Steerpike

Today Andrea Leadsom has officially launched her campaign to be the next Tory leader. Speaking at the Cinnamon Club, the former banker declared that she would not be the candidate for the rich; 'the richest people in Britain will not be my priority'. However, Mr S cant help but wonder if she should have gone for a different choice of venue if she wants to be taken seriously as a voice of the working people. After all, the Cinnamon Club is one of Westminster's most expensive restaurants. A favourite of the metropolitan elite, the Indian restaurant serves a special gin punch for £400 a bowl. Meanwhile it's hard to get through a lunch there without reaching triple figures.

So 17 million people vote to take Britain out of the European Union  – but 40,000 of the Remainers took to the streets of London today to protest. We heard the voices of Britain’s growing anti-democratic movement: those who believe that Brexit was the result of consulting voters who were confused, malign, northern – or all three. Who, the Bremain protesters seemed to ask, are these people? Where the hell is Dunstable? Why do we Londoners allow them them vote? Every revolution has its reactionaries, and they were on the march today. Mr S was reassured to see the well-heeled crowd mocking themselves, with placards referencing 80s and 90s pop songs (“Never gonna give EU up”, “Nothing compares to EU”) etc.

Although Mr S is running his own Michael Gove inspired Game of Thrones competition for readers, the Justice Secretary's colleagues also can't seem to resist sticking the knife-in when it comes to picking which machiavellian character Gove best resembles. After Gove turned on his former ally Boris Johnson, Ben Wallace, the Conservative MP for Wyre and Preston, has claimed that when it comes to George RR Martin's fantasy novels, Gove is Theon Greyjoy -- or at least will be once Wallace is finished with him. Given that Greyjoy is best known for having his penis cut off, this doesn't bode overly well for Gove. https://twitter.

Who ever does become the new Conservative leader is going to face a difficult challenge uniting the party, let alone leading the Brexit negotiations. Following Michael Gove's decision to run for Tory leader without bothering to tell Boris Johnson, a number of BoJo allies are distinctly unimpressed with the Justice Secretary. Perhaps none more so than Jake Berry. The Conservative MP for Rossendale and Darwen has taken to Twitter to declare that there is a special place in hell for people like Gove. Mr S suspects Gove can safely assume Berry will not be getting behind his last minute leadership bid. Update: Berry isn't backing down... even if he is deleting his tweets.

Oh dear. This morning Sarah Vine surprised Daily Mail readers after she declared in her column that both she and her husband Michael Gove had been 'charged with implementing the instructions of 17 million people' following the Leave vote. While Vine's central role in the Brexit negotiations prompted laughter in some quarters, it now transpires that she has been taking on a very hands-on role indeed. Sky News have been passed an email from Vine setting out the Justice Secretary's leadership plotting after she accidentally cc'ed in a member of public. The email -- sent yesterday -- raises some awkward questions for the pair.

As the Labour party slowly implodes, Jeremy Corbyn is doing his best to keep the show on the road. To do this, the Leader's Office today agreed that it would be a good idea to let Sky News film a meeting of the new Shadow Cabinet. Although Corbyn's director of communications Seumas Milne clearly hoped this would prove that everything was tickety boo, the Labour leader had doubts. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, his doubts only surfaced once Sky had actually arrived and started filming: https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/747777048706351104 Corbyn can be heard muttering that 'this seems a bad idea', before summoning Milne to share his doubts. After some awkward exchanges they pause filming.

While Corbyn faced an open revolt from MPs at tonight's meeting of the PLP, over in Parliament Square the Corbyn fightback got underway as hundreds gathered for a Momentum rally in support of the Labour leader. Not content with the drama at the meeting, Richard Burgon -- Labour’s former blunder-prone shadow City minister who has just been promoted to Shadow Justice Secretary --  left early to attend the rally. In his speech to the Corbynistas, he turned on his fellow MPs, accusing them of 'behaving like bullies' inside Parliament: https://twitter.com/katyballs/status/747493155621199873 'I think everyone in the Parliamentary Labour party can hear you shouting tonight.