Steerpike

Steerpike

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

Watch: Giles Fraser’s awkward Corbyn interview

Oh dear. With few MPs in the Labour party keen to take to the airwaves and wax lyrical about the pros of their leader as PM, Jeremy Corbyn must have thought he’d got lucky when Giles Fraser appeared on BBC’s This Week to do exactly this. In an interview with Andrew Neil, the Church of England

Boris Johnson’s sister joins the Lib Dems

Well, this is a bit awkward. The Johnson family has a long history of Conservatism. This holds true today, with Boris Johnson is the Foreign Secretary and his brother Jo is a Conservative MP. Up until now, their sister Rachel was broadly supportive of the party — voting ‘nothing but Tory’ in general elections as ‘a matter

Watch: Jeremy Corbyn forgets to face the camera

Boris Johnson has stolen the show this morning by calling Jeremy Corbyn a ‘mugwump’. But the Labour leader is making a pretty miserable attempt at trying to recapture the limelight. During a campaign speech in Essex, Corbyn had a golden moment to set out Labour’s pitch to voters. The Sky News camera was rolling, with hundreds

Corbynites left out in the cold in Hull

Oh dear. With Jeremy Corbyn’s future as Labour leader looking, at best, a challenge after the snap election, it ought to come as little surprise that some of his comrades are hoping to trade the struggle for a safe seat come June 8. Alas the Corbynistas have been thwarted once again. With a Labour safe seat now hard to find,

Food bank charity complains over Momentum campaign methods

Oh dear. When Jeremy Corbyn announced this week that a Labour government would focus on the issue of food banks, Mr S is pretty sure he didn’t imagine what would follow. On Tuesday, Mr S revealed the curious tactics of Momentum activists in Hove. Kate Knight — the Hove Momentum and Hove CLP executive officer — took

David Ward stages a comeback

Today Tim Farron attempted to put a stop to questions over his Christianity, as he declared that he does not think gay sex is a sin. However, just a few hours later and the party have been plunged into another row. David Ward has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Bradford East, where he

Watch: Theresa May’s Brexit blunder

Theresa May is playing it safe during this election cycle and doing her best to leave the blunders to Labour. With the likes of Dawn Butler touring the airwaves, it’s a strategy that appears to be working wonders for the Prime Minister. But even a supposedly safe pair of hands like May isn’t immune to

Karen Danczuk’s political comeback on shaky ground

The race to be the Labour candidate for Bury North has attracted some unprecedented media attention this week thanks to Karen Danczuk’s announcement that she has her sights set on it. The self-proclaimed ‘selfie’ queen — and former wife of Simon Danczuk — has applied to be Labour’s candidate in the marginal constituency. Announcing her bid, the former Labour

Momentum activist’s food bank appeal leaves a sour taste

Today Jeremy Corbyn took to social media to promise that a Labour government would mean people on low-income no longer need to rely on food banks. REVEALED TODAY: Number one cause of people using foodbanks is low-income. Labour's real Living Wage of £10/hour will eradicate poverty wages pic.twitter.com/RPQtLtl3hZ — Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 25, 2017 However,

Corbyn wins his first celebrity endorsement of the snap election

In recent months, Corbyn-mania has appeared to be on the wane. From Charlotte Church to Glenda Jackson, former cheerleaders for the Labour leader have gone cold on the one-time left wing messiah. However, Jeremy Corbyn can take heart that he has now received his first celebrity endorsement of the snap election. Step forward Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Arron Banks throws in the towel

Arron Banks’ bid to become the MP for Clacton is over already. Just six days ago, the multi-millionaire Ukip donor was ‘a million per cent going for it’, and Banks said that ‘come hell or high water’ he was standing. Not any more. Banks, who had planned to fight Douglas Carswell for the seat before

Paul Nuttall’s disappearing act

Today hacks were briefed that Ukip would use a press conference to make a big campaign announcement. This led to some chatter that Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, would announce whether he would be seeking a seat in the upcoming election. However, it turned out that this was actually the very last thing Nuttall wished to discuss.

Caption contest: Corbyn appeals to the youth

Although children can’t vote, Jeremy Corbyn today found time to visit Brentry and Henbury Children’s Centre — as he promised that a Labour government would put a stop to ‘super-sized’ school classes. Alas, this message was distracted from slightly thanks to the faces Corbyn pulled as he read Michael Rosen’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt to the

Momentum plot to boost Corbyn’s electoral appeal proves costly

Oh dear. The first rule of political plotting: tell no-one, or at least tell very few. So it was a curious move of the Hackney branch of Momentum to write-up and publish online everything they discussed at Wednesday night’s meeting about the upcoming election. Activists for Momentum — the pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group — have come