Steerpike

According to weekend reports there are now 20 Tory MPs preparing leadership bids should Theresa May fall. However, one minister tells Coffee House that's not right – it's actually more like 40. So, with ambitious politicians plotting their next move, who is the frontrunner? Mr S was curious to note that Sajid Javid – the newly installed Home Secretary – has taken the lead for the first time. Javid has topped ConHome's leadership poll – this is notable given that since the site revived their Next Tory Leader question after the snap election, it has been topped either by a candidate by the name of 'other' or by Jacob Rees-Mogg. id Watch this space.

To the American ambassador's (early) independence day party. Despite the ambassador now possessing a shiny new embassy in south London – an off-location according to one @realDonaldTrump – guests were invited to Woody Johnson's personal residence Winfield House, north west London. Gavin Williamson and Liz Truss were both in attendance though Mr S understands that the tricky topic of the government spending review did not come up as party chat. Other politicians there included Greg Clark, Tobias Elwood and Thérèse Coffey. In his speech to guests – who munched on hot dogs and Krispy Kreme doughnuts – Johnson said the special relationship was 'alive and well'.

England may have lost their World Cup match to Belgium but happily some Thursday night entertainment was found in ITV's Good Evening Britain. Danny Dyer – the EastEnders actor – hit out at David Cameron, also known as 't--–', over Brexit: 'This whole Brexit thing when you're judging them. Who knows what Brexit is. You watch Question Time and it's comedy. No-one knows what it is it's like this mad riddle. What's happened to that t--- David Cameron that called this on. How come he can scuttle off? He called all this on. Where is he? He's in Europe, in Nice, with his trotters up. Where is the geezer? He should be held to account for it.' https://twitter.

Recess is fast approaching and many MPs are looking for a hobby to occupy them over the long summer break. Happily, a group of Labour MPs have hit upon the perfect thing to keep them busy: Love Island. Mr S hears that Lucy Powell, Jess Phillips and Stella Creasy have even set up a WhatsApp group to discuss the ITV2 show. A Labour source said: "It’s well known that Lucy, Jess and Stella have a Love Island WhatsApp group to debrief on each episode and to coordinate voting, with Lucy usually whipping. Their overwhelmingly favourite couple this year is Jack and Dani, and they are in total agreement that Adam is a rat.” It seems the trio aren’t the only ones on the Labour benches with a fondness for Love Island.

Oh David Miliband – never change. Labour's prince across the water continues to surprise. Although friends of Ed Miliband's brother have reported that David is 'still attracted' to Britain, as of yet the former Labour politician has not been tempted enough by Blighty to quit his £425,000 a year job as the chair of the refugee charity International Rescue. It looks like that isn't about to change any time soon. Today Miliband has shared his working day – and it's a 'beautiful day to discuss refugees and political crisis of our times'. And where is the perfect spot to do this? Aspen, natch – the millionaires' playground. It seems £425,000 a year can't buy you tact...

It’s just over two years since the UK voted to leave the European Union in what proved to be a shock result that caught both politicians and commentators off guard. Unlike Lord Ashdown’s hat-eating, or Matthew Goodwin’s book eating after the two most recent General Elections, many didn’t get held accountable to their off the mark Brexit predictions. Happily, Mr S is on hand to correct that. Steerpike has compiled a list of some of the Brexit predictions that failed to come true: 1. JP Morgan: Scotland will leave the UK and get a new currency Days after the EU referendum, investment company JP Morgan announced in an email to clients that they expected Scotland to leave the union and change currency. (As did Andrew Marr in the immediate aftermath of the vote.

Despite the good weather and England's good World Cup result, it hasn't been a relaxing weekend for all. Step forward Gavin Williamson. The ambitious defence secretary has found himself in the line of fire, with the Mail on Sunday splashing on reports that he has threatened to topple the prime minister unless defence spending is increased by £20bn. Given that Theresa May doesn't yet have a firm plan in place to fund her £20bn NHS pledge, it's hard to see her signing up to this anytime soon. Allies of Williamson – known as Private Pike in the Treasury – have moved to deny the reports. However, regardless, the incident has not gone down particularly well with Williamson's colleagues.

When Love Island contestant Hayley Hughes used a conversation about Brexit to ask whether there would still be trees after Britain leaves the EU, there was widespread ridicule. With the reality star now out of the ITV2 villa, Hayley appeared on Daily Politics to be given a Brexit education via the BBC's Adam Fleming. 'I'm finding it really interesting,' she mused. Given the disagreement over the past few weeks about what a meaningful vote really means and what a backstop is, Mr S suspects that the number of people confused by the whole thing goes well beyond the Love Island cast.