Steerpike

At times this week it has seemed as though Sarah Vine will soon be running the country -- that is, if she isn't secretly already. As well as informing readers, through her Daily Mail column, that she -- along with her husband Michael Gove -- has been ‘charged with implementing the instructions of 17 million people’ following the Leave vote, Vine is reported to have played a pivotal role in the Justice Secretary's decision to turn his back on Boris Johnson and run for leader. In fact, the first sign that all was not well between the Johnson and Gove camps came when Vine seemingly accidentally sent an email on the topic to a member of the public.

In the bloody annals of Westminster history, has there ever been an act of treachery greater than Michael Gove's knifing of Boris Johnson yesterday? Perhaps not, but there is probably an analogy in the HBO series Game of Thrones. The Justice Secretary is a great fan of the series, and often uses it as a metaphor for politics. Perhaps When he went to visit the Spectator's James Delingpole he talks about his love of the series. Here it is:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnXoQeGnT4Q Perhaps he was inspired by one of the episodes - but which one? Which scene? Which character? Answers below, please. A bottle of Pol Roger will be sent to the best entry. They will be judged by James Delingpole.

As Jeremy Corbyn faces even more Shadow Cabinet resignations today, it's becoming difficult to locate a Labour MP who thinks he should stay in the post. Now the Prime Minister has added his voice to the cause. David Cameron -- who is stepping down in the autumn -- used today's PMQs to call on Corbyn to resign: 'It might be in my party's interest for him to sit there, it's not in the national interest and I would say for heaven's sake man, go!' Mr S suspects that this will only heighten the Corbynistas' desire for Jezza to stay put.

Since Leave triumphed in the EU referendum, there have been growing concerns that the Brexiteers were not suitably prepared for success at the polls. As well as no clear plan of action, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have been uncharacteristically quiet since the result came in. Happily Gove's wife Sarah Vine has now filled us in on what the Justice Secretary has been up to over the past few days. In her Daily Mail column, Vine reveals that the first she heard of the result was near 5am on Friday when Gove was woken up from his slumbers by a phone call: 'I was just drifting back to sleep when my husband’s mobile rang. Fumbling, he picked up the call. I could hear every word. "Michael?" an excited, if slightly weary, voice said. "Michael, guess what? We’ve won!

With Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet now somewhat depleted, brains at Labour are left with less choice when it comes to who to send onto the airwaves to protect the leader's honour. As a result, readers ought to expect to hear a lot more from Diane Abbott -- the newly appointed Shadow Health Secretary -- in the coming days. Alas this may not be exactly what the beleaguered Labour leader needs as he continues to try and fend off the threat of a vote of no confidence. This morning Abbott appeared on the Today programme to make the case for Corbyn's survival. Abbott said that if there was another leadership election, she was confident that Corbyn stood a very good chance of winning once again.

As Labour MPs drowned their sorrows in Strangers' Bar last night following a fractious meeting of the PLP, over in the Red Lion the pro-Corbyn contingent gathered for a pint. Mr S's mole reports that Momentum's Jon Lansman met with Richard Burgon, the Shadow Justice Secretary, and Seb Corbyn at the Westminster watering hole to give the duo a much-needed pep talk. 'You've just got to carry on,' Lansman was overheard urging the pair. With a vote of no confidence now passed in Corbyn's leadership, their resolve may fade in the coming days.

It's not proving to be a great day for Jeremy Corbyn. After over half of his Shadow Cabinet resigned, the Labour leader has now faced a revolt in the Chamber. While giving a statement on the European referendum, Corbyn called for MPs to refrain from in-fighting: 'The country will thank neither the benches in front of me or the benches behind for indulging in internal factoring maneuvering at this time.' Alas his words on party unity hit a bum note with those on the Labour benches. MPs looked incredulous as Corbyn spoke, and shortly began a chorus of heckles urging him to resign -- with Toby Perkins and Chris Evans leading the cries. Tonight's meeting of the PLP is shaping up to be box office...

Given the flak that Tom Watson  received for partying until 4am at Glastonbury on Saturday as his party imploded, one could be forgiven for thinking that any remaining Labour MPs at the annual festival would have got out of there as soon as possible. However, there is a rumour doing the rounds that Corbyn's new Shadow Defence Secretary Clive Lewis will not make it to Defence Questions today as he is... still on his way back from Glastonbury. While Lewis's office is yet to respond to Mr S's request for comment, Corbyn can take heart that the Labour MP has at least been flying the flag for him at the music festival.

Today Jeremy Corbyn has had not one, not two, not three but ten Shadow Cabinet members hand in their resignation. What's more, with a growing number of Labour MPs confessing to having lost faith in the Labour leader over the EU referendum result, he now faces a difficult task trying to fill the vacancies. Happily, one man has nobly volunteered his services. Step forward Simon Danczuk: https://twitter.com/SimonDanczuk/status/747096352568512512 Yes, the MP -- who has proved to be a thorn in Corbyn's side ever since he was elected as Labour leader -- has declared that he is 'prepared to serve'. It's unlikely Corbyn will be too eager to take him up on the offer given that Danczuk regularly writes articles for the tabloids in which he documents their private conversations.

As Jeremy Corbyn tries to hold off the threat of a coup from members of his shadow cabinet, it's probably for the best that he pulled out of a planned appearance at Glastonbury today. However, not everyone in Labour's top command appears to have received the memo about putting the party's woes above the annual music festival. Step forward Tom Watson. Labour's deputy leader had no qualms about living it up at Worthy Farm last night. In fact, Labour's worries over Europe appeared to be far from Watson's mind as he used snapchat to document his crazy night on the -- muddy -- tiles: https://twitter.com/SophyRidgeSky/status/746998561687109632 https://twitter.