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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With widespread dissatisfaction across the country with the Tory party’s handling of Brexit, a key concern for CCHQ ahead of the local elections last night was turnout, and the risk that their supporters would simply stay at home. So it makes sense that at 8pm yesterday, with only two hours until the polls closed, a
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Voters have been heading to the polls for the local elections today, as a long and gruelling campaign for the two main parties is wrapping up. Activists have been touring the doorsteps issuing heartfelt promises to repair potholes and collect bins faster. It’s been a familiar script – the Tories accuse Labour of waste, and
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As defence secretary in charge of Britain’s armed forces, Gavin Williamson did not exactly conduct himself with the usual stoicism and calm that comes with the role. But one of the least impressive moments he will be remembered for was his response to the Salisbury attack. After Britain had just deported 23 Russian spies from
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Theresa May once said that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’, but did she really mean it? The Prime Minister was asked to clarify those comments in front of MPs this afternoon. May said that while she stuck by what she said at Lancaster House in January 2017, she was actually ‘talking in
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How is Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit position landing with his constituents? On Tuesday, Labour’s National Executive Committee came under pressure to change policy to campaign for a second referendum. However, they instead agreed to stick with the current Brexit fudge of keeping a second referendum merely on the table as an option if other plans failed.
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Liz Truss and Diane Abbott are an unlikely pair. One is a champion of free markets while the other is a true Corbynista. However, of late the Chief Treasury to the Secretary has managed to find common cause with the shadow home secretary. Speaking at a Freer think tank event last night with fellow freedom
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Today is a key crunch point for Labour, as the party rules on whether it will fully endorse a second Brexit referendum ahead of the EU elections next month. Until now, the party has been happy to stick with its tortuously worded conference Brexit policy, which both sides on the referendum debate have said backs
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James Brokenshire has been keeping a low profile since the controversial sacking of Roger Scruton three weeks ago. But now the Housing Secretary has finally been taken to task for his handling of the row. Brokenshire sacked Scruton from his unpaid government role within hours of the publication of an interview in which Scruton was
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The hunt is on within government to discover which individual leaked details of a meeting of the National Security Council on allowing Huawei to help build Britain’s new 5G network to the press. With an inquiry under way, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt today announced that he would be happy to hand over his phone as part
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Although Jeremy Hunt is often depicted as a more statesman-like figure than his predecessor at the Foreign Office, the Foreign Secretary has had his fair share of gaffes. Not long into the brief, Hunt made headlines when he mistakenly identified his wife as Japanese when she is in fact Chinese. At Thursday’s Press Gallery lunch,
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The European elections are shaping up to be a colourful affair with both the Brexit Party and pro-EU Change UK revealing a spate of new candidates this morning. Along with Jacob Rees-Mogg’s sister Annunziata, libertarian Claire Fox will stand for Nigel Farage’s party. Meanwhile on the Remain side, a member of a political dynasty has
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The Extinction Rebellion group of climate change activists have caused widespread disruption in the capital this week, as they blockade busy roads in central London to bring attention to the UK’s efforts to tackle global warming. Today, they ramped up the protests by specifically targeting public transport. In a press release, the group said that
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In a press release this morning, the Liberal Democrats announced the candidates who will be representing them in the forthcoming European elections on the 23 May. A second referendum to ‘stop Brexit’ has been their flagship policy since the country voted to leave the EU, and so a good result in these European elections is
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Tory MPs agree that Theresa May’s days in Downing Street are numbered, but when it comes to picking her replacement things aren’t quite as clear. Ever since May’s third bungled bid to get her withdrawal agreement through Parliament at the end of last month, the Tory leadership race has heated up. Boris Johnson remains the
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In 2016, Labour’s shadow justice secretary and Corbyn ally Richard Burgon was asked a rather simple question by Andrew Neil when he appeared on the Daily Politics. The show took place shortly after allegations were made in the Daily Mail that the MP has said ‘Zionism is the enemy of peace’. As you would expect, in the
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People are protesting on the streets of London again. But this time it’s got nothing to do with Brexit. Instead, activists belonging to campaign group Extinction Rebellion have attempted to bring London to a standstill today by blocking roads as part of what the group says is the ‘last best shot at survival’. Some of those
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As Tory leadership rivals get their campaigns up and running – and start to work out how to torpedo their rivals – Game of Thrones returns to our screens. Now in its final series, the back-stabbing/front-stabbing fantasy drama sees various characters fight and plot their way to the Iron Throne. So, Mr S was curious
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As tensions in Westminster continue to grow over Brexit, it’s become commonplace for politicians to use language that would have been unheard of in the past. Yet, even in these febrile times, the Labour politician David Lammy managed to go a step further earlier this month when he compared the ERG faction of the Tories to
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Nigel Farage announced the launch of his new Brexit party today, in a metal finishing factory in Longford, Coventry. As you’d expect, Farage channeled the anger many Leave voters are feeling across the country in his speech. He predicted that the Brexit party would come first in the upcoming European Parliament elections and said he
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In November last year, a row kicked off when the government asked the philosopher Roger Scruton to chair the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, which will investigate the beauty of architecture in the UK. The 75-year-old philosopher was criticised by opposition MPs in the Commons for remarks he had made in the past about homosexuality, Islamophobia
