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
Oh dear. Today sees the resumption of hearings by a joint committee of MPs and peers into the Online Safety Bill to update regulate of social media companies. And, with exquisite timing, one of those Silicon Valley giants has created something of an online storm by censoring one of the most respected backbenchers in the House
William Hague was only 16 when he burst onto the political scene with his famous conference speech. But even the future Tory party leader would seem like a veritable grandfather compared to those in youth politics these days. For now the Liberal Democrats have given the green light to a 12-year-old to run in their
Poor Dom Raab. First he lost the Foreign Office and now he has to share his house with Liz Truss – the woman who replaced him in last month’s reshuffle. The demoted minister has had a torrid few months, with the fall of Kabul, his Whitehall office briefing against him and then an enforced move to
Jolyon Maugham is a man of many talents. He’s a talented tax barrister, who helped enrich various millionaires via celebrity tax dodge film schemes. He’s a serial joiner of political causes, boasting more parties than Hugh Hefner though, sadly, with far less joy. And, of course, he is the remain-supporting QC who ended up on the front page
Broadcasting, writing, life-coaching and speech-making: there seems to be no end to the talents of Harry and Meghan. But now the Sussexes have announced their hitherto unknown ambition to be ‘ethical bankers’, alongside their existing gigs as occasional podcasters, exiled royals and infrequent guests on various Oprah shows. With all their talk of ‘finding freedom’ abroad,
For the past month Britain’s roads have been held hostage by Insulate Britain (IB), the direct-action group spun out of Extinction Rebellion (XR). The favoured tactic of the eco-warriors is to initiate roadblocks at which activists glue themselves to roads to make them inaccessible to vehicles. The device has inspired much anger among motorists, with
What with an energy crisis, a fuel crisis and a food crisis, you would think MPs have enough on their plates. But word reaches Mr S that our long-suffering elected representatives have now been hit by a shortage of crucial goods as the supply chain chaos resonates in the halls of Westminster. Ministers used to working late
When did you know the pandemic was over? For Mr S it was when Sadiq Khan began accepting freebies again. Safely returned to office in May, the Mayor of London has since resumed making full use of complimentary tickets, according to his latest entry in the Greater London Assembly’s register of ‘gifts and hospitality.’ Some 13
The biggest row in Westminster rumbles on. No, it’s not Rishi against the spending ministers; nor Keir Starmer’s uneasy truce with Angela Rayner. Like a Jane Austen novel, the question centres on a grand country house, where passions have been aroused by a question of succession. The issue is of course Chevening: the 115-room grace-and-favour residence traditionally
Ben & Jerry’s have never been shy about making politics part of their brand. The ice cream makers have made social activism a mainstay of their company’s brand in recent years, with stunts including the refusal to serve two scoops of the same ice cream flavour in Australia (in support of same-sex marriage) and unveiling an anti-Trump batch
There have been many ironic fates for the lead actors in the Coalition government. For David Cameron, the premier who pledged to ‘clean up’ the ‘culture of excessive lobbying’ there was the Greensill scandal. For George Osborne, the austerity Chancellor who decimated the culture sector, there was a smorgasbord of jobs and the chairmanship of the
China’s lamentably poor ‘wolf warriors’ have given Mr S many laughs in recent months. Diplomats and functionaries within President Xi’s regime are seeking to use Twitter to act as propaganda outriders by amplifying the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s belligerent messages to the outside world – a task at which they currently fail miserably. It’s not just mainland apparatchiks
The concerns about Joe Biden’s age and cognitive faculties are well established. And if Biden has to step down, we all know what comes next: his vice-president Kamala Harris will become Commander-in-Chief. But is Harris all there herself? Some clips from this week of her trying to excite children about science suggest the answer is
The name of Mike Hill doesn’t count for much in Labour circles these days. The former MP for Hartlepool was forced to quit the Commons in March after breaching Parliament’s sexual misconduct policy, triggering a by-election which saw the Tories take the seat for the first time since 1959. Then four months later he was reported to be facing a
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.
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
‘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
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,’
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.’
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
