Steerpike

Although Labour Conference is set to take place next month, doubts have surfaced over whether it will go ahead thanks to a security snag. After the party decided to boycott G4S -- their usual security supplier -- they have been left with few options when it comes to security firms for the event. A leaked memo to Guido last week revealed that the only security firm available to Labour at present is Liverpool-based Showsec. Alas, questions have been raised over their suitability as they are in the midst of a row with the GMB after being accused of not letting staff unionise. However, Mr S understands there is another option on the table.

Spare a thought for Eddie Izzard. Every campaign the cross-dressing comedian attaches himself to has a tendency to end in failure. After backing Ed Miliband in the General Election, Izzard found himself on the losing side once again in the EU referendum campaign when his tour of university campuses failed to swing it for Remain. Today he has missed out on a place on Labour's National Executive Committee. Izzard had hoped to be elected onto the party's NEC as part of his efforts to carve a career in politics. However, he ended up coming eighth, with the six available seats going to more Corbynista candidates. https://twitter.

Now that Michael Gove has returned to the backbenches, the former Justice Secretary can take heart that his new role will at least save him some awkward meetings, say for example, with the Queen. In an upcoming BBC documentary on Brexit, Nick Clegg blames Gove for the Sun's 'the Queen backs Brexit' splash. Published in March, the paper reported that the Queen clashed with Nick Clegg -- then Deputy Prime Minister -- over Europe at a lunch in 2011 at which Her Majesty declared the EU was ‘heading in the wrong direction’. Although Gove has previously denied being behind the story -- which the palace complained to Ipso about -- Clegg would care to disagree.

As David Cameron continues to receive flak over his resignation honours list, yesterday his old pal Steve Hilton stuck his head above the parapet to make his criticism be known. Not content with going against his old boss on the EU, Hilton -- who is Cameron's former director of strategy -- says the honours system is 'corrupt'. Alas it turns out not everyone on the Tory benches is so happy about Hilton sharing his views from across the pond. Richard Benyon, the former environment minister, took to Twitter to call Hilton a 'pompous arse': https://twitter.com/RichardBenyonMP/status/761118214386364416 It turns out that Hugo Swire -- who coincidentally received a knighthood in the aforementioned resignation honours -- agrees with Benyon.

Although Jeremy Corbyn has previously suggested that he is against the creation of new peers, the Labour leader appears to take a different approach when it comes to the chair of his anti-Semitism inquiry. After weeks of speculation that Corbyn was poised to give Shami Chakrabarti -- who recently found that the party was not overrun with anti-Semitism -- a peerage, today the news has been confirmed in the official resignation honours list: In a statement on the decision, Labour say they are 'delighted' to confirm Chakrabarti's appointment to the House of Lords. They refrain, however, from addressing concerns that this suggests a conflict of interest.

With Scottish Labour now the third biggest party in Scotland following disastrous election results in May, it's safe to say that its members have seen better times. However, there does appear to be one positive to the beleaguered party's lagging popularity: it's never been easier to get involved. Today Scottish Labour have sent out an email to their full distribution list -- including members of the press -- asking recipients to stand in the local elections: Alas it turns out the party have now got cold feet about asking members of the media to stand.

While Ukip won't announce its leadership shortlist until Wednesday, Bill Etheridge is expected to be one of the names that makes it onto the ballot. Thanks to his hardline policies -- which range from a referendum on the death penalty to a ban on halal meat -- Etheridge is likely to get plenty of press attention without having to campaign too hard. Perhaps that's for the best given that his campaign for finances doesn't appear to have got off to a flying start. The Ukip MEP set up a crowdfunding campaign two weeks ago to try and rally donations for 'Billieve in Bill'. However, so far there has only been one donation and Etheridge has raised a mere £8 of his £5,000 goal.

Although the Tories have recently undergone a leadership election and Labour are in the midst of one, it's Ukip's leadership contest that is shaping up to be the most shambolic. While Suzanne Evans was ruled ineligible to stand for leader, the frontrunner in the race -- Steven Woolfe -- has been dogged by reports that he too is ineligible after he failed to renew his party membership when it expired. However, this snag may now be the least of Woolfe's problems. The leadership favourite has managed to miss the deadline for submitting his nomination. Although applications were due in by noon on Sunday, Woolfe's application did not successfully go through until 12.17pm. Woolfe's spokesman insists that he attempted to submit the application at 11.

This week relations between Britain and China were placed under strain after the government delayed approval for the Hinkley Point nuclear plant. Under David Cameron and George Osborne, Britain’s first new nuclear power station -- of which China General Nuclear has a one-third stake -- had been expected to get the green light this month. However now Theresa May is in charge, the government appear to have got cold feet. Announcing that no decision will be made until autumn, Greg Clark -- the business, energy and industrial strategy secretary -- said the government will now 'consider carefully all the component parts of this project'.

During Steve Hilton's time in 10 Downing Street, David Cameron's former director of strategy's reputation for 'modernising' the Conservative party inspired the creation of PR guru Stewart Pearson in The Thick of It. However, while Brits may now be used to Hilton's penchant for casual-wear and 'blue sky thinking', across the pond it's a different story. Word reaches Steerpike that Americans at last week's Republican Convention were left puzzled over a bedraggled attendee who strolled the vicinity shoeless. Republicans at the Cleveland meet were overheard asking: 'who is that dude?'. Happily Mr S's Brit-in-the-know was on hand to assist. On turning round to see what all the fuss was about, they saw Cameron's old pal walking around in socks.