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
Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP and the husband of Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, has today been arrested in connection with an investigation into the SNP’s finances. It is the latest development in Police Scotland’s 21-month-long probe into claims that Scotland’s governing party mismanaged funds. Below is a timeline of
Kate Forbes may have lost the battle but will she win the war? Forbes narrowly missed out in the SNP leadership race last month but she has handled her defeat much more gracefully than Humza Yousaf has greeted victory. While the Farce Minister has purged anyone of any talent from his cabinet, Forbes has done
Four weeks ago Rishi Sunak proudly unveiled the branding for his campaign to deter migrant Channel crossings. Standing at a lectern, the Prime Minister unveiled his new, stark slogan: ‘Stop the Boats’ – a message emblazoned on his backdrop and podium. And, in keeping with the Prime Minister’s other ‘five prioritises’ of reducing debt, Mr
It seems that Labour have a secret weapon in their local election campaign. For months now, Carol Vorderman has been on a one-woman war against the Tories, taking to Twitter to decry the incumbent government. The former Countdown star is a devotee of the all caps tweet, railing against her onetime friend turned bête noire
Where public opinion goes, Sir Keir follows. Tony Benn used to divide politicians into two categories: the Signposts and the Weathercocks, with the Labour leader falling decidedly into the latter group. As public attitudes on women-only spaces and elite sport have hardened in recent years, the Leader of the Opposition has slowly, painfully followed suit,
Is Labour’s state of confusion about sex and gender going global? Labour leader Keir Starmer was widely mocked this weekend when he was asked by the Sunday Times to define a woman, and claimed that 99.9 per cent of women don’t have a penis – which if nothing else, rather contradicted his previous assertion that
There’s no shortage of problems in Humza Yousaf’s in-tray as he gets his feet under the desk at Bute House. Striking workers, anaemic growth, a crumbling NHS: there’s plenty to occupy Yousaf and his new cabinet of old faces. So Mr S was therefore surprised that one minister clearly has enough time to moonlight as
It’s less than a week since Humza Yousaf triumphed in the SNP leadership election by less than 2,500 votes and already his tactical wizardry is bearing fruit. Yousaf’s first decision on taking at Bute House was to humiliate Kate Forbes, the woman who took on and almost defeated the entire party machine, by offering her
The Yousaf terror has begun and already the new regime isn’t off to a great start. Day one saw his calls for another referendum brushed aside by No. 10. Day two brought the refusals of Kate Forbes and Ivan McKee to serve in his government. And now on day three, the Privileges Committee have handed
It’s a hard life in No. 10 – so it’s no surprise that Prime Ministers need to relax. Margaret Thatcher had her whiskies; Harold Macmillan went ‘to bed with a Trollope’. But for Rishi Sunak, it seems his trusty Peloton is how he takes his mind off the job. He likes to get up at
Imagine the scene: you’re sat in the First Minister’s office in Cardiff Bay. Your desk groans under the weight of the great issues of state: a crumbling health service, a botched roads review, mismanaged millions and conditions so bad even your own staff are going on strike. So, what do you do to win the
Dear oh dear. It seems the newly-elected gaffe-prone First Minister of Scotland has blundered once again. Shortly after announcing that former social justice secretary – and Sturgeon’s old chum – Shona Robison would be his deputy, Humza Yousaf spoke to Kate Forbes about her place in his new cabinet. Widely expected to give her a
The good news just keeps coming for Gary Lineker. The Match of the Day host has won his appeal against HMRC over a £4.9 million tax bill. The taxman claimed Lineker was an employee of both the BBC and BT Sport – and that, as a result, he owed them money. But a judge ruled that Lineker
The world’s wokest newspaper is at it again. Few voices were more vocal about race and reparations in that statue-toppling summer of 2020 than the Guardian: the newspaper of choice for the self-loathing left. So it is some irony then that the paper’s owner has today had to issue an apology for the role that
Et tu Keir? Starmer might have (twice) campaigned for Jeremy Corbyn to become Prime Minister, but that hasn’t stopped the current Labour leader from brutally turning on his onetime ‘friend’ in his relentless quest to reach No. 10. Starmer announced yesterday that he would be submitting a motion to Labour’s ruling body to bar Corbyn
The magic grandpa is back in the headlines. Keir Starmer’s decision to move against his predecessor means an unwelcome return to the spotlight for Jeremy Corbyn, who has never been a great fan of the fourth estate. Starmer has proposed a motion to Labour’s ruling body to bar Jezza for standing for the party again,
How touching. Several weeks after Gary Lineker’s sporting colleagues boycotted the BBC in solidarity during a row over his tweets, the Match of the Day presenter has revealed the whole affair moved him to tears. Lineker, who is, he says ‘still bewildered’ by the scandal, revealed his reaction in a cosy chat with former Labour spin doctor
Sir Keir Starmer was determined to upset Rishi Sunak’s big speech this morning, exhibiting the cynicism which secured him the Labour leadership. Starmer announced midway through Sunak’s speech that he was submitting a motion to the party’s ruling body to confirm that Corbyn will not be the official Labour candidate in Islington North at the
The renegade royal is back. Having spent the past few years endlessly invading the privacy of others for financial gain, Prince Harry has turned up in London to complain about newspapers, er, doing just that. The dilettante Duke of Sussex arrived at the High Court this morning as legal proceedings begin in the phone-tapping and
To Buckingham, where a tribe of true believers met on Saturday to attend the Margaret Thatcher Freedom Festival. Suella Braverman was the star turn in the evening, with Sir Iain Duncan Smith amusing attendees with his tales of Eurocrat meetings. But it was Steve Baker – the onetime arch-rebel turned Northern Ireland minister – who
