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
It’s the 75th anniversary of the creation of the National Health Service next week, which can only mean one thing: mass, ostentatious displays of affection for a creaking arm of the British state. Still, even Mr Steerpike was taken aback by how quickly our state broadcaster descended into bizarre jingoistic tub-thumping for ‘our’ NHS ahead
The questions aren’t going away for Tory mayoral candidate Daniel Korski. The self-proclaimed tech entrepreneur is having a tough time answering questions about claims that he grabbed the breast of a woman when he was working in No. 10 under David Cameron. In a bid to clear the air, Korski – who denies the allegation
Remember Eric Pickles? The larger-than-life Coalition mainstay who inspired such legendary headlines as ‘I did not spend £10,000 on extra biscuits.’ These days Lord Pickles is chairing the Cabinet Office watchdog Acoba, which vets appointments for senior civil servants and ministers upon leaving government. The agency is currently somewhat overworked, with onetime appointees from the
Drama tonight at the latest hustings for the Tory mayoral candidate. The Conservative Environment Network were putting the final three candidates through their paces when a story from the Times broke accusing Daniel Korski – one of the favourites in the contest – of sexual misconduct. Daisy Goodwin, the former head of a TV production company, claimed
Will Partygate claim yet more scalps? For a fortnight now, Sir Bernard Jenkin, the Privileges prober-extraordinaire, has refused to comment on claims that he attended a lockdown-breaking bash for his wife in December 2020. But will that silence continue to hold, given fresh revelations from the Guido Fawkes blog about other attendees at the aforementioned
Breaking: Sadiq Khan is a big fan of grass – and not the kind you can decriminalise. The Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority have been forced to shell out a whopping £200,000 to re-turf Parliament Square Gardens – a site often favoured by the unwashed masses of eco-protestors like Extinction Rebellion. City
Another day brings with it another difficult morning with Rishi Sunak. With Labour’s lead now stretching to 18 points, the Prime Minister did a tetchy interview with Laura Kuenssberg saw the pair clash over inflation and mortgages. And Sunak will no doubt be delighted to know that the person whose reaction which Kuenssberg sought straight
Ah, the perils of hosting an international jamboree. You know what it’s like: you stump up for the hotel rooms, roll out the red carpet, shake hands with an assortment of autocrats, only for your own unappreciative electorate to let you down once again. Such misfortune befell Emmanuel Macron this week, when he invited the
It’s finally here. The SNP independence convention has been in the works for quite some time – it was initially supposed to be Nicola Sturgeon’s de facto referendum conference – so you’d think that its execution would be slick, its planning well organised. Think again. It will come of no surprise to readers, Mr S
You might have thought that the National had successfully cornered the fiction market among SNP devotees. But now Mr S has discovered the existence of another pro-independence media outlet keen to shake up Scotland’s media landscape. ‘Skotia’ claims it will divert from the ‘obsessive hysteria of Scotland’s political class’ by making ‘life difficult for the architects of
David Warburton surprised nobody in Westminster by standing down on Saturday, fourteen months after losing the Tory whip. For more than a year it’s been clear that a by-election was looming in Somerton and Frome. Yet you wouldn’t know it judging from the quality of the local Lib Dem candidate there, Sarah Dyke. She has
Nothing has changed– that was the message Rishi Sunak sought to convey this afternoon, following the Bank of England’s interest rate hike. Speaking to journalists at one of his ‘PM Connect’ events in Kent, Sunak repeatedly emphasised his determination to battle inflation. ‘Rooting out inflation is not easy, requires difficult decisions, and it doesn’t happen
Oh dear. Gary Neville is at it again.The left-wing right-back has waded into the latest trend in British football: superannuated superstars ending their playing days in Saudi Arabia. Neville – a man who has never met a camera he didn’t like – is calling on the Premier League to stop the transfer of players to
Trawling through his emails, Mr S was struck by one that leapt out by dint of its sheer audacity. Extinction Rebellion, those great unwashed types, are now openly bragging about their access to Labour government ministers in Wales. In one such recent update from their political engagement team, they wrote to supporters to crow that
Penny Mordaunt might be the media darling since wielding the Coronation sword but it wasn’t always this way. The Leader of the House has had a fair few run-ins with the Four Estate in recent years, including last summer’s leadership election. So it was with great enthusiasm that Mr S attended tonight’s Parliamentary Press Gallery
Coming soon to the Edinburgh Fringe: Evita without the self-awareness. Nicola Sturgeon trialled her one woman show today with an impromptu press conference at Holyrood, following her shock arrest less than a fortnight ago. Bravely, the former First Minister gave the performance of a lifetime, sticking to her Dalek-like insistence on her innocence while, er,
To Dean’s Yard, for the second best party of the summer season. The Tory establishment assembled last night for ConservativeHome’s annual bash, hosted in the shadow of Westminster Abbey. It was this august event which kicked off last year’s summer madness: a point not lost on this year’s star speaker. James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary,
It was rare to find anyone willing to stand up and defend Boris Johnson in parliament this afternoon. But cometh the hour, cometh the Mogg as the Honourable Member for the eighteenth century arose to deliver his best defence of his former boss. Jacob Rees-Mogg described it as a ‘deliberate attempt to take the most
They come not to praise Caesar but to bury him. Watching today’s debate on the Privileges Committee report into Boris Johnson, Mr S was struck by how many critics of the former PM were there to administer the last rites. Harriet Harman and Thangam Debbonaire were there for Labour; on the Tory benches David Davis,
It’s crunch time in the Commons today. After five days of speculation, MPs today get the chance to approve the Privileges Committee report on Boris Johnson misleading the House. But will there even be a vote on it? Despite much talk of Boris backers lining up to defend their former leader, it seems there’s been