 2030 but yesterday Andrew Mitchell, the Foreign
It’s ten years this month since legislation to legalise same-sex marriage was passed by parliament. So what better way to mark the occasion than a reception with the man who was Prime Minister at the time? David Cameron was on sparkling form last night at a drinks party hosted by the LGBT+ Conservatives – one
Dogs bark, cows moo and the BBC makes a hash of it. After holding out for a week, the Corporation has today thrown in the towel and issued a belated and grovelling apology to Nigel Farage for misreporting the reason his bank account at Coutts was closed. The Beeb’s original report by its Business Editor Simon Jack
While golden oldies battle for the presidency, the age of those in Westminster seems to be getting younger and younger. Last week, we had a new ‘Baby of the House’ when 25-year-old Keir Mather was elected as MP for Selby and Ainsty. And today, 29-year-old Charlotte Owen is being sworn in as the youngest life
It’s a month since the Farage Coutts row blew up and there’s no sign of it calming down any time soon. The asinine decision of the bank to close the Brexiteer’s account because they didn’t like his politics and then to tell the BBC that it was down to commercial reasons now looks to be
It’s been a difficult time for the gay rights charity Stonewall. Chief Executive Nancy Kelley is due to leave her job next week, after a torturous year that saw the Allison Bailey case and numerous employers withdraw from the charity’s ‘Diversity Champions’ scheme. Iain Anderson, Stonewall’s Chair, was probably hoping to put all this behind
You just hate to see it. Less than 12 hours after the Uxbridge result and already the Labour blame game is well underway. The chairman of the local party has quit in disgust, citing Starmer’s lack of principles. And now Starmer has decided that the solution to his problems is to, er, throw his party’s
For all Keir Starmer’s eager spin, last night wasn’t the great Labour triumph it was supposed to be. While the party pulled off an impressive triumph in Selby, it was a different story down south after the Ulez issue cost Labour the chance of winning Boris Johnson’s seat in Uxbridge and Ruislip. Recriminations are already
An enjoyable bit of by-election telly this morning. As political bigwigs trooped into the news studios to discuss last night’s results, Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates took the chance to ask Johnny Mercer what he made of Selby’s new MP Keir Mather. The ‘baby of the House’ is just 25 years old and is
Gerald Ratner, eat your heart out. The decision by Coutts to ‘de-bank’ Nigel Farage over reputational concerns and then brief the BBC that it was due to financial requirements will go down as one of the worst corporate own goals in recent history. After two days of media fury, whipped up by the former Ukip
Britain is once again stuck at a red signal – with yet another set of rail strikes bringing the country’s trains to a halt today. The key question is whether most commuters will even notice the strikes are on, considering the dire state of the railway network. Still, at least one person is in a chipper
Oh dear. It seems that Tobias Ellwood has slipped up one too many times. On Monday night he posted a video declaring that Afghanistan under the Taliban has become a ‘country transformed’ with ‘security vastly improved, ‘corruption reduced’, the ‘opium trade ended’. An immediate outcry followed, with a furious Mark Francois raising the matter at