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
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Whether it’s reports of fire, asbestos, falling stonework, creaking sewers or dodgy electrics, the dilapidated state of the Palace of Westminster is all too well known. After years of dither and delay, work has belatedly begun on a Restoration and Renewal programme to bring Parliament into the twentieth century – and thereafter (hopefully) into the twenty-first.
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Two years ago life seemed so sweet for Jeremy Corbyn. The magic Grandpa was the leader of a Labour party that was just three points behind in the polls, heading into a snap election which his devoted cheerleaders thought would sweep him into power. Now though, all that has changed. Stripped of his party whip, embarrassed by
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‘If you want a friend’ growled Michael Douglas in Wall Street ‘get a dog.’ Gordon Gekko’s words about the fierce world of finance could just as well apply to the dog-eat-dog world of Westminster, where young pups and old hounds scrap to be top dog. And it seems quite a few MPs have followed the example
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Since being appointed to the post of Home Secretary, Priti Patel has made her distaste for drugs clear. During the past two years the Witham MP has accompanied police on house raids, deported foreign dealers, declared war on ‘county lines’ gangs and threatened ‘tough action’ on laughing gas. There have been repeated departmental briefings to newspapers about crackdowns on ‘middle class drug-users,’
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Justin Trudeau likes to present him as the wokest leader in all the west. The Canadian PM has suffered numerous cringeworthy moments during his six year premiership in his efforts to prove his ‘right-on’ credentials – whether that be correcting women who refer to ‘mankind’ rather than ‘peoplekind’ or promising to avoid an economic ‘she-cession.’
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At last conference season over and Parliament will return on Monday. The Tories finished their annual jamboree yesterday after a slogan-filled four day bonanza of levelling up a built back better Net Zero Global Britain. And along with the warm white wine which usually accompanies such platitudinous speeches came the traditional collection of cranks and protestors outside the
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So that’s it. The end. Tory conference wraps up today with Boris Johnson delivering a policy-light leader’s speech to close the four day Conservative jamboree in Manchester. Surrounded by campaign placards like a traditional electoral rally, Johnson made an hour long speech peppered with talk of ‘building back better.’ And in traditional Boris style, there
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It’s the final day of Tory party conference today, with all eyes on Boris Johnson’s speech at midday. But will all the cabinet be there to watch it, bright-eyed and bushy tailed? Judging from last night’s antics, Mr S suspects that the answer may be: no. Truss, wearing a striking green number, stood out a
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It’s the final night here at Conservative party conference. The booze is flowing and events are coming thick and fast. But the one reception which was guaranteed to pack out tonight was the LGBT+ Conservatives night with Carrie Johnson – the only event at which the Prime Minister’s spouse was scheduled to speak. Watched on
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The Tories are ahead in the polls, the pandemic is easing, and the Prime Minister’s position is secure. And yet, for all the thronging crowds and warm white wine being guzzled at this year’s Conservative party conference, a strange gloom fills the air – and it has something to do with the dear leader, Boris
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Dominic Raab already has rather a lot on his plate. The new Justice Secretary is planning to re-write the UK’s human rights laws as well as nearly doubling the number of convicts on electronic tags. But undoubtedly the biggest challenge facing Raab is the lockdown backlog in the number of people waiting for trials. At a Spectator event
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Boris Johnson made a rare appearance on the Today programme this morning to drum up support for his agenda ahead of his conference speech tomorrow. But while listeners may have been hoping to hear a serious discussion about the state of the country, petrol pumps and supply chain woes, the interview quickly became a scrap
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It was party time last night at Tory conference. As ministers Ben Wallace and Liz Truss supped Roland Rudd’s champagne at the Finsbury reception, Australian High Commissioner George Brandis mingled with Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey at the inHouse Politico party. But elsewhere at the Conservative jamboree, the night did not end so well
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This year’s Tory party conference in Manchester is something of an inclusive affair. Labour’s Barry Gardiner has been spotted enjoying himself at a late-night drinks reception for Conservative MPs. And Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham has also been wooing delegates on the fringes. Last night, it was the turn of another unexpected face to make an appearance
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The world’s oldest democratic party has had a few problems with technology in recent years. Famously it was the 2018 Tory conference which saw a security breach where the official party app allowed anyone to access the private phone numbers of members of the Cabinet – or in the case of Boris Johnson change his profile
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It’s day two of the Conservative party conference and there have been several ugly scenes already. Yesterday saw a banner quoting the IRA’s words in the aftermath of the Brighton bomb hung by a nearby bridge close to the conference arena. Today Jacob Rees-Mogg was pursued by hecklers chanting that he was ‘scum.’ And now
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Greeted by a throng of angry protesters outside Tory conference, some of the party’s MPs are taking the easy option – and choosing to walk a different way. But not Jacob Rees-Mogg. After leaving the conference centre, Mogg – dressed immaculately, as usual, in his buttoned-up suit – walked straight into the thick of it. He
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It’s been a tough few years for Conservative Remainers. First the shock Brexit result and then the premiership of Boris Johnson with all that entails. But last night the long-suffering bearers of the torch of Tory moderation gathered together for a rally of the One Nation caucus of Conservative MPs and their supporters within the
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It’s day two at the Conservative party conference and many attendees will be waking up with sore heads today. The fringes were packed last night as Tory ministers did the rounds. Liz Truss, the darling of the free market think tanks, appeared at the Think Tent equipped with a magnificent blow dry and an applause-winning speech
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Oh dear. With the Tories in town, the Labour left were hoping to make a strong impression in Manchester when they organised a protest outside the venue this afternoon. A large crowd, led by the Corbynite stalwarts Richard Burgon and Barry Gardiner, slowly made its way down Oxford Road toward the conference venue, with the
