Steerpike

There’s only one book which all of Westminster is talking about. Traditionally, the post of Chief Whip has been filled by various men in grey suits, the very embodiment of discretion and anonymity. But today Simon Hart has begun serialising his tell-all diaries. From 2022 to 2024, he served as Rishi’s enforcer, desperately trying to keep the Tory party together as it tore itself apart. Talk about a thankless task… There is plenty to digest in the first extract in today’s Times. There’s the tale of a hapless backbencher calling Hart to stump up £500 for a prostitute. There’s the story of Suella’s sacking on a voice call in No. 10.

Well, well, well. As Nigel Farage's Reform party continues to poll well across the UK, north of the border the right-wing group is making yet more gains in Scotland. Now yet another Scottish Tory councillor has defected to join Reform UK, with the party announcing this morning that Alec Leishman had switched sides – as Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay was delivering a keynote speech – before dubbing the move as a 'bitter blow' to the Conservatives. Another one bites the dust… The Renfrewshire councillor remarked today that he is 'delighted' to have joined Reform. Quick to blast his former party, Leishman proclaimed: Scotland badly needs change.

It's a gaffe day with Sir Keir Starmer's Labour lot and now the spotlight is on policing minister Diana Johnson. The Labour MP took to the airwaves this morning to sell Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's announcement that the maximum prison sentence for people selling knives to children under 18 will be increased in light of the Southport murders – from six months to two years in prison. Golly. But there's more to it than that. Not only will those directly making the sales be punished, company CEOs are in the firing line too. If, for example, under-18s are found to have purchased knives from online shopping sites like Amazon, the organisation's chairman Jeff Bezos could face the consequences. LBC's Nick Ferrari pressed Johnson on this point: could bosses like Bezos face jail time?

11 months ago, the Duchess of Sussex promised big things with the launch of her new lifestyle brand. Last March eagle-eyed social media users quickly spotted a new Instagram account called 'American Riviera Orchard' with the biography reading: 'By Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.' Yet fast forward to the beginning of 2025 and, er, nothing much had happened with it. Instead it appeared like Meghan had turned her back on the project completely to focus on her new Netflix lifestyle show, 'With Love, Meghan'. Well, it turns out that is half right… The Queen of Privacy has, it transpires, binned off American Riviera Orchard – and relaunched her brand until the new and improved title 'As Ever'.

Another day, another Rachel Reeves-related drama. The Chancellor is facing fresh claims that she has exaggerated her CV – with the Labour politician now accused of falsely claiming to have academic work published in one of the world’s leading economics journals. It raises yet another question mark over the Reeves’ work record, after the Chancellor had to make multiple edits to dates and job titles on her LinkedIn. You couldn’t make it up – or maybe you could… The Chancellor’s Who’s Who entry states that Reeves has contributed to the Journal of Political Economy, one of the top 5 economics journals globally.

It's more than three months now since Kemi Badenoch took over as Tory leader. She has set out her vision in various speeches, with yesterday's Arc address being the most recent example. So, how is she doing? Well, it's a bit of a mixed bag, according to a poll of 2,000 voters for The Spectator by More in Common. Her approval rating sits at -19, some 22 points above Keir Starmer, but below Nigel Farage. Asked to describe the Tory leader in a single word, the nation’s favourite adjective is 'unknown', followed by 'useless' – although 'strong' and 'leader' are also high on the list. If Andrew Bonar Law was the unknown Prime Minister then Badenoch is (currently) the unknown Leader of the Opposition, with only 66 per cent of Britons knowing who she is, just 10 points above Sir Ed Davey.

The Munich Security Conference has come to a close, but not before generating global headlines after US Vice President JD Vance's speech on Friday. Reform MP Rupert Lowe lauded the American as a 'hero' after Vance warned that free speech was 'in retreat' in the UK and Europe – but not everyone feels the same. In fact, chairman of the Munich Security Conference Christoph Heusgen was positively distraught at Vance's intervention as he closed the 61st conference on Sunday. Taking to the podium, Heusgen began solemnly: After the speech of Vice President Vance on Friday, we have to fear that our common value base is not that common anymore. I'm very grateful to all those European politicians that spoke out and reaffirmed the values and principles that they are defending.

Well, well, well. After a rather rocky ride in the Sunday papers, Lord Hermer is back in the spotlight this week – for all the wrong reasons. It has emerged that Labour MPs are now calling on the Prime Minister's ethics tsar to probe the Attorney General over potential conflicts of interest. Talk about a bad start to the job, eh? Richard Hermer has only been in post for seven months and yet he's managed to ruffle a rather lot of feathers. The Attorney General has refused to reveal details of payments he has received since becoming a minister, including any earnings from his list of former clients, in a position not in keeping with his predecessors.

Back to Scotland, where the Sandie Peggie v NHS Fife case has sparked outrage across the country. After nurse Peggie questioned a transgender doctor for using the female changing rooms, she was suspended by her health board. The move pushed her to bring a landmark tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton for harassment and discrimination. While the tribunal case has been adjourned until July, it has now emerged that Peggie could herself face dismissal over the whole thing – after being accused of having 'misgendered' Dr Upton by using male pronouns when talking to and about the junior doctor.