Steerpike

To Bournemouth, where two-hundred odd attendees of the Conservative Democratic Organisation are meeting for their first conference. The CDO has been labelled a 'Tory Momentum' and a 'Bring Back Boris' effort by its opponents, though its chairman David Campbell-Bannerman insists that it is nothing of the sort. 'We are not enemies of Central Office' he told attendees this morning, despite warning that current membership trends suggest 'the party is dying as an institution' and bemoaning the 'coup against Boris.' Lord Cruddas, the CDO’s president, went further still, under the watchful eye of the Eastleigh enforcer Paul Holmes, CCHQ’s man on the scene.

Oh dear. It seems that the king of spin's onetime winning touch has deserted him. The omnipresent Alastair Campbell popped up again on Newsnight to continue his latest 'forever war' – this time the never-ending crusade against Brexit. Campbell was up against Alex Phillips, the former MEP, and managed in the space of just seven minutes to patronise both her and the host Victoria Derbyshire in an astonishingly ill-judged performance. Following a barrage of Campbell's huffing and puffing, Phillips remarked on the irony of how 'It’s very rich a man who essentially was part of telling lies to invade a country to accuse me of dishonesty.

Ding, ding, ding! In the blue corner, it’s Kemi Badenoch, the Trade Secretary and much-fancied leadership contender. And, er, also in the blue corner, is the combined forces of the European Research Group. A war of words has broken out between Badenoch and the Brexiteers over the government's decision not to repeal all retained EU laws. Speaking in the House of Commons this morning, ERG chair Mark Francois lamented that the government had performed 'a massive climbdown on its own bill despite having such strong support from its backbenchers,' adding to Badenoch: 'What on earth are you playing at?' Lindsay Hoyle joined in for good effect, chastising the minister for announcing the decision via a written statement.

Four months after losing the Tory whip, Andrew Bridgen finally has a new party. The maverick member for North West Leicestershire has today joined Laurence Fox's Reclaim party as their first MP. In a Westminster press conference – held in the same room in which Douglas Carswell defected to Ukip – Bridgen hailed his new comrades and announced his intention to continue legal action against Matt Hancock over their long-running vaccines spat: I have submitted a defamation claim to the Royal Court of Justice against one Matthew Hancock MP.

Humza Yousaf has already stoked a right royal row with his party’s hardliners by ditching a pro-independence rally to attend the coronation. And now he’s really gone and done it by leading the Scottish Parliament in a celebration of the event. The SNP leader tabled a motion showering praise on the King and Queen: That the Parliament congratulates Their Majesties The King and The Queen on the occasion of Their Coronation; expresses its gratitude for Their Majesties’ public service to Scotland, and affirms the deep respect that is held for Their Majesties in Scotland. Speaking to the motion this afternoon, Yousaf hailed ‘an important constitutional milestone’ and praised the multi-faith nature of the ceremony.

Prince Harry kept a dignified silence at his father’s coronation – even if he opted to make a hasty exit back to Los Angeles when the service at Westminster Abbey finished. But the Duke of Sussex’s ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer has chosen this week to talk about the ins and outs of writing Spare. Moehringer reveals that he argued with the ex-royal numerous times during the book-writing process. He also tells, in a piece for the New Yorker, how he called Harry 'dude' from the outset. But if that informality suggests Moehringer has little in common with the high-born prince, think again. Although Moehringer and Harry’s backgrounds couldn’t be any more different, the pair do share something in common: a mutual contempt for the British press.

After the Coronation festivities, there are a fair few hangovers in London today. But there was no sign of that over in Notting Hill, where fitness fanatics were up early for Soul Cycle. And Mr S understands that among the more high-profile attendees at the 9:30 a.m class this morning were none other than Akshata Murthy, Rishi Sunak’s wife, and Jill Biden, America’s First Lady. Talk about a Special Relationship… The better halves of the two world leaders both enjoy Soul Cycle, with Murthy also once owning a 4.4 per cent stake in boutique London gym chain Digme Fitness, where she was a director. Downing Street declined to comment but Mr S hears that the pair were taught by Abbey Ashley, a self-confessed ‘Swiftie’.

As the results of the local elections continue to roll in, the Liberal Democrats look set to make promising gains across the country. But for one newly-elected Lib Dem councillor, yesterday’s vote has left him seeing double. Sitting Salford Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Twells has accidentally won a second seat more than 160 miles away from his first in the Gloucestershire ward of Tetbury with Upton. The double whammy win occurred after Twells agreed to be a 'paper candidate' to help out the local Lib Dems who were struggling to find a candidate to nominate. Twells’ two-timing first came to light in April when the Labour mayor of Salford Paul Dennett wrote to Twells to express his ‘shock’ at his decision to stand for another seat.

It's local election day for most of the country – though not in South Cambridgeshire. The Lib Dem led District Council there has been in the news a lot this week but not for the right reasons. Council bosses there have just hailed the 'overwhelmingly positive'  results of their four-day working week trial and are now set to extend it for a further twelve months. Nice life for some eh? The pilot scheme was launched in January and gives staff the chance to take either Mondays or Fridays off on the assumption that they will work 'more productively for the remaining days.

Just in the nick of time, the SNP have at long last – after cold calling almost every auditing firm in the country – found some new accountants. The small Manchester-based firm, AMS Accountants Group, must be hungry for a challenge: the Westminster group’s accounts need auditing in just over three weeks, while the Holyrood party’s accounts have a deadline of 7 July. Tick tock! Commenting on this minor triumph, First Minister Humza Yousaf said:  We take our statutory obligations extremely seriously, so it is welcome news that AMS Accountants Group will complete the accounts for both the party and the SNP Westminster group. I am very grateful for the work of our new party treasurer Stuart McDonald in securing the auditors' services.