Steerpike

So much for No. 10 considering the 'case closed.' Matt Hancock has resigned tonight after 48 hours of fury at his fling with his taxpayer funded aide and Oxford contemporary Gina Coladangelo. The Health Secretary decided just hours before the Sunday papers dropped to go, with Mr S understanding further revelations were on the way. Earlier today Mr S himself went to the Department of Health to ask about whether Coladangelo had accompanied her former Exeter College mate back to their alma mater earlier this month to attend the pre G7 health ministers' discussion held, coincidentally enough, on 3-4 July at Exeter College, Oxford. No reply was hence forthcoming.

Regular readers may recall the tale of James Dornan, SNP MSP and amateur Hate-Finder General. Earlier this month, he gave a speech in the Scottish Parliament taking aim at Lothian Buses, one of Edinburgh’s main commuter services and a target of long-running antisocial behaviour. The company’s drivers recorded more than 500 such incidents in the first four months of 2021 and on March 17 and a number of other dates it was forced to cancel evening services. March 17, however, is St Patrick’s Day and Dornan theorised to Holyrood: I can only assume that Lothian Buses concluded one of two things: that I would be out celebrating my birthday or that Irish Catholics were to blame for the rise in antisocial behaviour.

Boris Johnson may consider the 'case closed' but what does the public think of Matt Hancock's fling? For 15 months the embattled Health Secretary has been the face of the government's Covid policies, appearing at dozens of press briefings and being one of the most ardent lockdown proponents in Whitehall. Given his countless interviews, statements, conferences and appearances in which he urged the public not to break the restrictions drawn up by his department, Steerpike thought it would be instructive to gather a list of some of Hancock's most authoritarian quotes.

There's only one story doing the rounds on SW1 WhatsApp chats this morning: the photographs in today's Sun of the married health secretary in a clinch with a senior taxpayer-funded aide.  Matt Hancock caused headlines last November after bringing lobbyist Gina Coladangelo – his friend from Oxford university – into government as a non-executive director for the department of health, despite there being no public record of the appointment. Now it seems his relationship with Coladangelo has again got him into trouble. https://twitter.com/TheSun/status/1408339966208401414?

It is five years today since the EU referendum. Despite David Cameron’s psephological guru Andrew Cooper predicting a ten point win for In on polling day, we all know what happened next as the Vote Leave team of Boris and Cummings trumped the Britain Stronger in Europe’s brigade of Craig Oliver, Will Straw et al. The UK (eventually) went on to leave the European Union and now five years on, Mr S thought it would be instructive to take a look at five of the predictions that never came true. Households £4,300 worse off The focus of the Remain campaign on Brexit's economic costs was labelled as 'Project Fear' by opponents, with no politician doing more to push that line of argument than Chancellor George Osborne.

Few institutions are as treasured in the Palace of Westminster as the parliamentary choir – though perhaps the terrace canteen's jerk chicken recipe runs it close. The choir is arguably the best embodiment of the cross-party spirit, in which Tory MPs, Labour peers and House staff members can all sing alongside one another. Or as the choir's music director Simon Over once quipped: 'There are just four parties in this choir – Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Basses and that's it.' The choir is best known for its hugely popular Christmas services of festive choral works, seasonal readings and audience carols held every December. But now the future of the choir has been threatened by the scales of justice stacked against it.

He was once best known for his expansive, rambling blog posts but now Dominic Cummings appears to have a new favourite form of medium. Boris Johnson's former chief special adviser announced a fortnight ago he was joining paid-for newsletter site Substack, launching his first incendiary post last Wednesday by sharing screenshots in which his former boss called health secretary Matt Hancock 'hopeless.' Today the Vote Leave supremo has returned to the site for an 'ask me anything' public Q&A session with his army of public subscribers who paid £100 a year for the privilege. Mr S is reading along with the rest of Westminster and will be providing you with a list of the highlights and lowlights from Cummings's virtual grill-athon.

Next Thursday is election day in the Batley and Spen by-election and with polls showing a six point Tory lead, it's no surprise CCHQ has been stepping up its ground game there. Boris Johnson was deployed on Friday to visit the constituency, taking in Batley's largest employer, Fox's biscuit factory, the home of kids' favourite party rings. Asked for his favourite biscuit, a suitably on message PM told local hacks: 'My favourite biscuit I had today was a Fox’s jam and cream I think it’s called. It was terrific' Unfortunately for Fox's the Prime Minister's visit has gone down less favourably on social media, with some of the most notorious Remainiac accounts using it as a chance to dunk on the popular biscuit manufacturer.