Steerpike

Rory Stewart has not exactly had the most orthodox of campaign strategies to become the next leader of the Conservative party. The dark horse of the leadership race has built up a cult following by heading out across the country, recording hand-held campaign videos and having conversations with various members of the public. And he decided to continue this trend of unorthodoxy once again today when he officially launched his leadership bid: in a small circus-tent in the Southbank in London. There, the international development secretary used his launch to put forward his vision for the United Kingdom. But it was Stewart’s view that the frontrunner Boris Johnson could not be trusted with the nuclear codes that garnered the most attention at the launch.

The Tory leadership race is turning nasty. And not for the first time, it's Michael Gove who is taking a pop at Boris Johnson. After a disastrous weekend for Gove that was overshadowed by revelations of drug-taking, Gove has just attempted to start afresh at his campaign launch. Gove also used his speech to take a shot at Boris. Here is his message to his rival: 'If I get through – which I am sure I will actually – to the final two against Mr Johnson, this is what I will say to him: Mr Johnson, whatever you do, don't pull out. I know you have before and I know you may not believe in your heart that you can do it, but the Conservative party membership deserve a choice. So let's have a proper race' Gone are the days of Gove calling his old pal Boris....

The Tory leadership race is on and while it can be hard to keep track of the growing number of candidates entering the race, it is even trickier to stay on top of the lurid confessions of wrongdoing made by those who want to be PM. To help out, here is Mr S's full and comprehensive guide to the confessions of a Tory leadership hopeful: Michael Gove The environment secretary was the latest top Tory to confess to mischief yesterday, admitting that he took cocaine several times when he was a young journalist. Gove said he 'deeply regrets' doing so and that his 'mistake' should not be held against him.

The Tory leadership race has taken on a new turn this weekend with the Daily Mail splashing on Michael Gove's cocaine confession. The Environment Secretary tells the paper that he took the 'drugs on several occasions at social events more than 20 years ago'. At the time, Gove was working as a journalist. Of the experience, he says: 'It was a mistake. I look back and I think, I wish I hadn’t done that.' Gove goes on to say that he doesn't think this should rule him out of the leadership race: 'I don’t believe that past mistakes disqualify you.' The admission comes ahead of the publication of a book about Gove by Owen Bennett – Michael Gove: A Man in a Hurry. So, how did it come to pass?

Peterborough's new Labour MP has only just been elected but already she is finding herself embroiled in controversy. Lisa Forbes was taken to task in the early hours of this morning over a revelation that she once liked a Facebook post saying that Theresa May had a 'Zionist Slave Master's agenda'. Here is what she had to say in response: 'I don't have an anti-Semitic bone in my body.... It was engaging in posts in error and for that I'm deeply sorry.' Forbes also once signed a letter calling on Labour not to adopt the full IHRC definition of anti-Semitism. It now seems she has changed her tune: 'At the time there was a lot of concern about that definition.

It's fair to say that recent campaigns and elections haven't been kind to Ukip. First, the party fell apart and crumbled following the EU referendum campaign, and now it's suffering the indignity of seeing Nigel Farage's newly formed Brexit party surge in the polls, while its own organisation is taken over by YouTube stars. But the party has been made to suffer another embarrassment in the Peterbrough by-election tomorrow. The Ukip candidate for Peterborough, John Whitby, tells Mr S that Labour and the other political parties are giving him a hard time because he lives over the river past the constituency boundary, and so can't vote for himself in the election tomorrow. Mr S can see why he's upset. After all, when you're polling this low, every vote really does count...

If it wasn't already, Change UK is now surely on its last legs. Six of the party's MPs – including leader Heidi Allen – have quit. But those left behind still remain defiant. In a Sky News interview, Mike Gapes – who defected from Labour earlier this year – said the party was alive and kicking. He then compared Change UK to an 'acorn' that could grow into a 'big tree': Kay Burley: Mike, you've lost your party, you're going to lose your seat at the next election. You knew you would, which is why you didn't go for a by-election...Now, half of the party that you set up has left you. It's all over. Mike Gapes: Politics is a long haul. The fact is, polls come up and go down. British politics needs a change, and those of (us)...

Sam Gyimah, the former Minister for Universities who quit in protest at Theresa May’s deal, has become the thirteenth Conservative leadership candidate, announcing his decision live on air on Sky today. When asked by Niall Paterson if he would like to be the next Conservative leader, Gyimah replied "Well, yes. I will be joining the contest to be the next Conservative leader and prime minister to broaden the race." He wishes to be the champion of that cause the Tory members are crying out for: a second referendum. "There is a wide range of candidates out there, but there is a very narrow view on Brexit being discussed” he said.