Steerpike

It's quicker these days to list the number of Tory MPs not running to be leader than those expected to go for the top job. Last night another candidate appeared to join the list at an unofficial hustings hosted by the Telegraph. Mr Steerpike popped along to the £75 event, held next door to the Savoy, where James Cleverly strongly hinted that he would make a leadership bid, alongside fellow hopefuls Liz Truss, Matt Hancock and Dominic Raab. When pressed on whether he would run by the Telegraph's Camilla Tominey, Cleverly wouldn’t rule it out, saying that all talented MPs should want the top job and that 'we should have as much competition in the race for leadership' as possible.

Nigel Farage became the latest politician to be pelted by milkshake today, as he toured the centre of Newcastle ahead of the European elections on 23 May. The Brexit Party leader was talking to members of the public in the northeastern city when his assailant, carrying a Five Guys milkshake, surged forward and threw the beverage over him. Afterwards, Farage was overheard criticising the 'complete failure' of his security team for not protecting him from the attack, which they should have 'spotted a mile off'. He later commented on Twitter that: https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1130453547819180033 Watch the moment Farage was hit here: https://twitter.

After weeks of dragging its feet and giving the distinct impression it would rather walk through broken glass than take part in the upcoming EU elections, the Conservative Party finally launched its campaign for the European elections this afternoon. To celebrate the launch, which the other parties began preparing for several weeks ago, Theresa May and a handful of Tory MEP candidates headed to a tiny, drab function room in the Bristol City football stadium, with no Tory supporters present. In her speech announcing the start of the campaign, Theresa May assured the viewing public that a vote for the Conservatives was also a vote for Brexit.

As the unofficial Tory leadership contest moves up a gear, scores of Cabinet ministers, hoping to burnish their leadership credentials have been giving 'wide-ranging' speeches across London as they prepare for Theresa May's inevitable departure. Home Secretary Sajid Javid became the latest contender to show off his policy platform this afternoon, as he gave a speech at the Centre for Policy Studies, to launch the think tank's new report on UK business. Unfortunately for Javid, it appears the name of the event and the report didn't quite match his grand ambitions. After all, the tagline 'Think Small, a report on small businesses' doesn't quite remind you of a grand statesman.

When Geoffrey Cox stood on stage at Conservative conference and gave a speech to introduce Theresa May, the newly appointed Attorney General managed to steal the show. Cox managed to bring the house down with his Mufasa-inspired routine – quoting poetry as he called on members to get behind the Prime Minister. At Tuesday night's Onward event – to celebrate the Conservative think tank's first year – Cox cut a more sombre figure.

With Theresa May set to leave office this year, the race is on to find her successor. Cabinet ministers are at pains to emphasise their leadership credentials. On Tuesday evening, Amber Rudd used a speech at think tank Onward’s first birthday party to share her views on the current situation. The Work and Pensions Secretary joked - to a crowd that included Rory Stewart, James Brokenshire and Geoffrey Cox - that the current Tory leadership was male dominated before going on to lay out her view on the European elections and what the Tory tactic ought to be: ‘Over the past year my own circumstances have changed so much. For example, getting in a cab is now a more personal experience. “Amber Rudd?” “Yes that’s me.” “Is the Bodyguard real?

Ben Shapiro is the famous, fast-talking conservative pundit who regularly ‘owns’ aggressive university students with his quick wit and rapid repartee in America. Alas, Shapiro isn’t so ‘crazy smart’ when he comes up against difficult questions from a real interviewer. Yesterday he just couldn’t cope with an interrogation from the BBC’s Andrew Neil. He decided that Neil must be a typical BBC leftist (complaining at one point that he'd never heard of him) and had an epic tantrum, before storming out of the studio. https://twitter.com/RobBurl/status/1126816217669488640 He then realised his blunder, and that he'd confused rigorous questioning with "political Leftism" and was about to become a laughing stock.

The Brexit Party has had a further boost in the polls today, but as Nigel Farage's fledgling group continues to hoover up support from both main parties, the story on the other side has been rather different. Start-up pro-remain party Change UK has been locked in a rivalry with its doppelgänger, the Lib Dems, achieving exactly nothing in terms of progress but creating a healthy groundswell of remainer exasperation on Twitter. Even the Change UK activists' networks have been infected with a creeping feeling of futility, with many struggling to name a good reason to not vote for the Lib Dems or give a solid defence for why their new party even exists.

With less than a month to go until the European elections, and with Nigel Farage's new Brexit party surging in the polls, pressure is continuing to build on Change UK – The Independent Group, whose performance has been far less impressive than its rival. Seeking to change that, was Change UK MP Mike Gapes, who went on Iain Dale's LBC radio show to sell his party to the public. The former Labour MP started off strongly, by attacking the source of the Brexit Party's funds, saying: 'Well it'll be interesting to see the huge amounts of funding Nigel Farage has had from various dubious sources.

What does it mean to be a Conservative? It's a question that most of the Tory front bench might struggle to answer these days, but if they were looking for guidance, they could do worse than heading to a packed Emmanuel Centre in London this evening. There, author, journalist and Spectator Associate Editor Douglas Murray was joined by the philosopher and housing tsar Sir Roger Scruton, as they discussed the future of Conservatism. The pair covered a large amount of ground over the course of the evening, as they mulled over the reasons the Conservative Party had abandoned its right-wing roots, the left's advantage in communicating slogans, and the role of beauty, hope and love in modern Britain.