Steerpike

Steerpike

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

Which London mayoral hopeful has a ‘plethora of erotic art’?

From our UK edition

With Ivan Massow currently vying to be the next Mayor of London, the businessman released a campaign video this week explaining who he is and why he is running. In the video, he claimed that he was an unlikely candidate for mayor given that he is gay, dyslexic and an ex-alcoholic. While he’s putting it all out there,

Revealed: Taxpayer foots £4,820 bill for doorkeepers’ new overcoats

From our UK edition

With the government planning £30 billion of further cuts in a bid to clear the deficit, even Parliament has had to reduce its spending in recent years. However, while a lot of paperwork is now delivered electronically for this reason, there are some aspects of life in the Palace of Westminister where money is apparently no

Introducing David ‘London’ Lammy and John ‘Flashy’ Whittingdale

From our UK edition

Given that a horde of new MPs have recently descended on Parliament, it’s understandable that staff may have some difficulty remembering everyone’s name. Still, Mr S would have thought that any confusion could have been cleared up by simply looking to Hansard, which provides a report of proceedings of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. However,

Steve Hilton talks Cameron, Crosby and Vincecablefreude at book launch

From our UK edition

David Cameron’s former director of strategy Steve Hilton is in town this week to promote his new book More Human. Mr S was a guest at the book launch in East London where Cameron was serenaded by a violinist while George Osborne and Ed Vaizey raised a glass in celebration of the tome. In his speech, Hilton couldn’t help but

Jeremy Paxman: BBC licence fee can’t last

From our UK edition

Although Jeremy Paxman spent several decades working for the BBC, the presenter took an opportunity at a Royal Television Society talk today to cast doubt over its future. With the BBC’s charter renewal looming, the former Newsnight presenter said that the TV licence ‘can’t last’: ‘As platforms become interchangeable, as computers and televisions become indistinguishable, a tax on the

Don’t Labour tax advisers pop up in the funniest places?

From our UK edition

Remember Jolyon Maugham, the QC who had fifteen minutes of fame during the General Election campaign when he ‘advised Labour on its non-dom tax crackdown’? As the Telegraph reported at the time: ‘Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, cited Jolyon Maugham as an independent expert who had backed the policy and had forecast that it would raise

Ed Miliband returns from Ibiza to face the music

From our UK edition

Ed Miliband’s last-minute holiday to Ibiza was hardly the way in which the former Labour leader had envisaged spending the week after the election. Still, a week on the party island with his wife Justine is hardly a bad way to commiserate his failure at the polls. Now he is on his way back to

The past catches up with Downton Abbey cast

From our UK edition

With Downton Abbey drawing to a close after the next series, Mr S suspects that, in the interest of historical accuracy, it may be for the best that it bows out sooner rather than later. After it initially began in 1912, the show has raced through the years at such pace that it has now spanned over a decade

Obama gets personal on Twitter. Will Cameron follow suit?

From our UK edition

With an increasing number of Twitter accounts for politicians and celebrities run by staff rather than the subjects themselves, the PR-y tweets can often make for a dull read. So Mr S is happy to report that President Obama has set up his own personal Twitter account today. Obama, who already has an account run by

Political institution introduces new MPs to ancient rituals

From our UK edition

While new MPs are sitting through tedious induction classes to teach them the rules of the House of Commons such as never clap in the chamber or call another member ‘you’, down the road another political institution is laying down the law. The Kennington Tandoori has been a home-from-home to politicians for decades, with numerous

Lord Ashcroft travels to Russia to research his David Cameron biography

From our UK edition

The British government’s relationship with Russia is somewhat frosty since David Cameron ordered 75 British soldiers to Ukraine earlier this year to help the country defend itself against Russia. With diplomatic relations at a low, Cameron may now have new reason for Russian woe. Word reaches Steerpike that Cameron’s unofficial biographers Lord Ashcroft and Isabel Oakeshott recently travelled to Moscow on a

Coffee Shots: Friends reunited

From our UK edition

What a difference a day makes. Only yesterday it seemed that the Ukip civil war was still rattling on, with Nigel Farage’s former senior advisor Raheem Kassam writing a feisty article for the Telegraph criticising Douglas Carswell, who had in turn criticised Farage. Happily relations between Carswell and Farage seem amiable for now. They were joined by rumoured Ukip leadership hopeful Suzanne

Was it Evgeny Lebedev wot won it?

From our UK edition

During this election, every newspaper endorsed the party that most of their readers support – with two exceptions. The Independent and the Evening Standard, who have left-leaning readerships, both backed the Tories (in the Indy’s case, the coalition). A bold decision for the proprietor, Evgeny Lebedev, given that the endorsement divided readers and staff alike.

Coffee Shots: SNP big in Japan

From our UK edition

Just when Mr S thought it was safe to go to his local watering hole now the 56 Scottish SNP MPs have chosen Parliament’s sports and social as their pub of choice, it turns out that the SNP invasion has gone global. Word reaches Steerpike that the presence of the Scottish Nationalists cannot be escaped even outside of the UK. In

Louise Mensch backs George Osborne to be the next Tory leader

From our UK edition

All this talk from Labour and the Liberal Democrats about who will be their next party leader appears to have got to the Tory camp. Although the dust is yet to settle following David Cameron’s surprise Conservative majority in the election, Mensch couldn’t help but offer her prediction for who the next Tory Prime Minister will be, when

A very modern Parliament causes problems for the Tories

From our UK edition

With 190 women elected last week and the number of ethnic minority MPs hitting record levels, Parliament is slowly beginning to look a little bit like modern Britain. Settling in, one male MP, proudly wearing a green new members’ badge, was sitting on the Terrace on his first night in the Commons. He proceeded to

Chuka Umunna will no longer be the ‘English Obama’

From our UK edition

Chuka Umunna has surprised many today with the news that he has withdrawn from the race for the Labour leadership. Explaining his decision he said that the ‘added level of pressure’ had not been a ‘comfortable experience’. Mr S can already hear the sighs from the many Chuka supporters who had seen him as the man to

Lib Dem leader hopeful Norman Lamb wins a celebrity backer

From our UK edition

Although Labour’s celebrity endorsements from Martin Freeman, Robert Webb and Russell Brand did little to help the party in the election, Norman Lamb will be hoping his new backer will help him win the Liberal Democrats leadership contest. Dappy, the N-Dubz singer, has come out as backing Lamb to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats: