Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike
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Despite the government planning £12bn worth of welfare cuts, it’s still a case of no expense spared when it comes to Tory parties. Last night the Conservative Party Summer Party was held at the Hurlingham. The lavish bash saw the Tories celebrate their return to government with their rich donors, who in turn volunteered hundreds of thousands of pounds for
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This morning Jo Johnson gave a speech in which he outlined his recommendations for the way in which universities grade students. The new science and universities minister suggested that they rethink the current honours system and instead have a ‘dual running’ with regards degree classifications and grade point averages. If his idea does become a reality and there
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Syed Kamall’s bid to be the Tory candidate in the race to be the next Mayor of London has not got off to a great start. In the face of strong competition from Zac Goldsmith, the London MEP emailed hundreds of Tory activists to win their support. Alas, the chummy campaign missive was addressed to the
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After Dennis Skinner successfully won the SNP turf war over his favoured seat in the Commons, the Labour backbencher has been relatively quiet of late. So Mr S was pleased to see him back on fighting form this lunchtime during Business Questions. In what could only be described as an ambitious move, the Beast of Bolsover decided to take
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In 2012 Charlotte Church met with David Cameron at the Conservative Party Conference as part of a Hacked Off fringe event. Although the meeting appeared to be civil at the time, the classical singer turned anti-austerity activist later said he came across as ‘gross and really misogynistic’: ‘He was so dismissive to what I had to
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Over the weekend, Simon Danczuk confirmed his break up from his wife Karen Danczuk, with both the Labour MP and the ‘Selfie Queen’ describing themselves as devastated at the decision. Alas, any sadness appears to have turned into anger. Simon has taken to Twitter to accuse Karen of using their split for publicity. He says that
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Never let it be said that Jeremy Corbyn is the most anti-business of the four Labour leadership candidates. The left-wing politician appeared to endorse BT today on Twitter: So, is this corporate sponsorship for his campaign, a tech-savvy leadership pledge or simply the result of a Twitter hack? Given that he has since deleted the tweet,
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When the Green Party revealed their manifesto ahead of the general election, they were the subject of much ridicule as they promised to abolish the monarchy and get rid of the army. However, the policy that perhaps gained the most attention was a pledge to ban rabbit hutches. Now, even party officials appear to agree that the policy
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It seems ‘Taliban New Labour‘ have returned, or at least that’s what some party members would have you believe. Labour MP John Woodcock — who is backing Liz Kendall — has risked the wrath of his party with a blog post about the Labour leadership contest: ‘If those who seek to take his place think the route
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David Cameron’s former director of strategy Steve Hilton recently wrote in The Spectator that Glastonbury is not merely a ‘left-wing utopia’, arguing that it operates in accordance with conservative principles. Mr S, who attended the festival this weekend, suspects Hilton may need to rethink this theory. As Natalie Bennett, Ken Livingstone and Charlotte Church took to
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After anti-austerity protesters turned on Russell Brand for endorsing Labour at a protest on Saturday, it was only a matter of time til Ed Miliband faced a similar backlash over his party’s defeat. Alas for Miliband, his takes musical form. Sleaford Mods – the working class mod band – have attacked the former Labour leader in
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These are dark days for the Labour party, following their brutal election defeat and the recent turmoil within the party. For Miliband in particular, the pain of the past few months must be particularly acute. Still, there’s at least one area of politics he can draw comfort from: Milifandom. Abby Tomlinson, the founder of the cult movement, has today
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Nick Clegg appeared on LBC this morning to take part in his first interview since his party’s defeat at the polls. With the host Nick Ferrari taking questions from listeners, Clegg was subjected to a mix of abuse and praise from Londoners. However, there was one question in particular which struck a nerve with the
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Amal Clooney has been giving Westminster an unusual touch of glamour this week, with the world’s most famous female barrister putting them away in the Red Lion pub on Monday night. In a pub normally dominated by spotty parliamentary researchers and ale swilling trade unionists, it wasn’t hard for the human rights barrister to cause
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Last night Boris Johnson took part in his final State of London debate with LBC host Nick Ferrari, before he finishes in his role as Mayor of London and focuses on work as an MP. Mr S can’t see him forgetting this debate anytime soon, however, after the blundering politician had an awkward encounter with a man in a
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Lord Chancellor Michael Gove was criticised over the weekend for issuing a set of grammar rules for civil servants. The list, which appeared on the Ministry of Justice intranet, warned staff to refrain from beginning sentences with ‘however’ and using the words ‘ensure’ and ‘unnecessary’. It also encouraged civil servants to avoid excessive use of hyphens. Not
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Rachel Johnson has never been shy of using her Notting Hill neighbours as a source of ‘inspiration’ for her series of chick-lit Notting Hell books. Her latest book Fresh Hell is no exception. It follows a character rallying against a major basement conversion in a storyline not dissimilar to Johnson’s own efforts to oppose her neighbour’s plans for such underground
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Ed Miliband is clearly struggling to find his place in a post Ed Miliband world. Despite MPs from his own party suggesting the former Labour leader was ‘hanging around like an awkward relative at a funeral’, Miliband has not shied away from Westminster. Given the comprehensive thumping Ed took at the ballot box, he took a
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With taxpayers currently facing the prospect of a £3 billion bill in order to stop Parliament turning into a ‘ruin’, perhaps it’s time the Speaker took a note out of Baroness Benjamin’s book in order to reduce the cost to the taxpayer. During a Walking with the Wounded charity cricket match at the weekend, Floella Benjamin managed to tempt
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Last week festival goers were disappointed to learn that Foo Fighters had cancelled their headline slot at Glastonbury. While bookies were quick to offer odds on the different musical giants who could take their place at the music festival which takes places this weekend, the organisers ended up simply moving Florence and the Machine, who were already