Steerpike

Sarah Olney's honeymoon period as the newly elected MP for Richmond Park has come to an abrupt end. Hours after ousting Zac Goldsmith from the seat, the Liberal Democrat appeared on Talk Radio to give an interview to Julia Hartley-Brewer about her victory. Alas things didn't get off to the best start when Hartley-Brewer began by asking 'when's the second by-election' -- in a thinly-veiled dig at the Lib Dems' call for a second referendum on the EU. In this vein, Hartley Brewer suggested that the people of Richmond Park might not have known what they were really voting for: JHB: When is the second by-election going to be held? SO: What do you mean?

After Ukip's new leader Paul Nuttall said he planned ‘to replace the Labour party and make Ukip the patriotic voice of working people’, Jeremy Corbyn's party are under pressure to re-connect with their traditional working class voters. With that in mind, Stephen Kinnock appeared on the Today programme on Tuesday to talk Labour and immigration. In an interview with Sarah Montague, the Labour MP -- and the son of Neil Kinnock -- began by conceding that his party had made 'the huge error of failing to talk enough about immigration' and have therefore allowed Ukip to 'step into that place'. So, what is Labour's plan of action?

Although Eddie Izzard's kiss of death is famous throughout Westminster, the comedian-turned-campaigner still manages to bag prominent positions in losing campaigns. Take for example the EU referendum. Izzard was hired by the Remain camp to valiantly tour the country preaching to the youth of today about the positives of the European Union. While his words failed to have the desired effect on polling day, they also cost him personally. Figures from the Electoral Commission today show that Izzard splashed £36,229 on his work for the Remain campaign. This included an impressive £127.95 on Nando's and £260.46 at Wetherspoons. Given that Wetherspoons was known as the Brexit-backing pub, Izzard inadvertently managed to help the Leave vote.

Oh dear. Over the weekend many liberal leaders heaped praise on Fidel Castro as news broke that the Cuban dictator was dead. In fact, it was Tim Farron who stood out for actually condemning Castro's human rights abuses -- while describing him as a 'vastly significant' leader. So, what of the SNP? Well, today George Kerevan has penned a piece for The National claiming that there are a lot of positive lessons to be learned from Castro's regime. What's more, it seems that he doesn't just mean that time has taught us sending homosexuals to camps for re-education and banning independent newspapers aren't the most progressive ideas.

It's not been a great week for Sir Kim Darroch. On Monday, he suffered the embarrassment of having the president-elect call for Nigel Farage to take his job. Now the interim Ukip leader has stuck the knife in further, giving an interview to Sam Delaney on Russia Today -- natch -- about the current UK ambassador to the US. Asked about his apparent job rival, Farage said he was unimpressed with Darroch when the pair previously met: 'He once came to my office in Brussels and it was one of the most unpleasant conversations I’ve ever had.' He also criticises Sir Kim’s pro-EU credentials for dealing with the Trump administration: 'He is a Europhile. He is committed to a view of the world that just got smashed to smithereens in 2016.

Although it's usually cats that dominate government-related pet news, in recent week's Gavin Williamson's tarantula Cronus has been causing a stir. After the Chief Whip revealed he keeps a 'proper pet' on his desk, Commons authorities raised concerns over whether this was actually allowed -- given that only guide and security dogs are allowed on the estate. Since then Williamson has told the authorities the spider is going nowhere -- and sure enough George Osborne has today shared a photo of Cronus as proof: https://twitter.com/George_Osborne/status/801805202827444225 No doubt the Serjeant at Arms will be keen to examine the photographic evidence...

As Labour struggle to be relevant, Rebecca Long-Bailey -- the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury -- managed to secure a prime spot in the BBC's coverage of the Autumn Statement. Alas, brains at Labour may now be wishing she'd given the interview a miss. Long-Bailey appeared flustered as Andrew Neil asked her several questions about her own party's economic position -- and how it related to the rest of the world. AN: What other government does balance the books around the western world? RLB: I think it's difficult to pin point particular governments that have a zero per cent deficit... AN: Germany is one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UAkt4ypUxE Things then took a turn for the worse when the conversation moved to Brexit Britain.