Steerpike

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.

Although George Osborne is now on the backbench, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer is keen to make sure that he remains a busy bee. As well as jetting off to New York this week to attend Tina Brown's Brexit bash, the MP for Tatton is now considering putting pen to paper for a book. However, readers hoping for a salacious account of his time in No.11 are likely to be left disappointed.

Oh dear. Owen Smith's decision to go off piste in his leadership speech today has not worked out all that well. While discussing the need for a stronger opposition than the one currently provided under Jeremy Corbyn, Smith said Labour could not allow Theresa May to claim Labour's centre ground. Alas he used a rather unfortunate phrase to make his point. Discussing PMQs, he said that when May had lectured Labour on social injustice, he had wanted to 'smash her back on her heels': 'It pained me that we didn't have the strength and the power and the vitality to smash her back on her heels.' Although Smith has previously spoken about the need to 'smash' austerity, Mr S advises Smith to stick to avoid using the term in relation to women and their heels in future.

It's less than a month since Andrea Leadsom bowed out of the Conservative leadership contest, leading to Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister. Now Leadsom's campaign manager Tim Loughton had given an interview to the Times in which he conducts a post-mortem on the failed bid. While the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham is adamant that the negative headlines regarding Leadsom's CV and motherhood comments were simply down to the 'get Andrea campaign', he does concede there were some things he could have done better. Take for example, Leadsom's march of the zombies. The stunt saw a handful of supporters including Loughton take to Westminster in their suits and pearls chanting 'what do we want? Leadsom for leader!'.

Although George Osborne was passed over for the role of Foreign Secretary in Theresa May's Cabinet reshuffle, the MP for Tatton is still keen to show that he can fly the flag for Brexit Britain. It follows that the former Chancellor of the Exchequer is set to be guest of honour at Tina Brown's Brexit bash in New York this week. According to Page Six, Osborne will join the top hack -- and one time Remain-er -- for a dinner which aims to show that the 'special relationship' can survive Brexit. With New York journalists perceiving this as Osborne's attempt to 'drum up trade with the US in the wake of his country’s shock exit from the European bloc', Mr S can't help but wonder if George has run his plans past Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary.

In last month's EU referendum, pundits and politicians were left surprised when Brexit triumphed with 52 per cent of the vote. Since then not everyone has taken the outcome lying down. While the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon is adamant that Scotland should not have to leave the EU, a number of Remain-ers in England -- including David Lammy -- have suggested the result should be overturned or ignored for the good of the people. Now one Scot has offered their two cents worth from across the pond. In an interview with the Scottish Herald, Alan Cumming -- the Good Wife actor who resides in New York -- has blamed the referendum result on... 'stupid English people': 'I was appalled when I heard the result. And I have three words to sum it up. Stupid. English. People.

Claws out, it's all kicking off in Downing Street. After a month of drastic change and bubbling tensions among Westminster's big beasts, things have started to turn violent. However, rather than May vs Osborne, it's the government's two top cats who can't seem to keep a lid on it. When David Cameron moved out of No.10, he left Larry the cat behind --insisting that he still loved him. In the MP for Witney's absence, Downing Street's resident mouser has struggled to cope. While little is yet known of his relationship with the new Prime Minister  it's Palmerston -- the Foreign Office cat -- who appears to be the cause of friction.

Today Jeremy Corbyn has launched his campaign ahead of the Labour leadership election. Corbyn, who is being challenged by Owen Smith, used the launch to announce that -- under him -- the next Labour government would introduce compulsory pay audits for companies with more than 21 staff -- in order to show whether or not they are discriminating against female employees. However when asked by Sky News if this meant he would publish an equal pay audit for his own office, Corbyn failed to commit. Perhaps that's for the best given that any such report is unlikely to make inspiring reading. Forget comparing the salary difference between women and men in the top jobs, when it comes to the Leader's Office it's men who tend to rule the roost.

After Jeremy Corbyn faced a vote of no confidence from Labour MPs over his lacklustre effort in the failed Remain campaign, a leadership contest is now underway. Corbyn and his challenger Owen Smith will spend the summer campaigning against one another for the leadership. However, in order to have a vote supporters only have until 5pm today to cough up £25 to join the party as a registered supporter. In order to encourage his supporters to do exactly this, Jeremy Corbyn has today tweeted a video of his new star supporter Michelle Dorrell. Michelle will look familiar to many.

Today Angela Eagle has announced that she is dropping out of the Labour leadership race. Her decision comes after a campaign that has seen Eagle struggle to catch a break since it first kicked off -- with hacks walking out of her campaign launch to attend Andrea Leadsom's. So, perhaps it's fitting that her campaign ended on a similar note. In an interview with Sky News, Eagle performed a routine sound test in which the producer checked the audio quality by asking her what she had had for breakfast. However, the broadcaster actually went live while this was going on. This meant viewers saw the former shadow business secretary repeatedly shout the word 'porridge' live on air, before she went on to explain why she was dropping out.