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
From our UK edition
Update: It has been reported that the former BBC and ITV journalist Allegra Stratton will be Downing Street’s new press conference host. This morning, Boris Johnson confirmed on LBC that the government is planning to introduce daily televised press briefings not too dissimilar to White House press conferences. Replacing the off-camera afternoon lobby briefing, the conferences aim to build on the
From our UK edition
When George Osborne stepped down as editor of the Evening Standard, it was unlikely the former chancellor was going to fall on hard times. Not only did Osborne have another eight jobs to fall back on, he was handed a plum position by the Standard as its new editor-in-chief. But now, less than a month
From our UK edition
It was a tale too good not to share: one man’s encounter with a Brexit-voting couple who had just realised their mistake in wanting Britain to leave the EU. ‘Just had conversation with a British couple who have a holiday home near us,’ wrote RS Archer on Twitter. ‘They voted for Brexit and have made
From our UK edition
We’ve all been in a situation where our mobile phone starts ringing at the worst possible moment – whether it’s in a meeting, the middle of a play or in the silence of a church. Still, it was rather unfortunate for Labour MP Claudia Webbe that her phone went off right in the middle of
From our UK edition
Theresa May is known for having an icy side – and it certainly isn’t the first Michael Gove has felt the cold. However, those in the Commons this afternoon were subjected to a veritable blizzard when the former PM interrogated Gove over David Frost’s appointment to the role of national security adviser. May clearly felt
From our UK edition
The Liberal Democrats were once the progressive voice of fiscal restraint. Not anymore. Leadership hopeful Ed Davey has tabled nearly 130 written questions over the last two weeks in a bid to generate some much-needed coverage – costing an estimated £140 a pop. According to Mr Steerpike’s back-of-a-fag-packet calculations, these often pointless interventions set the taxpayer back a cool £18,000. Probing
From our UK edition
How did Britons enjoy this recent bout of nice summer weather? Many people certainly headed to a nearby beach. Some opted for a local park, National Trust site or countryside walk. And many people stayed at home in the garden on a sun lounger. Mr Steerpike is fairly confident though that sun-kissed Brits did not
From our UK edition
Is Israel to blame for the tragic killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota this year? It’s not a question that has crossed many people’s minds as protests have swept across America in reaction to the unarmed man’s death. For certain sections of the left though, a connection with Israel can always be found.
From our UK edition
Business minister Nadhim Zahawi was sent out to bat for his colleague Robert Jenrick on the Today programme this morning and let’s just say it didn’t quite go to plan. The housing secretary faces a cash-for-favours row over allegations he gave preferential treatment to a Tory donor and his multi-million pound planning bid after the pair chatted at a Conservative
From our UK edition
Today, the UK Independence Party announced that Freddy Vachha will become the newest leader of the party. Vachha has been Ukip’s London Regional Chairman since 2016 and takes the reins from Richard Braine, who resigned just weeks before the general election last year after clashing with the party’s NEC. For those who’ve struggled to keep
From our UK edition
No one seems to think Boris Johnson has handled this crisis particularly well. But who might have done a better job than him? According to the Great British public, the answer is obvious: Mrs Thatcher. A poll carried out by Redfield & Wilton Strategies suggests that 34 per cent of people think that Maggie would have
From our UK edition
Earlier this month, The Spectator‘s chairman Andrew Neil announced that we would be handing back the government furlough money. He wrote, ‘Instead of depending on furlough money from taxpayers, I have tasked the editorial and management teams to grow sales of The Spectator to 100,000 as quickly as possible.’ Reader response was phenomenal, with thousands signing up
From our UK edition
Donald Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton has made a series of bombshell revelations in a new tell-all biography. Claims that the White House does not want aired in public, with Trump’s administration launching a legal bid to block the book’s publication. However the volume, which is supposed to be released next week, has been leaked in its entirety to the
From our UK edition
Oh dear. It seems Matt Hancock has forgotten his own rules. Shortly before PMQs this afternoon, the Health Secretary was spotted slapping a chum on the back in a blatant breach of the two-metre distancing regulations. Less than a minute later, Hancock again disregarded his ministry’s own guidance when he leaned in to have a
From our UK edition
Back in the day when celebrities didn’t pontificate on the news but kept their political opinions to themselves, Russell Brand used to be a stand-up comedian. These days, he’s known more for his radical politics (and his former squeeze Katy Perry) than he is for his comedy. Naturally, Brand had plenty to say about last
From our UK edition
Boris Johnson’s ministerial Jaguar was involved in a pile-up outside parliament earlier this afternoon. It seems a protester on Parliament Square tried to halt the PM’s cavalcade as he was leaving via Carriage Gates after PMQs. According to the Mail‘s John Stevens, No. 10 is saying that there are currently no reports of any injuries.
From our UK edition
Poor Alistair Carmichael. The Lib Dem MP was only standing up for beef farmers in his constituency, raising a problem with the UK labelling regulations. But it appears that Boris Johnson didn’t recognise the Orkney MP, lambasting him for his supposed support for an independent Scotland. Yes, that would be the same Alistair Carmichael who served as
From our UK edition
Since becoming the new Speaker of the Commons, the softly-spoken Lancastrian Lindsay Hoyle has sought to distance himself from the tenure of John Bercow. While the latter spent his days constructing long monologues and pontificating from the Speaker’s chair, Hoyle has instead focused on limiting his own contributions in the Chamber and attempting to be
From our UK edition
Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford has caused a bit of a storm in the Westminster bubble this morning – the 22-year-old’s plea to the PM to extend free school meals into the summer holiday has not gone unnoticed. As Katy Balls writes this morning, there is a growing feeling among Tory backbenchers that the cost of the
From our UK edition
Non-essential shops across Britain opened their doors for the first time since lockdown today, as the government attempts to breath some life into the UK economy, while avoiding a fatal spike of Covid-19. Retailers meanwhile, face the difficult task of persuading people that it is safe to shop in their stores as the pandemic recedes.
