Steerpike

Steerpike

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

Andrew Boff removed from Tory conference for heckling Suella Braverman

From our UK edition

So much for a blue-on-blue ceasefire. The Conservative party conference is inching towards its close but not without some penultimate day drama. The Tory London Assembly chair was this afternoon dramatically escorted out of Suella Braverman’s speech today after heckling her comments on gender. After quietly remarking that the Home Secretary was talking ‘trash’ about ‘gender ideology’, Andrew Boff

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s defence of the British Empire

From our UK edition

Jacob Rees-Mogg was in stirring form this morning, at a Tory party conference event on ‘Restoring prosperity, restoring Conservatism’ hosted by the Legatum Institute. The former minister for Brexit opportunities began his speech – where else? – at 1215 with Magna Carta before embarking on a potted history of English liberties, at one point digressing on the

Lee Anderson reminisces about Thatcher bashing

From our UK edition

Lee Anderson isn’t one to shy away from controversy and his speech on Monday evening at a fringe event at Tory conference certainly did not disappoint. The party’s deputy chairman addressed a packed out room at a Manchester club. While recounting  his life story, Anderson couldn’t resist taking a pop at Guardian journalists, Diane Abbott and, er, Margaret Thatcher.

Health Secretary heckled for skimping on the detail

From our UK edition

Who pays up to £242 for a member ticket to the Conservative party conference only to disrupt its events? You’d have to ask the young man who heckled the health secretary during his Q&A at Monday’s Health and Care reception… Barclay spent 15 minutes hinting at what the latest Tory plan to save the NHS

‘Stop Brexit Man’ Steve Bray gets into a scrap at Tory conference

From our UK edition

Fresh from mingling with Bully XL owners, ‘Stop Brexit Man’ Steve Bray has popped up again – this time at a conference fringe event asking ‘Can the Tories win?’. Mr S thinks he knows what Bray’s answer to that question might be. During the event, Bray stood up to unveil his ‘Stop The Tories’ top.

Does Rishi Sunak hate dogs?

From our UK edition

Every world leader these days needs to have a pet. Joe Biden has a pair of out-of-control German Shepherds that are busily biting their way through the president’s secret service guards; Boris Johnson had Dilyn, a Jack Russell which was as well trained as its owner; and Rishi Sunak owns Nova, a Red Fox labrador.

Scottish Tory leader takes a pop at Rishi Sunak

From our UK edition

Rishi Sunak is the talk of the Scottish Tory fringe at Conservative party conference — but perhaps not in the way the Prime Minister might hope. Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross wasted no time at all at making a dig at his boss — perhaps a sly retaliation to the fact Rishi Sunak wasn’t able

Rishi outlines Keir Starmer’s five ‘pledges’ in 1922 speech

From our UK edition

Rishi Sunak’s first Conservative party conference as prime minister is off to a roaring start. Never one to miss a chance to stick it to his opponents, he marked the occasion by ribbing his opposite number Keir Starmer.  This evening in Manchester Sunak was guest of honour at the 1922 committee and ConservativeHome’s drinks reception.

Kemi Badenoch guns for Stonewall – and the charity sector

From our UK edition

Kemi Badenoch’s war with Stonewall opened up on a new front this evening. Earlier this year, the business secretary incurred the wrath of the LGBTQ+ charity when she told government officials to withdraw from Stonewall’s top 100 employers’ scheme over the charity’s dubious positions on gender rights. Now, speaking this evening, she has raised the

Ministers flirt with ECHR exit

From our UK edition

It’s day one of the Conservative party conference and already Tory politicians are being probed on the tough questions. One of the hot topics in Manchester this afternoon was Kemi Badenoch’s declaration that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) needs to be ‘on the table’ as an option for the UK. Among the first

Bully XL owners team up with anti-Brexit Steve Bray outside Tory conference

From our UK edition

It wouldn’t be a Tory party conference without hundreds of protesters lining the streets. Manchester has not disappointed. From trade unionists, Steve Bray’s die-hard remainers, the Young Communist League, Extinction Rebellion and, of course, Just Stop Oil, anyone with a grievance appears to have made it to the Rainy City. Even Bully XL owners have

Priti Patel accuses Suella Braverman of attention seeking

From our UK edition

It’s Tory conference – which means the Conservatives are at each other’s throats once again. This morning, Priti Patel took a pop at Suella Braverman, accusing the Home Secretary of attention seeking. Patel also suggested Braverman was guilty of focusing on words over action. The slap down came a few days after Braverman used a

Why did the Observer bury a poll showing Starmer’s shrinking lead?

From our UK edition

As Conservative conference kicks off, there is a crumb of comfort for the Prime Minister in the latest polling in the Observer – but you’d be hard pressed to actually find it in the newspaper’s write-up. The Opinium survey for the paper of more than 3,000 voters – including over 900 people who voted Tory in

GB News civil war intensifies

From our UK edition

It’s safe to say that this hasn’t been GB News’s finest week and there’s no sign of the drama stopping any time soon. First Laurence Fox and Dan Wootton were suspended from the channel for their, er, discussion about political commentator Ava Evans. Now Calvin Robinson has become the third presenter to be disciplined after

Rishi roasts Truss, Hancock and the lobby

From our UK edition

To the Parlimentary Press Gallery dinner, held in the splendour of the National Liberal Club. This event hasn’t been held for four years, with Press Gallery chair Sam Lister joking that ‘Boris Johnson locked the country down’ to avoid attending while Liz Truss resigned the day her invitation to this shindig arrived. Lister gave the

Will Fergus Ewing now defect?

From our UK edition

The SNP civil war has returned to the offices of Holyrood and nationalist infighting is only getting more toxic. Veteran politician Fergus Ewing was last night disciplined after months of vocally criticising his party’s policies — and voting against the government during junior minister Lorna Slater’s confidence motion.  Although his punishment has been dished up,