Steerpike

Theresa May isn’t having much in the way of luck at the moment. Her planned Tory conference reboot ended in disaster and today’s papers are full of tales of the awkward relationship between the Prime Minister and her Chancellor. But the PM is doing rather well for herself in one way at least – the number of gifts she has been getting from the great and the good in the last few months. In the run-up to June’s bungled snap election, May’s haul included a clock and a medal from the Saudi King. She also got given a fancy fountain pen from another Arab monarch, the King of Jordan. Alas, May didn’t get to keep any of those gifts because they were too expensive, according to Cabinet Office records.

Ten years on from the financial crash and Theresa May is Prime Minister, Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the opposition and George Osborne is editor of the Evening Standard. So, were the policies enacted by Osborne during his time in government partly to blame for this? Speaking to Andrew Neil at a Spectator event, Osborne suggested that this wasn’t the case, although he did admit that a historian looking back might see some link between the economic crash - and the response to it – and the rise of both Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn. The economic shock to the West has thrown up many political changes, suggested Osborne. ‘But I’m just a journalist now,’ he said, before being reminded that he was also an advisor to BlackRock.

Oh dear. After Theresa May refused to say three times in an interview with Iain Dale on LBC whether she would back Leave in a second EU referendum, the Prime Minister has provoked the ire of some in the Brexit camp. But Brexiteers can take heart that May's comments are positively eurosceptic compared with those of her First Secretary of State. Damian Green has been touring the television studios this evening to talk about the government's race disparity audit. Also on the agenda is Brexit. First, the former Remain campaigner told Channel 4 News that he would vote Remain if another EU referendum was held. Now, he has just appeared on Newsnight where he appeared to double down on his comments.

Oh dear. As Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley is expected to foster and maintain good relations with both the media and broadcast industries.  So, Mr S was alarmed to hear that Bradley recently found herself on the wrong side of the TV licensing company. Writing on the infamous Tory MP WhatsApp group, Bradley complained to her fellow MPs she was being hounded by TV Licensing for not having a TV license for her constituency office. The MP for Staffordshire Moorlands asked if she was the only one having this bother – only to be greeted by silence.  A DCMS spokesman says Bradley has since explained to TV Licensing that she doesn't have a television in the office.

Talk of an imminent coup against Theresa May might be somewhat overblown, but most Tories generally accept the Prime Minister won’t be around to fight another election. Not so James Gray. The Tory MP for North Wiltshire thinks May could stick it out for the next five. In an interview with the BBC, Gray said May could go on as Prime Minister for another 25 years: 'She's currently 62, some Prime Ministers have lasted until at least 84 so that gives her 22, 25 years to go...so I very much hope she will continue for many years to come.' If Gray's prediction is correct, it would also make May the longest serving PM ever - six years ahead of Sir Robert Walpole. Mr S thinks it's admirable some MPs are getting behind their leader but still isn't convinced...

It's safe to say that Theresa May's conference speech has not gone to plan after the Prime Minister came down with a bad cough – and a heckler presented her with a P45. Happily she has her Cabinet on her side. Or one Cabinet minister at least. Amber Rudd was caught on camera jumping to her feet to give May a standing ovation to help her during an awkward moment in the speech. The Home Secretary then appeared to order Boris Johnson to do the same: https://twitter.com/hansmollman/status/915536471418900480 1-0 to Rudd...

Although Conservative MPs have managed to keep a lot of their anger under wraps at this year's conference, others have chosen to be less subtle when it comes to airing annoyance at losing the Tory majority in the snap election. Over the weekend, Grant Shapps wrote a blistering editorial for the Mail on Sunday where he suggested Patrick McLoughlin should be axed as party chairman over the election debacle: 'Patrick is well liked by colleagues but, unfortunately, he was officially the head of a campaign which lost our majority in June. Theresa May’s decision to put him back in the same role signals to many a lack of understanding about the scale of the challenge we face. Although Patrick will doubtless turn in a faultless performance, he shows every sign of hating the job.

Is the prospect of Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn galvanising Tory ministers into rallying around Theresa May? Steve Baker MP, a lead Brexiteer – and one of the key junior ministers in the Department for Exiting the EU – today told an audience that he is 'enthusiastic' about Theresa May's approach to Brexit. Speaking at a European Conservatives and Reformists event, Baker explained that he was happy with the PM's position and that there is now 'no going back'. Theresa May's Florence speech 'doesn’t mean she’s backed away from the red lines she previously set out,' he explained. But despite saying that his own department never feels nervous, he seemed slightly more concerned about the prospect of Corbyn coming to power.