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

Westminster Dog of the Year

From our UK edition

To the gardens alongside Parliament, where MPs and their mutts lined up this morning in a bid to win the coveted title of Westminster Dog of the Year. Miniature Dachshunds appear to be the dog du jour among Tory MPs, with three of them competing to be crowned top dog. However, their short legs put

Rupert Murdoch bites his tongue

From our UK edition

What happens when you get two elderly proprietors, one with a book to sell and the other with a Twitter account? Well, sadly, with Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch, the answer is a fairly one-sided fight. Black is enjoying both freedom and the airwaves at present by going on a PR megablitz for his new

The Carswellian revolution

From our UK edition

While Conrad Black re-entered polite society at Lulu’s in Mayfair last night, the Hospital Club in Soho saw the advent of a new political force. A tie-less Douglas Carswell, the rebellious Tory MP for Clacton, took to the stage to launch his new book The End of Politics and the birth of iDemocracy, a work

Cash prizes

From our UK edition

A veritable ‘who’s who’ of SW1 has been lined up to judge the inaugural Political Book Awards. Sky’s Adam Boulton, the Mail’s Simon Walters and Labour’s Chris Bryant will be joined by that nice Mary Beard. The awards are being run by Total Politics, the magazine published by Biteback Media, which, completely coincidentally, also publishes

Jimmy Savile Is Innocent…

From our UK edition

Now then, now then. How is this for the most inappropriate publicity stunt going? The Bread and Butter gallery in Islington is opening an exhibition tomorrow provocatively called ‘Jimmy Savile Is Innocent‘. Artists are invited to bring works on the subject to the opening tomorrow night: ‘In an age when the dead can’t defend themselves

Rumours of Lynton Crosby’s return snowball

From our UK edition

Plenty of newspapers have been following the scent of my magazine report that Lynton Crosby is about to return to the Tory fold. Here’s something to help them along. One Tory government source tells me that the Tory leadership ‘are trying to twist his arm’ because ‘there’s a recognition that he would bring some focus,

Breakfast of champions

From our UK edition

Peter York, the ageing Sloane Ranger and style guru, ditched his popped collar and brogues this morning and took to the stage in a Gaddafi-style dictator’s outfit to present the Editorial Intelligence Commentariat the Year Awards. A wistful David Davis proclaimed that he would have ‘loved to be able get away with wearing that’. The

Steerpike returns in this week’s Spectator

From our UK edition

Mr Steerpike is delighted to appear in print this week, with several pieces of juicy  gossip. First off, Team Miliband are serenading Westminster’s favourite left-wing Tory, ResPublica director Phillip Blond: ‘A new rumour suggests that Miliband’s wingman, Lord Wood, has been despatched to persuade the Conservative oddball to disappear into the changing room and re-emerge

Catholic plates, Sir Stuart’s boob job and tight-lipped Lynton

From our UK edition

Many are the mysteries of the Catholic Church. The latest concerns the takings at Westminster Cathedral, which have suddenly soared by thousands of pounds a week. The priests, who for years bemoaned the stinginess of their flock, are said to be delighted by this outbreak of largesse among the faithful. They’re also rather puzzled. A

Tight-lipped Lynton

From our UK edition

The Steerpike column will appear in tomorrow’s new issue of the Spectator magazine. Here is a taste of what is inside: Is George Osborne about to be replaced as the Tories’ re-election chief? Lynton Crosby, the  Australian spin-meister who helped steer Boris to two mayoral victories in London, has recently moved to the capital from

Conor Burns slams Clegg’s boundary review ‘hissy fit’

From our UK edition

Conor Burns, the Conservative MP who resigned from the government over Lords reform, is livid with Nick Clegg’s smug declaration that the Liberal Democrats are not going to abstain from the Tories’ vote on electoral boundaries but actively vote with the opposition. It’s revenge on Burns and his cohort of true blues for killing the yellows’ beloved

Prince Charles’ letters covered up again

From our UK edition

It is no secret that the Prince of Wales is a plant-whispering greeny; but the precise nature (and bias) of his ministerial lobbying is to remain secret. Republic, the gloriously self-important but sparsely supported campaign to boot out Brenda & Co, have been using Freedom of Information laws to expose what suggestions Prince Charles has made

Arnie’s advice for Dave

From our UK edition

Only the Governator could bring the political and film crowds together. Arnold Schwarzenegger was in town last night to promote his new film, The Last Stand. He packed Sketch in Mayfair with an audience that contained everyone from business minister Matthew Hancock to Mamma Mia star Dominic Cooper. Even the immaculately dressed Chris Eubank was in attendance. Arnie gave a brilliant impersonation of himself, saying that he was

Blair’s babes are still braying

From our UK edition

Under the alias ‘Director General of the Russell Group’, a certain Dr Wendy Piatt has slammed the government’s policy on student visas. In a quote to the Independent, she warns: ‘as ministers crack down on abuse of the system, they must be careful about the messages they send to the world’s best and brightest students.’ Surely this cannot be

Danny Alexander finally finds some friends

From our UK edition

The press officer for the Cairngorms National Park turned Chief Secretary to the Treasury faces constant accusations that he has gone ‘native’, owing to the relish with which he has taken to his job of slashing the state. He did himself few favours in that regard by speaking at a fringe event at the Tory

Steerpike at the Tories’: Happy birthday, Prime Minister

From our UK edition

What gift do you buy for a man who has it all? It would be hard enough to pick a forty-sixth birthday present for the multi-millionaire David Cameron even if he were not the prime minister; but the fact that he is one of the leaders of the free world makes it even trickier. Boris

Steerpike at the Tories: Access denied

From our UK edition

Officially the Tories are denying that UKIP is a threat to them. A private discussion with the party chairman about obstacles to a majority in 2015 held last night contained no mention of Farage’s merry men. Yet it seems that Central Office might actually be a little more paranoid than they are letting on. The

Steerpike at the Tories’: Grant Shapps’ ‘how to guide’ on gate-crashing

From our UK edition

If warm white wine and dodgy canapés are your thing, then party conferences will be your heaven and I urge you to gate-crash them before the parties become extinct. Gate-crashing is an innate skill. Mr Steerpike crashed a members-only do for constituency bigwigs at the Tories’ tempestuous conference in Birmingham, and found himself in good company:

Gove kicks back at school bullies

From our UK edition

A Labour conference delegate was heckled from the floor when she mentioned her school. Joanne, an immigrant who came to this country seeking political asylum and is about to read law, came face to face with the vested interests that blight education reform: the hall did not like the fact that she went to an

Dre departing?

From our UK edition

Mr Steerpike is now available weekly in the magazine. This one’s been getting them talking today: It’s a hat-trick! Word reaches me that Dave may be about to lose his third spin doctor in a row. First Andy Coulson left to spend more time with his Fingertip Guide to the Criminal Law. Then Steve Hilton