Steerpike

It seems that the Chagos deal is the grift which keeps on giving. The government last night confirmed that it had been forced to pause the legislation granting the islands’ handover, following a U-turn by Washington. Now, Mr S can reveal that humiliation follows humiliation for our poor, beleaguered Prime Minister. Sir Keir has made

Reform’s approach to these local elections seemed to be a variation on a wedding classic: ‘something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.’ As well as the fireworks and the town hall-style meetings, there are a fair few ex-Tories now swelling Nigel Farage’s ranks. Mr S has done some counting and it seems that

When is an adult not an adult? It’s a question that the Labour party does not seem to be able to answer. Having struggled for years with the definition a woman, the party is now struggling to explain what constitutes a child. In their manifesto, the government committed to giving 16- and 17-year-olds the vote,

As we head towards the Scottish parliamentary elections in May, one party leader has a particularly unenviable job: step forward Anas Sarwar. Only a couple of months ago the Scottish Labour leader was calling for the party’s national leader, Sir Keir Starmer, to step down. Now he has to convince the Scottish electorate to put

An own goal or back-of-the-net? The pundit class are divided on Reform’s latest stunt, with Nigel Farage rocking up to Portman Road to snap pictures waving an Ipswich Town shirt. But while some are describing it as ‘PR suicide’, within Milbank Tower there is delight at the ‘cut-through’ of the Clacton MP’s latest photo opportunity.

Morgan McSweeney may be out of office – but he is certainly not out of the headlines. A mystery concerns the ex-No. 10 chief of staff’s phone, amid ongoing Tory pressure to release the so-called ‘Mandelson files’: all the messages relating to the appointment of the (now former) US ambassador. The Sun reported on Saturday

Ding, ding, ding! In the teal corner, it’s Tim Montgomerie, longtime Tory sage turned Reform defector. And, in the, er, other teal corner, it’s, um, Matt Goodwin, onetime academic turned Reform parliamentary candidate. Goodwin’s latest book Suicide of a Nation: Immigration, Islam, Identity has come under fire online over the veracity of its claims and

Was that the worst PMQs of the year? Amid Kemi Badenoch’s constant questioning about Peter Mandelson, Keir Starmer turned into the Incredible Human Deflector, constantly grabbing at anything approaching even a half-response. Greenland, Iran and even, er, Nick Timothy’s tweets – all were seized by a flailing Prime Minister for whom even ChatGPT would struggle

In opposition, Keir Starmer was at pains to emphasise how different he would be to those wicked old corrupt Tories. But in government, it has proved quite another matter, what with Lord Alli’s clothes, Louise Haigh’s phones and Angela Rayner’s missing £40,000 stamp duty. Now, Mr S brings news of another example where this government

Tally ho! That sound you can hear is Keir Starmer’s barmy army charging into the fray once more. Having waged war over the Chagos Islands, assisted dying and hereditary peers, now the Labour party has found another cause on which to burn precious political capital: trail hunting. This is the process whereby hounds following a

It is a difficult time to be a Labour MP. With the Greens on the left and Reform on the right, many are contemplating an electoral pasting in their patches come May. Now, a fresh challenge presents itself, at a time when open questions are being asked about Keir Starmer’s leadership. In the coming days,

Oh dear. It seems that the spectre of the Chinese dragon is rearing its head over Westminster again. After three men were arrested earlier today on suspicion of spying for China, Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid has now been forced to say that she has never seen anything to make her suspect her husband, David

Happy spring statement day one and all. As Rachel Reeves valiantly tries to wrestle the public narrative back from her critics, it seems that there is yet more pain from the Gorton and Denton by-election last week. For a new poll is out for YouGov today – and it shows Zack Polanski making gains at

So. Farewell then Josh Simons. The Macclesfield MP has quit his job at the Cabinet Office following the revelations about his time as head of Labour Together. Back in 2023, the think tank – which helped Keir Starmer get elected party leader – spent thousands paying APCO Worldwide to dig into the background of journalists

Poor old Sir Keir. It turns out that there was indeed a large anti-Reform tactical vote in Gorton – it just is not willing to vote for his party. Following the Greens’ runaway success in last night’s by-election, it was left to Starmer to do the time-honoured tradition of beleaguered party leaders: do five minutes

Peter Mandelson is in a right old funk. Having been ignominiously hauled in by the Met for questioning on Monday, his lawyers have now been firing off furious statements, indignantly asking why the rozzers viewed him as a flight risk. Who could have tipped them off? But now the mysterious source has chosen to identify

Oh dear. It seems that Ed Davey – the most righteous man in all of parliament – has got it wrong again. He and his party must have thought it a terrific wheeze when they announced that they would today be pushing for documents on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as a UK trade envoy to be

If you didn’t laugh at this Labour government, you would cry. The Anti-Corruption Minister has resigned over corruption; the Homelessness Minister quit over making people homeless. The Police Transport Minister went after being accused of lying to the police – while the Housing Secretary did not pay £40,000 tax on her house. Now – get