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
One of the things that every political team needs is a Liz Sugg. Sugg works in Downing Street and makes sure that every trip the Prime Minister makes anywhere runs with military precision and doesn't involve him walking through a door with the word EXIT on it when he's delivering a make or break speech after serious questions about his leadership, for instance. Who does that for Miliband?
Big news on the front page of the Mirror today as the paper goes heavy on the report from the Regnum news agency that Samantha Lewthwaite, the British female terror suspect dubbed the White Widow, was shot dead by a Russian sniper while fighting for the Ukrainians two weeks ago. A very big claim given that Lewthwaite was reportedly fighting in Syria just last month. It is in Russian president Vladimir Putin’s interest to paint the Ukrainians as terrorists, so this would be a dream come true for his Kremlin spin operation – even if Lewthwaite isn't as monstrous, or important, as the papers are telling us. Let's hope that an august British periodical has not been sold a pup...
In his campaign to make every single member of the Conservative benches want to throttle him, the Speaker launched a bizarre broadside against Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames on Monday. Hansard reports the moment as such: Sir Nicholas Soames (Mid Sussex) (Con): Is my hon. Friend aware of the serial bad behaviour by the Co-op in my constituency and others in the south, where it is taking over pubs and converting them into shops, often on very unsatisfactory sites? The Ship Inn in Cuckfield in my constituency is uniquely badly placed to serve as a Co-op. Will he look at what he can do to review the article 4 direction scheme, and to give general instructions about where such shops should be sited? Mr Speaker: That was a splendidly detailed question.
Much harrumphing reaches Mr Steerpike today from the City of London. At last night’s Lord’s Mayor Banquet — the annual knees up at Mansion House to welcome the new Lord Mayor — the Prime Minister caused absolute chaos with his demands to exit in time to vote in the Commons. The Loyal Toast and speeches were moved to before dinner — breaking centuries of tradition — in order to allow the PM to slip out and traipse through the lobby in his full white tie regalia. ‘It was very strange,’ said one man in tights. ‘We had the Loyal Toast before grace, then the toast to the Lord Mayor before we even sat down to dinner. It was an utter shambles.’ At least the Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling came back to dinner after voting.
When Victoria Beckham was crowned Britain's top entrepreneur by Management Today there were sniggers from an unkind few, while others balked at her estimated worth of £210 million. Mr S can't dispute the figures that earned her the title, but it is probably time the former Spice Girl brushed up on her bookkeeping skills if she wants to be known for her business prowess. Steerpike hears that Posh Spice is facing a fine from Companies House for failing to file her annual accounts on time. The accounts for Victoria Beckham Limited were due at the end of September, and she is now so late that the fee has reached £375. What's more, until she files them the company is technically in the red with a negative net worth of £-1, 478, 542.
The Labour Party has asked the mad men over at Lucky Generals to work with them at the next general election, according to Campaign magazine. Seasoned watchers of this sort of thing will recall that Lucky Generals created Labour’s car-crash party political broadcast featuring a shrinking Nick Clegg (above). Despite a well rounded and widespread panning of the advert, the agency boasts about it on their website. ‘The film was the most talked-about political broadcast of recent times,’ they claim. Yes, but for all the wrong reasons. Mr S also wonders how Lucky General’s work for bookies Paddy Power will sit with the Labour team.
On Friday, Mr S boarded the Thames cruiser the Silver Sturgeon to join TV presenter and former tennis pro Andrew Castle in welcoming heavy hitters Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray back to London for the ATP World Finals. But for Castle, it was a less experienced tennis player who was weighing on the former British No.1’s mind. ‘I played a charity match with Nick Clegg last month,’ the presenter, who regularly puts his old chum David Cameron through his paces on court, sighed during the Moët & Chandon Thames river cruise.
Is the latest Labour leadership crisis actually triggering new wave of party unity? Lord Prescott, who has slammed Miliband as ‘timid’ for his ‘complacent’ leadership style, spotted John McTernan, Tony Blair’s former political secretary turned columnist, in the reception of the BBC after they had both been on the airwaves to discuss the party’s dire straits. 'I remember when we used to disagree about things' called out Prezza. And it’s not just sparring partners in his own party who Ed is bringing together. At last some common ground has been found between Ukip and the Tories. 'He's the best thing going for absolutely everyone right now,' one Ukip spin doctor said of Ed Miliband.
Mr S was in one of Westminster's finest watering holes last night to toast Guy Fawkes. And who better to do it with than his old muckers from Guido Fawkes, who had whacked a hefty wodge of cash behind the bar in honour of their patron saint. The guest list was terribly exclusive: Jo Johnson, Buzzfeed’s Jim Waterson, and various libertarians from the Adam Smith Institute made the cut, but Dame Vivienne Westwood and the heiress model Alice Dellal were turned away. The pair disappeared off into the night to join the gaggle of Anonymous protesters getting their hemp knickers in a twist about fracking/Julian Assange/capitalism.
Mr S would not like to be on the Times news desk this morning, as the paper realises they have been scooped by their own announcements page. Actor and global heart throb Benedict Cumberbatch has announced in the traditional manner that he is to marry his girlfriend Sophie Hunter, but it was only after the paper was published that anyone seems to have noticed. Cue a hurried story up online, and one hell of showbiz scoop suddenly exclusive to everyone. But where was the front page picture story? Update: Times news hands point out that the announcement was given a very small nod on page 20 of this morning's edition. A source at the paper tells Mr S: 'They wanted it announced in the customary way and we respected their desire to get the news out first.
An absolute gem in the Telegraph's morning memo today by Stephen Bush, who claims that the Prime Minister has more than a passing interest in today's government announcement that mobile phone companies shall be forced to cooperated in order to boost service for the consumer. Per the memo, 'when the PM travels, his aides will stop and note areas where he drops out of signal'. The PM is known on occasion to express his displeasure in a rather forthright manner, so the mind boggles at just how Dave might enunciate these particular concerns. It must be rather dramatic for aides to be so worried as to pop black marks next to whole swathes of the country. Barren north, indeed. What is it with world leaders and mobile phones, anyway?
Having perused the replies for my call to caption Ed Miliband and Mary Creagh, Mr S is sorry to say that there is no 'winner', nor even a 'favourite.' There is merely a non-honourable mention for the response that caused your correspondent to chortle so lustily that I spilled my tea and soaked my smoking jacket. So, for reader 'Samson', no prizes or accolades, but rather a stern gaze for his amusing submission, reposted below. Samson 'These earthlings are ever-displeased with me. Xinipemnan ijsdiih dhhjejndb ghty am I doing wrongly?
Whatever could Owen Paterson be up to? The sacked Environment Secretary gave a punchy speech a few weeks back on climate change and is now set to intervene in the another important conversation. Tomorrow will see the launch of Opatz's new vanity think tank called UK2020 that, according to the invitation, will be 'dedicated to advancing a genuinely Conservative agenda'. Mr S understands the launch will include a speech by Paterson on the economy - an obvious subject matter for any aspiring leader looking to strengthen their post-2015 credentials. Will Paterson go the whole hog and come dressed as a peacock?
Another day, another cock up from Nicky Morgan. The Department for Education's official Twitter feed has hastily deleted a message stating:- Doh! As plenty of social media users were quick to point out, equal rights for all people - regardless of who they bed - should probably be covered by 'British values', not least in the eyes of the British government. Cue another hasty backpedal. It gave some ammo to the Liberal Democrats:- Tolerance & enlightenment are key parts of our education system. That @educationgovuk tweet is unacceptable. Will be raising with ministers — Tim Farron (@timfarron) November 2, 2014 Morgan has tried to keep a low profile so far - but it's not low enough. It's now clear to everyone (Mr S suspects to her especially) that she is hopelessly miscast.
Even the po-faced Associated Press (video above) couldn't but describe as 'toe-curling' Ed Miliband's encounter with a homeless hijabi. Pundits agree that Ed appeared 'terrified' of the beggar in Manchester. Mr S was there, however - on unrelated business, of course - and can confirm that the opposition leader really did only have 2p in his pocket at the time. (Why on earth would he carry more?) Your correspondent was otherwise engaged, however (in discussion with my equine consultant) in the moment this photo was snapped: [caption id="attachment_8909992" align="alignnone" width="506"] Manchester, 31 October 2014 (Photo: Nigel Roddis/Getty)[/caption] What could have been on his mind?
While watching Scottish Labour leader frontrunner Jim Murphy launch his campaign today, you might be forgiven for thinking the teetotaller has been hitting the bottle. The bottle of hair dye, that is. There is a noticeable change in tone from when Murphy was a minister in the last Labour government. Mr S doubts that will be the only thing the former right-wing Blairite will be lightening in the coming weeks too.
The news that Westminster lunch ‘institution’ Shepherd's is to reopen its doors after closing them eighteen months ago has been greeted with enthusiasm, not least by the cheese soufflé devotees of SW1. But should it actually stick in the throat? According to Public Affairs News the Tory lobbyist Lionel Zetter is the man behind the resurrection, and he has bought both the brand and the lease of the Marsham Street joint. Who is this mysterious restaurateur? Well, he's Director of the European Azerbaijan Society, and that makes him a frontman for the Azeri regime, according to Foreign Policy magazine: ‘A 2010 U.S.
Mixed messaging from education secretary Nicky Morgan, who also moonlights as the equalities minister: Despite saying previously that 'marriage to me is between a man and a woman', and voting against gay marriage legislation, today Morgan said she probably would vote for gay marriage, telling the BBC's Today programme that you 'learn' on the job. She went on to claim that she voted no on gay marriage before because of her constiuents were against it. Does their view go out the window at the sniff of high office? And it was clearly not what she was saying at the time...
Given how close the phone-hacking scandal got to the heart of Downing Street, the Tories will be hoping nothing will provoke more questions this side of the election about Cameron's hiring of Andy Coulson. So there will be some worries about an intriguing book deal done late last night. Neville Thurlbeck - the jailed News of the World chief reporter and, more recently, Coulson's cell mate in Belmarsh - will be telling all, in true tabloid style, just a couple of months before polling day. Political publishers Biteback have bought up Thurlbeck's 'Tabloid Secrets' for an undisclosed sum and Mr S understands the book is due in the New Year. Happy reading, Prime Minister.
It’s that time of year again – sandwiched between conference season and the Autumn statement – when the nation’s political pooches (and their owners) descend on Westminster. Yes, yesterday saw the Westminster Dog of the Year show, 2014. [caption id="attachment_8903972" align="alignleft" width="250"] Noodle and Alan Duncan announce the winners[/caption] Last year’s winner, Noodle the cockerpoo (and her owner, Alan Duncan) had been promoted to the judging panel after her success, and seemed keen to be back on the podium. She wasn’t the only one, either. David Burrowes’ Cholmeley (who came third last year, and second in 2012), also seemed very attached to the winner’s platform, and posed nicely alongside it.
