Steerpike

Here we go again. As Paul Nuttall tries to prove that Ukip is a professional party on the path to electoral success, he may wish to have a word with his party's campaigns team. With Ukip fielding a candidate in the Sleaford and North Hykeham by-election, Nigel Farage headed there today to do some broadcast in support of his party. Alas, the campaign banner he stood behind had a glaring error. It read 'Hykenham' rather than 'Hykeham'. In future, Mr S suspects it's worth double checking the spelling of the constituency before printing the campaign merchandise.

In 2011, when the Liberal Democrats’ poll ratings had fallen to 10 per cent, Nick Clegg ordered a rebranding exercise, even looking at whether the party's name should be changed to distance the Lib Dems from their betrayal on tuition fees. Today, the Lib Dems are still polling around 10 per cent (on a good day). But what about the name change? On the Sunday Politics Clegg offered up a vision of Brexit that would mean staying in the single market and the customs union, paying into the EU budget, keeping free movement and accepting the supremacy of the European Court of Justice – prompting Andrew Neil to say: ‘Your party's called the Liberal Democrats. Many people watching this will think maybe it's time for a rebrand.

Throughout the EU referendum campaign, Nicholas Soames stood firmly on the side of Remain -- warning that a vote to Leave would be a 'terrible mistake'. Since the nation plumped for Brexit, Soames has called on the hard Brexiteers to keep their options open with regards to the deal. When Iain Duncan Smith penned a ConHome blog critcising Remain-ers for demanding the UK stay in the single market, Soames likened it to 'watching an arsonist return to the scene of his crime because the flames aren’t big enough'. So, Mr S was intrigued to be passed an invitation from Soames to his fellow MPs. He has asked any comrades who think Britain should be 'seeking the most sensible Brexit' to come to his office next week to discuss.

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...