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

Monday

Steerpike

The strange case of Speaker Bercow’s Whisky

John Bercow has opened a new front in his war with Tory MPs: he has apparently withdrawn the very fine Speaker Bercow’s Whisky from the gift shop in Parliament. The £30 10 year old single malt was a favourite Tory tipple, and not only for the amusement of joke toasts to Bercow but because it was actually drinkable. The troops are already convinced that Bercow is biased, and they cannot stand his pomposity. Could being forced back on the £23 House of Commons blended scotch be the final humiliation? UPDATE: Good news! The Speaker's minions have been in touch to inform Mr S that the whisky is still on sale, despite the lamentations of various Tory MPs.

Steerpike

Scandal ridden BBC admits camera trickery

Our Parliamentarian of the Year awards continue to makes the news. I’m reliably informed that this item in Dominic Lawson’s Mail column is the result of a jolly exchange at last Thursday’s lunch: ‘There are two television programmes which I watch regularly: Newsnight and University Challenge — both presented by Jeremy Paxman. But which Jeremy Paxman? On Newsnight he wears a beard.  On University Challenge he is clean-shaven.  I am unsettled by the divergent appearances of the presenter in my life — though I know it is because the current series of University Challenge was filmed before he abandoned his razor.

Thursday

Steerpike

Ed steals the show at the Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards

Ed Miliband stole the show at this year's Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year awards. The Labour leader, who won a new prize called Political Speech of the Year (for the energy freeze pledge, which ‘transformed his fortunes’), took the chance to read out a Sunday Sport story which accused his ‘Belgian communist’ father of ‘killing a cat’ when cycling through the British countryside during the war. Ed charmed the crowd by being funny, good on camera and, you know, normal. Home Secretary Theresa May, who took the Politician of the Year award, despite her recent burka-related difficulties, was a hoot.

Steerpike

Ed’s love for Bill de Blasio runs deep

The court of Ed has a new hero. Francois Hollande, who was credited with ‘turning the tide’ of austerity by taking a ‘different way forward’, has been usurped by Bill de Blasio, the Democrat Mayor-elect of New York, who Team Ed credit with a ‘different kind’ of politics. Ed’s greybeard Lord Wood has penned a gushing paean to de Blasio in today’s Telegraph. Wood applauds de Blasio’s ‘Disraelian theme: “One New York, Rising Together”’. Mr S can’t see all that much of Disraeli in de Blasio’s mundane slogan — the word ‘one’ seems to have assumed mythic proportions in the minds of Ed’s counsellors.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Ho ho no

Parents who have taken their little angels to see Father Christmas in his grotto at Selfridges got a shock: he’s not there this year. No lists, no photos on the knee, no overpriced gift. Uproar has ensued. The store’s PR team tells Mr Steerpike: ‘Selfridges will not be having the traditional Santa's Grotto this year. We felt a different direction was needed for 2013’. Santa has been downgraded to a roaming personal shopper who ‘advises customers on the perfect, and personalised presents.’ But one source has a different view: the store's international clientele aren't bothered about Christmas so the space required to recreate Lapland is no longer economically viable. But, ye traditionalists, panic not.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Murdoch son-in-law ‘clarifies’ that the PM did come to his party after all

You know how it is. You've had a heavy night, everyone has left your party and empty bottles are all that remains. Then those pesky diary journalists start calling. Elizabeth Murdoch's husband Matthew Freud has 'clarified' that Cameron and Osborne were actually at his birthday party on Saturday, as described by Mr Steerpike yesterday. Initially, Mr Freud said that the PM had not attended. I can sympathise; I always forget when the Prime Minister and his Chancellor pop round for a knees-up.

Monday

Steerpike

Cameron and Osborne supping with Murdoch – again

It was PR guru Matthew Freud's 50th birthday on Saturday: he and his wife, Elisabeth Murdoch, hosted a fairly lavish party. But would Westminster's finest attend? Guests were struck to see the Prime Minister and the Chancellor both in attendance, evidently quite happy to rejoin the social set that they have both kept clear of in recent years. Tony and Cherie Blair were also tripping the light fantastic. It was, after all, a Noah's Ark theme and they came in twos: PM and Osborne, Blairs, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. Perhaps the Chancellor is so confident that his pre-Budget report will be a festival of good news that he feels he can start partying again. After some initial confusion, Downing Street confirmed that Cameron attended the bash.

Steerpike

Sebastian Shakespeare leaves Londoner’s Diary

All change over at High Street Ken this afternoon with the departure of Sebastian Shakespeare, who had edited the Evening Standard’s Londoner’s Diary for the better part of 20 years. Famed for his long-running feuds with Lord Archer, Ian McEwan and the Candy Brothers, Shakespeare once had manure dumped on his head as he sat in his soft-top BMW by a happy reader. Standard editor Sarah Sands thanked Shakespeare for serving the paper ‘brilliantly for many years’, and then announced the new line up: ‘I am delighted to announced that Joy Lodico is to become the new editor of Londoner’s Diary. Joy is a talented journalist of notable intelligence and wit who will take this signature column into its next incarnation. It is rather like Dr Who.

Friday

Steerpike

Political philosophy, Harry-style

Boy-band super-hero Harry Styles proclaimed on Twitter earlier today: ‘All social change comes from the passion of individuals.’ His shrieking fans were enthused by this insight. Some even asked if they could quote him in their exams. How sweet. Mr S is pleased to see little Harry channelling American anthropologist Margaret Mead. She is alleged to have said (although I can't discover where and when she said it), 'Never ever depend on governments or institutions to solve any major problems. All social change comes from the passion of individuals.' Clever lady, that. But what could all this philosophising from Styles, a self-confessed Labour supporter, mean? Mr S has a theory.

Thursday

Steerpike

Dave’s ‘crimson tide’ is not a family trait

Sky News made history today by broadcasting for the first time ever from inside the Court of Appeal, and Counsel for the Appellant looked familiar. Indeed, it was none other than Alexander Cameron QC, the Prime Minister's brother. Dave's florid face evidently runs in the family; but, while the PM is prone to getting rather shouty at the dispatch box (the so-called 'crimson tide'), Alexander was a model of composure before the bench. Perhaps he might give his little brother some lessons?

Wednesday

Steerpike

Mr and Mrs Treasury

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Treasury. HMT has today announced the appointment of Sharon White, the current Director General over at Horseguards, as Second Permanent Secretary. Who she? Well, she's none other than the wife of Robert Chote, the chief of the Office of Budget Responsibility. The OBR was set up in 2010 by George Osborne to provide independent analysis and advice on Treasury policy. It is meant to be completely independent, so no pillow talk please.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Taking on the most dangerous job in journalism

Readers will recall the sad demise of Tatler Alan, the cute pooch who came to a sticky end in a tragic accident involving the doors of Vogue House, where the magazine is based. Well, I am the bearer of happier news this time: the girls in pearls have a new canine recruit, Geoffrey, a puppy that seems just as sweet as his unlucky predecessor. So then. Happiness restored at last and a dark chapter in Bystander’s history closed. Just watch out for those revolving doors, Geoffrey.

Steerpike

Didn’t the BBC know that Will Straw is a PPC before his dad told them?

Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was on today’s Daily Politics, gushing with pride that his son Will is Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for the seat of Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire. Yet it seems that this piece of dynastic info was news to Auntie. Will Straw was on the BBC News Channel this morning, discussing energy prices, and there was no mention of his being a PPC. The presenter simply said, ‘Will Straw is Associate Director of the centre-left think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research.’ Mr S would have forgiven the presenter had he not asked: ‘the Labour Party is talking about a freeze on energy prices for two years. Would you go along with that?

Monday

Steerpike

Feeding the Feds

'ello, 'ello, 'ello. What's all this, then? The Police Federation has been trying to distance itself from the three coppers who who were hauled before Parliament last week to explain why the secret recording of their meeting with former chief whip Andrew Mitchell bore little relation to their account of events. As PR Week puts it, 'While the federation has a duty to distribute the officers’ statements, it steered clear of endorsing their contents.' And, incidentally, beneath the officers' statement the federation included this line: 'The federation will not be offering facilities further than the above statement.

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: Crane crashes into Cabinet Office

The Tories promised they would fix the roof while the sun was shining. It seems they are keeping their word for once. Although this crane, which came crashing down into the roof of the Cabinet Office in last night's megastorm, means poor Nick Clegg can't hold his much-anticipated monthly press conference. The press lobby are all bereft: what will they find to fill the downpage 'meanwhile, Nick Clegg' slot?

Friday

Steerpike

Boom turns to bust for Gay Hussar

Is it the end of another yet another political eatery? Tory favourites Shepherd's, the Atrium and St Stephen’s Club in Westminster have shut up shop. Now the Gay Hussar, a famous Labour hangout in Soho, is up for auction. Not even the ample appetite of Charles Clarke, a regular, could keep the place afloat. The Hussar was the scene of much plotting over the years, and it is decorated with cartoons of Labour figures. As former Tribune editor Mark Seddon recommends: 'How about a diners' co-op?

Thursday

Steerpike

The Lady on Lenin

A delightful anecdote in Jonathan Aitken's new biography of Margaret Thatcher, which is out today. Visiting the French estate of the late Jimmy Goldsmith in 1997, with Denis and Bill and Biddy Cash, Lady T posed for a photograph in front of the giant statue of Lenin that resides in the woodland of Montjeu. ‘I just want to show him we won,’ declared the late PM. History is written by the victors.

Wednesday

Steerpike

Sir Peter Hendy’s complaints procedure

All London bus users are equal, but some are more equal than others. Especially if your name is Sir Peter Hendy. On his way to a meeting at the Houses of Parliament today, Mr Steerpike hears that Transport for London’s ‘Commissioner’ was so incensed that a bus had shut its doors and driven off before he could board that he spent the rest of his journey furiously reporting this outrage. From the comfort of a black cab. ‘What a little bastard grass’ my cabbie source said, pointing out Hendy went to great lengths to identify exactly which driver had upset him and demanding consequences. ‘Work at TfL do you?’ the taxi driver asked his fuming customer. ‘No, I run it’ came the curt reply.

Steerpike

Who’s the real whiff-waff wuss, Boris?

That London Mayor has some cheek. In today's Daily Mail, Boris suggests that our occasional diarist Pippa Middleton has wimped out of the ping-pong match she challenged him to in the Spectator earlier this year. 'We have offered dates', he says, 'she has chickened.' Au contraire, Boris. Here's what really happened. The Spectator hounded Boris's office to arrange the contest at our offices in 22 Old Queen Street, but Team Boris insisted that the match should be held at a venue of their choosing. Fine, said Pippa, who is a good a sport. Eventually a date was agreed — 12 September — but BJ pulled out. Fair enough, he's a busy man; the Spectator suggested that Team Boris propose another date, but things have gone very quiet at the City Hall end. So who's chicken, really?