Steerpike

This morning it was London: now it's the results across the south of England which are flooding in, with similarly bad news for the Tories. And one declaration in Somerset will particularly trouble Conservative high command after the party's expert on defeating the Liberal Democrats was himself defeated, er, by the Liberal Democrats. For incumbent councillor Hayward Burt has been soundly beaten in the Blackmoor Vale ward for Somerset Council, losing alongside his colleague William Wallace to two Lib Dems Sarah Dyke and Nicola Clark. The two Tories gained 1,443 and 1,328 votes respectively, compared to Dyke on 1,814 and Clark on 1,590.

Sadiq Khan may have won his contest last year but he's not having such a good election this time around. The wokest mayor in all the West has not enjoyed the best week in the run-up to polling day. First, he was accused by Grant Shapps of breaking pre-election purdah rules after Transport for London yesterday announced the opening date for the Elizabeth Line. And today, Khan has reminded floating voters, uncertain of who to vote for in this year's London council elections, of his key priorities. The mayor used polling day to tell male voters to '#HaveAWord' and not laugh at 'sexist "banter",' demanding that Londoners interrogate their friends when offensive language is used by saying 'What makes you think that?

The Russian bear might be back but the Chinese dragon waits in the wings. Moscow's spectacularly mismanaged invasion of Ukraine might have diverted Western attention away from Beijing but the CCP clearly poses a much greater long-term threat to the West than Putin's kleptocratic regime. With that in mind, Mr S was intrigued to see the business minister Lord Callanan recently confirm that the People’s Republic of China is the registered owner of no less than 60 titles in the Greater London boundary.  Combined, they are likely worth a small fortune. Intrigued, Steerpike asked the punctilious pen-pushers over at the Land Registry for a list of all these properties.

Schadenfreude is a funny thing. Once it was Labour laughing at Boris Johnson dodging questions about food and drink: now it's their turn to face them too. Sir Keir Starmer had a somewhat excruciating appearance on this morning's Today programme when he was asked repeatedly about his attendance at a work event in April 2021, at which the Labour leader was photographed holding a beer. Four times the Labour leader was asked by Martha Kearney about whether Durham Police had been in touch with him about the gathering; four times he dodged the question. Starmer claimed that the picture was taken before 10 p.m and that thereafter he and other Labour campaigners resumed their campaigning efforts. What exactly were they doing that late – stuffing letters perhaps?

Milestones are always a time for reflection. So the 25th anniversary of New Labour's election triumph this weekend has prompted an outpouring of dewy-eyed reminiscences from commentators of a certain vintage about how great it all was.  Cool Britannia, the minimum wage, PFI deals and the Millennium Dome. Truly, a golden age: things really could only get better. To mark this auspicious occasion, a familiar face from those halcyon days has re-emerged to remind voters about the best that New Labour had to offer.  Alastair Campbell, the king of spin, has popped up with a new report by Labour in Communications urging Sir Keir Starmer to revamp his approach to PR ahead of the next election.

Privatisation isn't the only issue currently worrying Channel 4 bosses. The network's eponymous news programme has been facing questions for months about its alleged use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) amid mounting concern that they could be used to silence staff in equal pay, discrimination, harassment and victimisation cases. Campaigners, MPs and whistleblowers are among the dozens of high-profile women calling on C4 to release its 'traumatised' and 'gagged' former staff from such confidentiality agreements. Not the best look, perhaps, from a self-styled 'progressive employer'... Not all of Channel 4's staff though seem keen to publicly back the campaign to free the broadcaster's former staff from their NDAs.

Last night, Mr Steerpike was on his way back to Glasgow Central station from a game between Ayr United and Partick Thistle, sipping a hot water and lemon. He would have liked something stronger, only the Scottish government — which took control of Scotland’s railway services on April 1 — has extended the Covid-era ban on the consumption of booze on trains. Some rebellious passengers were flouting the government’s rules, however. Among them, Mr Steerpike observed, appeared to be Mhairi Black — the SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (and subject of Tracey Ullman parody).

War is raging and prices are spiking but there's only question on the people in Westminster's lips: who is the MP accused of watching porn in the House of Commons? The investigative sleuths of HM parliamentary press gallery – those fearless seekers after truth – have dedicated much of their energy these past two days trying to work out just which MP was spotted by two female colleagues looking at such images in the chamber and in a committee. Now though, the Telegraph has finally succeeded where many others have failed. Devon MP Neil Parish, 65, has this afternoon had the Tory whip withdrawn from him.

Throughout the past three years, both Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford have never been shy about taking a swing at Boris Johnson. Whether it be pandemic restrictions or Brexit negotiations, the SNP and Labour first ministers are among the first to stick the boot into their London counterpart in their haste to distance themselves from those dreadfully corrupt Tories. So Mr S was amused to see that for all their proclamations about the superiority of the squeaky-clean systems at Holyrood and Cardiff Bay, both administrations have now been dragged into the unfolding scandal around Liberty Steel.