Steerpike

It can be hard adjusting to life after high office. One minute you're one of the most powerful people in the country, the next, people are struggling to even remember your name. It’s not something that usually affects Boris Johnson, who is accustomed to spending time in the limelight even after he’s left high-profile positions. But it appears his stardom outside the UK might already be waning. Despite Boris visiting the country only last year, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is already struggling to remember who he is. In a press conference alongside Theresa May this afternoon he recalled the visit, saying: ‘Last year, if you recall, the Foreign Secretary then, Boris...erm...Boris, Boris...Johnson. The bicycle guy, that one’ https://twitter.

After 26 long years at the helm of one of Britain’s most influential newspapers, Paul Dacre’s last day as editor of the Daily Mail has finally arrived. Not that staff were given the chance to say their goodbyes. It appears that Dacre wasn’t keen on bidding farewell in person. Instead, he left a note on the noticeboard: Mr S suspects this line will be of particular interest to incoming editor Geordie Grieg: 'There was never going to be an easy way to say goodbye and thank you. Particularly as I'm not leaving.

Theresa May's visit to Africa has helped to remind voters just what type of leader the Prime Minister is – a rather awkward one. First, May won attention for dancing out of step with South African school children. Now, she has given an iconic Maybot interview to ITV News. Here's what the Prime Minister had to say: On her dancing this morning: ITV: If you were a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, how would you score your dancing this morning? TM: I suspect my dancing this morning might not make it on to Strictly. On BoJo: ITV: Have you noticed how much Boris Johnson wants your job? TM: I was very pleased that Boris was my Foreign Secretary for the period he was Foreign Secretary. ITV: But doesn’t he want your job?

When the Liberal Democrats unveiled their new slogan – 'Demand better' –earlier this month, critics were quick to point out that it might not have the desired effect. One Lib Dem source soon snarked to Mr S that many Lib Dems do want to demand better – at least, of their lacklustre leader Sir Vince Cable. So with party conference now just weeks away and the prospect of Cable having to stand next to a lectern which reads 'demand better' nearing, it appears Cable may have taken the message to heart. Reports are swirling that the Lib Dem leader will signal next month that he plans to step aside before the next general election. What's more, he will try to change party rules in an attempt to create a mass membership movement and allow a non-MP to take charge.

David Lammy has always had Jeremy Corbyn’s back, but it seems his patience in the Labour leader might be wearing thin. In a story that emerged yesterday, Corbyn was caught on tape claiming that Zionists ‘don’t understand English irony’ despite them having lived in Britain ‘for a very long time’. It appears that Corbyn’s remarks – which are being taken by some as a reference to Jews, rather than merely Zionists – are a step too far, even for Lammy. The Labour MP condemned the comments and called them ’insidious’: https://twitter.com/DavidLammy/status/1032970292820369408?

This summer, Jeremy Corbyn has struggled to get much coverage of his plans for domestic policy thanks to the fact Labour's anti-Semitism crisis has dominated the headlines. So the Labour leader can take heart that one of his policy ideas has finally started to make waves. In a speech on the UK press on Thursday, Corbyn will call on the BBC to declare the 'social class' of all its presenters and journalists as part of a bid to improve its diversity – including whether they went to private school and their parent's occupation and education. Mr S has no doubt that Corbyn plans to lead by example and do the same with his office.

There’s something going on across the pond. Less than twenty-four hours after Mr S informed readers of the New York Times’s struggle with the London foodie scene, Steerpike has come across another incident of an American journo who seems divorced from reality. The American Enterprise Institute's Dalibor Rohac has waded into the debate over where Theresa May, by the time she hangs up her heels and looks back on her legacy, will find herself in the pantheon of great British Prime Ministers. In the UK, that debate has been pretty much limited to three from bottom, two from bottom, or bottom. But across the pond, a more optimistic view is being taken.

Have you ever looked at a job advert with a temptingly high salary, and thought to yourself… you’d have to be mad to apply to that. Mr Steerpike suspects many Labour staffers had a similar reaction this week to a job posted on the Labour website. Labour HQ are on the lookout for a new ‘Head of Disputes,’ and they’re willing to pay over £50,000 to the person mad enough to take it. The new job holder will be responsible for internal disputes, disciplinary affairs and, rather ominously, ‘undertaking investigations as necessary’ within the party.

When Alex Salmond stepped down as First Minister, he famously unveiled a commemorative stone engraved with the message ‘The rocks will melt with the sun before I allow tuition fees to be imposed on Scottish students.’ If he wants to see melting, he should go to the UCAS website and look at the courses up for grabs in the clearing system – then change the settings to say you’re Scottish. The courses melt away. (For example, here is the English version of Glasgow University clearing courses: law, history, all sorts of gems. And here is the Scottish version). Why the difference? Because England’s students bring fees. As a direct result opportunities are created for them – even in Scotland.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is at the Edinburgh International Book Festival today to give a talk called ‘First Among Equals.’ Audience members will be charged £12 to hear Brown’s ‘painfully honest account’ of the ‘highs and lows’ of his political career. Alas, Mr S has reasons to believe though that Brown may be offering a rather specific account when he speaks today. On the festival website he is hailed as ‘one of the most formidable chancellors that Britain has ever seen’ by an unnamed political journalist. It’s a quote Brown has used once before, to promote his book My Life, Our Times which came out in November 2017. But who is the journalist, and where does the quote come from?

Jeremy Corbyn is facing mounting criticism over whether he did or didn’t lay a wreath at the grave of one of the Munich terrorists, but helpfully his acolytes are staying faithful. Still, while the loyalty of the likes of Chris Williamson isn’t in question, Mr S isn’t so sure that their support is actually all that helpful. In an interview on The World at One this afternoon, Williamson appeared to refer to one of the Munich killers as an ‘alleged terrorist’: But Williamson didn't stop there, going on to compare Corbyn to Nelson Mandela... Oh dear. Still, at least that should take some of the heat off Corbyn for a bit...