Steerpike

It’s the battle of the Westminster hotels. First the lavish opening of the new InterContinental at St James, going directly for the political crowd, and now the Corinthia are doing things a little more subtly. Thursday night saw the opening night of their Above and Beyond show, a performance that takes over every part of the hotel, with nineteen actors performing to an individual as they tour the building. Steerpike hears that a very confused Ryan Giggs was left wondering what was going on as he tried to enjoy a sauna and was invaded by the show moving through the spa rooms. Last night’s audience members Richard Curtis and and author Kathy Lette loved it though.

Labour MP Jim Sheridan covered himself in glory this morning by asking why the ‘parasitical press’ is ‘even allowed to come into’ parliament. Westminster watchers will remember the eloquent and thoughtful Mr Sheridan’s contribution to the expenses crisis when he described the soon to be disgraced Speaker, Michael Martin, as a man of the ‘highest integrity’. Now, a reader has regaled me with a tale that makes you wonder how Mr Sheridan reached the giddy heights of the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee: ‘At a day at the races some years ago my girlfriend was making small talk with him and he must have been the Labour Convenor for Scottish MPs at the time, so she just said 'must be like herding cats'.

Last year Steerpike broke the news that fourteen rebel backbenchers had written to Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, as part of the formal process to trigger a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister. The number of names required is forty-six. This morning our editor, Fraser Nelson, reveals that senior rebels now believe that they are ‘half a dozen names away from a coup’. That’s only a minibus of Tories for Cameron to slight in some way or offend; and you wouldn’t bet against that considering Dave’s reputation for brusqueness.

Po-faced Labour MP Grahame Morris has been crying into his bitter this morning at young Tories up at York University who hold an annual ‘Hagueathon’ in honour of the fourteen pints the Foreign Secretary necked when he was a student. The game is very simple: right-wing students try to drink fourteen ales, with varying degrees of success. ‘I suspect William Hague’s capacity for 14 pints of Yorkshire bitter was a figment of his imagination,’ moans Morris to the Mirror. ‘In the current climate when the Government is supposed to be doing something about the alcohol crisis, this sets a bad example.’ Steerpike hears that Barrel Scrapper Morris has missed a trick.

The Lords’ terrace was transformed into a theatre yesterday evening to stage an adaptation of Blair Babe Oona King’s House Music diaries, which recount her career as MP for Bethnal Green and Bow between 1997 and 2005. Many of New Labour’s faded hopes, like Ruth Kelly, turned up to roll back the years and remember the good times; although those wanting to catch a glimpse of Gordon had to make to do with an actor, because, of the Great Man himself, there was no sign (again). Ed Stoppard and comedian David Schneider were treading the makeshift boards in this dramatisation. They nailed compelling impersonations of Brown, Blair and George Galloway (King’s nemesis), all of which raised laughs and reminiscence.

The Lord Rennard scandal is spreading, not least because of Nick Clegg's willingness to bring in other characters. He even directly named Danny Alexander as central to the disastrous investigation five years ago. Clegg's statement says they didn't know the specifics involved or the names of the women. A line that does not hold much weight when one of the victims was his own Special Advisor. As many Liberal Democrats lie low, it would not be a 'show trial' without everyone's favourite yellow clown. Enter stage left Lembit Opik who popped on Sky News. The last person that the party leadership would want to see, and he did not upset the punters: 'I don't want to hear all the emotion from Clegg, I don't want to hear how angry he is.