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

Tuesday

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn takes part in Mumsnet chat: ‘I do not have a rare skin condition’

This morning Jeremy Corbyn told Radio 4's Women's Hour that a thread on Mumsnet in which he was described by one user as being 'attractive in a world weary old sea dog sort of way' was 'the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever heard'. So it must have been with some trepidation that Corbyn agreed to take part in a Mumsnet Q&A this lunchtime alongside his Labour leadership rival Liz Kendall. Would the lusty online mothers be able to put their amorous feelings to one side and ask a sensible question?

Steerpike

Friends reunited: how George Galloway hopes to ‘work closely’ with Jeremy Corbyn

Things could start to get very strange indeed if Jeremy Corbyn is successful in his bid to be the next Labour leader. Corbyn's old chum George Galloway has today voiced his hopes that he will be able to 'work closely' with Corbyn in his bid to be the Mayor of London: https://twitter.com/georgegalloway/status/625962867330805760 While Labour will have their own mayoral candidate, Corbyn may decide to reach out to Galloway -- who is entering on behalf of his Respect Party -- given their mutual appreciation for one another: https://twitter.com/georgegalloway/status/610503581247111168 https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/185542633056239616 Still, Mr S recalls what happened when the duo teamed up back in 2013 to mark the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Steerpike

Revealed: the Andy Coulson joke that Nick Clegg cut from his conference speech

Although Nick Clegg is under increasing pressure in some quarters to write a tell-all book about his time in coalition, the closest he has got to this so far is by signing up to an agency that has advertised his services for up to $55,000 per speech. Happily, Clegg's former speechwriter comes at no such cost. Phil Reilly has started a blog detailing his time working for the former deputy Prime Minister. In this, Reilly recalls a phone hacking joke he wrote for Clegg back in 2010: 'For days, Nick Clegg had been toing and froing over whether he could tell a joke about Andy Coulson. It was September 2010 and I was writing my first ever speech for him, which he would give at the opening rally event of the party’s autumn conference.

Sunday

Steerpike

‘Prosecco socialist’ Charlotte Church backs Jeremy Corbyn

As Jeremy Corbyn edges closer to victory in the Labour leadership race, his critics grow more vocal with both Tony Blair and John McTernan attempting to thwart his campaign this week. However, for all the naysayers, Corbyn is at least managing to slowly amass a celebrity fan club. After Steerpike reported that the Silk actress Maxine Peake had got behind the Corbyn campaign, classical singer turned 'prosecco socialist' Charlotte Church has voiced her support for the leadership hopeful. Church - who attended the VIP area of an anti austerity march with Russell Brand after the election - has written a blog in support of Corbyn. Eloquently titled 'T-O-N-Y! You Ain't Got No Alibi! YOU TORY!

Thursday

Steerpike

Financial Times staff live blog the sale of their paper: ‘we’ll be sent to Canary Wharf’

After much speculation, the Financial Times has today been purchased by Nikkei, the Japanese media group, for £844 million. https://twitter.com/MarketWatch/status/624221619611897856 This comes after the paper's owner Pearson confirmed it was on sale this morning. However, it had been thought that the German media group Axel Springer were the frontrunner for the purchase. With the sale confirmed, little is known about what the new owners have planned for the paper: https://twitter.com/rkapkap/status/624248380886282240 Happily, staff writers Paul Murphy and Bryce Elder offered some insight this morning while editing the Markets Live blog.

Steerpike

Was Yvette Cooper ‘inspired’ by Mhairi Black’s maiden speech?

Last week the SNP MP Mhairi Black gave her maiden speech to Parliament. The young politician inspired the nation with her story of a man in her constituency who came to her crying after a trip to the job centre went wrong: 'I said to him “how did you get on?” And without saying a word he burst into tears. That grown man standing in front of a 20-year-old crying his eyes out.' The clip went viral, amassing millions of views worldwide, with Black's words highly commended by both SNP and Labour politicians alike. So much so that their were whispers of concern at Labour HQ that it could trigger certain members of the party to lurch even further to the left.

Steerpike

Tony Hall: the BBC is like James Bond

As staff at the BBC face cuts and budget tightening following the Government's plans to reform the Corporation, their director-general Tony Hall has offered his own defence of the licence fee. Writing the diary in this week's Spectator, he mentions that Tracey Ullman was recently transformed into Dame Judi Dench as 'M' in the James Bond films. Hall goes on to suggest that the BBC has some parallels to Bond with both in possession of a 'very special licence': 'When Tracey spent the day as Dame Judi Dench on location last week, so talented are the make-up and prosthetics team that passing members of the public were fooled into thinking she was miraculously back from the dead as ‘M’ in the new Bond film.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Laura Kuenssberg is appointed as the BBC’s new political editor

After weeks of speculation over who will be the BBC's next political editor, a senior BBC employee today announced on Twitter that Laura Kuenssberg is to be Nick Robinson's successor. However, just moments later the tweet was hastily deleted. Happily, the Mail's John Stevens managed to screen grab it before it disappeared: https://twitter.com/johnestevens/status/623867799908302849 While the BBC are declining to comment at this time on whether Laura, who is currently Newsnight's chief correspondent, is the new political editor, others have been quick to offer their congratulations: https://twitter.com/alstewitn/status/623864313917362176 https://twitter.com/alexhuds/status/623872971321536512 https://twitter.

Steerpike

Margaret Beckett: I’m a ‘moron’ for nominating Jeremy Corbyn

Last night Tony Blair's former adviser John McTernan said MPs who offered their nominations to Jeremy Corbyn to 'broaden the debate' in the Labour leadership race were 'morons' after a poll predicted Corbyn will win. While the bulk of the MPs who helped Corbyn get onto the ballot have remained quiet since his comments, Margaret Beckett chose to come clean on Radio 4's World at One. When asked if she was a 'moron' for nominating Corbyn, the former Foreign Secretary replied: 'I am one of them'. Beckett -- who is supporting Andy Burnham in the race -- says she only nominated him as MPs were advised to widen the debate: 'At no point did I intend to vote for Jeremy myself - nice as he is - nor advise anyone else to do it.

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn wins a celebrity backer

Although the majority of the MPs who helped to get Jeremy Corbyn on the ballot paper have remained mysteriously silent since a poll predicted that he is on course to be the next Labour leader, Corbyn can at least count on support from one well-known name The Silk actress Maxine Peake has voiced her support for Corbyn. Writing on her website last week, Peake labelled Corbyn 'our only beacon of hope to get the Labour Party back on track': 'For me Jeremy Corbyn is our only beacon of hope to get the Labour Party back on track, get the electorate back in touch with politics and save this country from the constant mindless bullying of the vulnerable and poor. Aspirational? Surely we should all aspire that everyone living in this country has the right to a decent quality of life.

Steerpike

Wanted: Christian Lib Dem to aid party interaction

Tim Farron has come under fire this week over concerns that he is prejudiced against gay rights as a result of his evangelical Christian beliefs. His opponents have suggested that he cannot lead a liberal party if he thinks that being gay is a sin. However, those hoping that the new Lib Dem leader will tone down his Christian values need think again. The party is advertising for a director to head up the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum. The chosen candidate will be responsible for 'interacting at all levels with Liberal Democrat politicians and staff, LDCF members, other Christian and political organisations, and members of the public' as well as organising 'prayer meetings in Parliament'.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn reunites with his old ‘comrade’ Gerry Adams in Parliament

Jeremy Corbyn just can't help making friends wherever he goes. He previously described Hamas operatives as 'friends' and now he has found time out of his Labour leadership campaign to meet up with his old 'comrade' Gerry Adams in Portcullis House. The Sinn Féin president has tweeted a picture of their meet up, which Martin McGuinness also attended: https://twitter.com/GerryAdamsSF/status/623530633055313920 Of course the pair go way back. Corbyn, who supported ending British status for Northern Ireland, was heavily crtiticised after he invited Adams -- along with other Sinn Féin members -- to the House of Commons shortly after the Brighton bombing in 1984.

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: David Miliband bids Britain farewell

Last week David Miliband flew all the way from America to Britain to celebrate his birthday. However, the former New Labour sweetheart made sure not to invite his brother Ed Miliband to the celebrations that just happened to be being held close to where his sibling resided. With the party over and his brotherly snub widely noted by the media, it's time for David to bid Britain farewell. A snapper has spied Miliband sitting comfortably on a plane out of the country. That seat doesn't look like economy to Mr S.

Steerpike

Revealed: The ‘Blairite’ crime policy that never was

With rumours flying around the Commons that if elected, Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn would appoint a Shadow Peace Secretary in the place of a Shadow Defence Secretary, Mr S is also looking forward to hearing Corbyn's plans to reform judicial punishment. However, Mr S is happy to place a bet on his approach not being as radical as a crime policy Tony Blair heaped praise on while in power. In today's Times, Blair's former chief speechwriter Philip Collins reveals what happened when he put forward a paper which suggested Blair take a less liberal approach when it came to dealing with crime: 'The Blair government was, to my mind, daftly authoritarian on crime and punishment so I submitted a paper in which I suggested we ignore all the namby-pamby liberal nonsense.

Monday

Steerpike

John Bercow enjoys (yet another) sports jolly

Last year John Bercow proudly boasted during an interview with Roger Federer on Radio 4 that he had watched 65 of the tennis ace's matches that year. An impressive feat perhaps, but also one that led taxpayers to ask how exactly the Speaker had found time to watch 65 Federer matches alongside his work duties. Michael Fabricant went on to accuse Bercow of behaving like royalty over the number of sports freebies he took. Not that the Speaker has let the criticism get to him. In fact, Bercow appears to be doing his very best to keep up his sports attendance record for the year 2015. The Speaker has so far racked up £2630.90 worth of sports jollies since the beginning of the year.

Steerpike

Is the Guardian about to endorse Jeremy Corbyn?

Despite frequent claims from both sides of the political spectrum that Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn is 'unelectable', he has so far managed to win the endorsement of Unite as well as the highest number of nominations from constituency Labour parties. Could he now be on his way to an endorsement from the Guardian? Steerpike only asks after the Labour leadership hopeful was the guest of honour at today's news conference at the paper. While it was Andy Burnham's turn last week to grace the newsroom, Mr S is assured that Corbyn was the more popular of the two guests. In fact, such fan-mania hasn't been witnessed since Hollywood star Benedict Cumberbatch paid the paper a visit: https://twitter.

Friday

Steerpike

Jeremy Vine finds his exit poll prediction is no laughing matter

Nick Robinson recently revealed Jeremy Vine's off-air reaction to the exit poll on election night. ‘So Scotland will go independent and the BBC will be shut down,' the Radio 2 presenter quipped on hearing the poll predict a Tory majority. While Vine's predictions are yet to come good in full, he did correctly foresee that the Tories would crack down on the BBC, with reports emerging yesterday that the government could decide to close Radio 1 or Radio 2. Despite John Whittingdale stating that there are no current plans to close the station down, Vine took to Twitter to voice his opposition: https://twitter.com/theJeremyVine/status/621997521452277760 However, Vine may have to rejig that figure following today's radio show.

Steerpike

George Osborne crashes Number 10 for Treasury party

When George Osborne stepped in for David Cameron at PMQs, it was seen as the Chancellor's chance to show that he had what it takes to be Prime Minister. With that bit of housekeeping done, the Chancellor seemed to let his ambition to move into Number 10 go to his head last night. Osborne broke with tradition by hosting his summer party in the Number 10 garden, rather than the Treasury courtyard. However, as guests wandered through the Number 10 door to raise a glass to the Conservative leadership hopeful, there was one snag. Rather than the usual supply of delicate canapés, hungry hacks were invited to feast on an austerity-friendly spread of Doritos and pretzels. Osborne may be in, but he doesn't have access to the kitchen yet.

Thursday

Steerpike

First James Naughtie, now John Humphrys slips up over Jeremy Hunt

When James Naughtie steps down from the Today programme this autumn, his Jeremy Hunt gaffe will stand out as one of his more memorable moments. The Scottish presenter accidentally introduced him by the wrong surname in 2010: 'First up after the news, we're going to be talking to Jeremy C--t.' The health secretary continues to cause problems for the staff of Radio 4. This morning, Naughtie's colleague John Humphrys also got Hunt's name wrong. Reading the news bulletin at 7am, Humphrys said the 'health secretary James Hunt' is setting out plans for NHS consultants to work at weekends. While the slip wasn't an expletive this time around, given that the BBC are currently at war with the Tories, it's probably the wrong time for presenters to get Cabinet ministers' names wrong.