Steerpike

While Samantha Cameron very rarely airs her political views in public, the same cannot be said for her sister. Emily Sheffield has taken to Twitter to vent about Labour's new pink van for women. Sheffield, who is the deputy editor of Vogue, claims that the van looks like its selling tampons rather than policies. The pink Labour van looks like it's trying to sell me tampons not policies. And that's the nicest thing I can say about it. — Emily Sheffield (@emilysheffield) February 11, 2015 The rest is an angry rant! — Emily Sheffield (@emilysheffield) February 11, 2015 Labour unveiled the ‘Woman to Woman’ van yesterday, which will tour the UK targeting women who did not vote in 2010.

It’s the Black & White Ball tonight, a lavish Conservative fundraiser at which David Cameron tries to milk as much cash as he can from squillionaires – while trying, somehow, to avoid being seen as the leader of the party of the rich. It’s a hard line to walk, which is why there is a strict ban on journalists. But Mr S has sneaked in anyway - and what a sight! At up to £1,500 a ticket, it's not a gig many hacks can afford. The net worth at the Grosvenor House Hotel tonight must run into the billions, yet no champagne! However, Mr S hears a whisper that not all guests were aware of the bubbly ban with one table asking a waiter where their fizz was.

Much has been made of Eddie Redmayne's education at Eton after Chris Bryant claimed that British culture should not be dominated by public schoolboys like The Theory of Everything actor. Mr Steerpike hopes that the Labour MP gave tonight's Baftas a miss for his own sake, as alumni from Britain's two most prestigious private schools battled it out in the Best Actor category. Redmayne was pitted against Benedict Cumberbatch, who attended Harrow. Alas Cumberbatch's efforts as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game were not enough to clinch him victory. It was the 33-year-old Old Etonian who came up trumps, taking home the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Hawking was on hand to support Redmayne at the bash.

Chief Whip Michael Gove has given his first keynote speech since being politically assassinated last summer. Plucked from the frontline of reform, the former Education Secretary concluded his speech to Policy Exchange tonight, thus: 'It is often the case in history that individuals fail to appreciate the stability, the security and the steady progress they enjoy until it’s gone. It’s often the case that effective democratic institutions and progressive reforming Governments are taken for granted until they are subject to mistaken change. It is, sadly, all too often the case in politics that the urge to criticise what is in front of us rather than appreciate the risks of the untried alternative can pitch us into crisis.