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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Happy Karl Marx day. To mark the 200th anniversary of the revolutionary philosopher’s birth, a statue of the revolutionary philosopher (funded by the Chinese, natch) has been erected in his German hometown Trier to protests, Owen Jones has tweeted a picture of his cat reading Das Kapital and a range of pieces have been published across the
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In the flurry of excitement over the local elections, Chi Onwurah’s Question Time appearance has been cruelly overlooked. Happily, Mr S is on hand to right this wrong. The Labour MP’s attempt to criticise the Tories over student loans backfired last night. The Labour MP spoke of her apparent fears that a working-class student could be put
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Has Labour’s anti-Semitism row cost the party in the local elections? Given their disappointing results in areas with a large number of Jewish voters, such as Barnet, it would seem so. So is Ken Livingstone feeling apologetic for repeatedly talking about Hitler? Not so, if his interview on Sky News just now was anything to
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Ukip has had a dismal night in the local elections: the party is so far down 92 seats, and retains only two council seats across Britain. Some politicians might do their best to try and put a gloss on things – but not Ukip’s general secretary, Paul Oakley, who has compared his party to the
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It’s been a somewhat disappointing night for Labour, and Mr S wonders whether his party’s failure might have upset John McDonnell. Earlier this morning, the shadow chancellor was taken to task for his comments about Esther McVey being lynched. Claire Perry called for McDonnell to say sorry – an opportunity McDonnell turned down. Here’s how their
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Owen Jones has been on a mission of late – a mission to unseat Tories. The Guardian columnist has been taking his campaign to key Labour target seats. Only despite the Guardian columnist’s best efforts, Labour have had a rather underwhelming night in the local elections. So, in order to help with future planning, Mr
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Oh dear. It’s not been a great night for Labour. Although Jeremy Corbyn’s party has managed to make gains in the cities, Labour has not managed to meet the sky high expectations they had for the local elections. However, it’s safe to say that Corbyn’s close ally Chris Williamson – the MP for Derby North
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As voters head to the polls today, the Conservatives are hoping their reputation for bin management will trump any concerns over the government’s Brexit plans. However, Mr S suspects not all of the Tory literature used will have the desired effect. In Ilford Town, a leaflet went out to residents listing four reasons to vote
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MPs are busy debating criminal barristers in the House of Commons: not the most exciting of topics, admittedly, but some are at least doing their best to liven up the discussion. Step forward, Tory MP Bob Stewart, who responded to being rebuked by John Bercow by saying: ‘As ever I take a spanking without any
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Although the Conservatives have managed a successful expectation management campaign ahead of the local elections, were the Tories to lose control of Kensington council, it would be hard to spin it as anything other than a total disaster. So, a letter from a former Conservative MP in today’s Evening Standard declaring his intention to vote
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Dominic Raab has finally broken his silence on the key question every one wants to know the answer to: does he eat the same lunch every day? The Daily Mirror reported last week that one of his staff members, who had been caught out in a sugar daddies sting, revealed that Raab’s daily lunch order
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Emmanuel Macron’s global charm offensive continues. But his bid to woo the Australian Prime Minister Down Under appears to have backfired somewhat. Thanking his host, Malcolm Turnbull, for his warm welcome, Macron had this to say: ‘I wanted to thank you for your welcome, thank you and your delicious wife for your warm welcome…Thanks to
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Chris Williamson is no stranger to appearing on Russia Today, and it seems the Corbynista MP is not going to break the habit any time soon. Or could he? The latest register of interests reveals that Williamson landed himself £300 for a TV appearance back in January. So where was the money from? Williamson declared
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Although Gavin Williamson has managed to get through the week without telling any world leader to ‘go away and shut up’, he’s also had to deal with a new leadership rival entering the scene in the form of Amber Rudd’s successor Sajid Javid. Not one to be outdone, Williamson has made sure to have a
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Although John Bercow once said he would only serve as Commons Speaker for only nine years, the Conservative MP has since suggested that he plans to stay on longer. But will he get a say in the matter? Mr S only asks as Bercow is in the line of fire after an explosive Newsnight package
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We’ve all been there – you’re lined up to go live on air to explain to the public why it’s in the public interest for your supermarket company to merge with a supermarket rival and suddenly you find yourself singing… ‘we’re in the money’. Or at least, this is what happened to the CEO of Sainsbury’s
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Amber Rudd’s resignation is something of a coup for Diane Abbott, who has spent the last week calling for the Home Secretary to go. But Abbott’s disastrous interview on Good Morning Britain might well have cut Labour’s celebrations at Rudd’s departure somewhat short. The shadow home secretary was asked repeatedly what Labour’s policy on illegal
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When Nick Boles tweeted in January to complain about the ‘timidity and lack of ambition’ in Theresa May’s government, the Conservative MP kickstarted a mini-revolt which saw the party come close to turning on May. So, it doesn’t bode well for May that Boles appears to level some of the blame for Amber Rudd’s departure
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To the disappointment of Conservative MPs and the delight of Labour politicians, Amber Rudd has resigned as Home Secretary – but the best politicians can always clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. Or at least that appears to be what Anna Soubry is trying to do. The arch-Remainer has taken to social media to
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Ken Livingstone could soon find himself booted out of Labour for good if the party ever gets its act together to deal with his suspension. So it Ken sorry? Not a bit. The former mayor of London told LBC this morning that the anti-Semitism row was a ‘complete diversion’ and insisted it wouldn’t damage the
