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

Tuesday

Steerpike

Ex-Tory donor becomes Reform’s chief fundraiser

From our UK edition

As the government's fortunes continue to worsen, Reform UK only seems to be on the up. It now transpires that former Conservative donor and luxury property developer Nick Candy has defected from the party to join Nigel Farage's start-up – to become Reform's new chief fundraiser. Another Tory bites the dust… Speaking to the Sun, the millionaire donor insisted: 'I will raise Reform more money than any political party in the UK has every raised. Nigel is going to be PM.' He went on: I have resigned my membership of the Conservative party after many years of active support and substantial donations to the party. I am sorry to say there have been too many broken promises and a complete breach of trust with the wealth creators in our country.

Steerpike

David Lammy’s geography gaffe

From our UK edition

It’s a gaffe a day with Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour lot – and this time David Lammy is in the spotlight. Addressing parliament on Monday over the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the Foreign Secretary seemed to be a little confused on the detail – specifically the, er, geography of the Middle East. At least it's not relevant to his job or anything, eh? During a debate on Syria on Monday afternoon, Lammy insisted to fellow parliamentarians that Libya was ‘next door’ to Syria, noting: Having just come back from the region, I am sure that she will have heard Gulf allies raise the issue of Captagon and illegal drugs that also propped up Assad’s regime and flooded into Gulf countries. We continue to monitor that.

Monday

Steerpike

Mandarins shell out £130k for Starmer army’s offices

From our UK edition

With a change of government, you might have thought 4 July would see a lot of new brooms in Whitehall. Yet, for some mandarins, the dissolution of the last parliament seems to have been the cue to get all the paint brushes and toolkits out. Since the end of May, more than £130,000 was spent by eleven departments across Whitehall as officials rushed to refurbish their new ministers' offices. A series of written questions by new boy Ashley Fox show that two high-spending departments seemed to welcome Labour's arrival with particular gusto. The Department of Energy Security greeted Ed Miliband's return by blowing more than £42,000 – excluding VAT – on a refurbishment including nearly £30,000 worth of new furniture and fittings.

Steerpike

Revealed: the 53 peers silent for five years

From our UK edition

The wind of change is sweeping through the Upper House. What with Labour's plans to expel the last hereditaries and Gavin Williamson's effort to boot the bishops too, soon the House of Lords will be devoid of any colour. How will the sketch writers cope eh? Today brings more bad news for traditionalist lovers of the lords and ladies in ermine. For Politico reports that there are growing calls to exclude members of the House of Lords who rarely attend or take part in debates. The convenor of the crossbenchers Lord Kinnoull has suggested that expelling those who attend 10 percent or less of sitting days could cut the size of the Lords by 100 peers.

Steerpike

Suella Braverman’s husband joins Reform

From our UK edition

Well, well, well. In a rather curious turn of events, it now transpires that Rael Braverman – husband of former Home Secretary Suella Braverman – has started campaigning for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. How very interesting… Farage took to Twitter to announce that Braverman had not only been canvassing for the party on the streets of Hertfordshire on Sunday, but had actually become a member of the right wing group, noting:  He has received a great reception after joining the fastest growing movement in British politics. Good heavens. It’s certainly a good time to be in Farage’s group after a FindOutNow voting intention survey put Reform in second place, ahead of Sir Keir’s lefty lot and just two percentage points behind Kemi Badenoch’s boys in blue.

Friday

Steerpike

Justin Welby apologises after causing ‘hurt’ in farewell speech

From our UK edition

Justin Welby can’t seem to get anything right these days – not even his own leaving speech. Now the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury has been forced to apologise for the gag-filled monologue he delivered to the House of Lords on Thursday after causing a rather lot of offence with his choice of language. Dear oh dear…  The Archbishop today announced he 'would like to apologise wholeheartedly for the hurt' he caused after his quite controversial remarks – including a reference to an historic beheading – went down badly with both abuse survivors and fellow bishops.

Steerpike

Why is Sadiq Khan in line for a knighthood?

From our UK edition

Welcome to Labour's Britain, where failure is lauded and incompetence rewarded. According to reports in the Financial Times, it appears that Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, has ended up on the draft list for the New Years honours. Also thought to be receiving a gong is Labour lefty Emily Thornberry, chair of the foreign affairs committee while rumours abound that Sir Keir's former chief of staff Sue Gray – who was demoted from the top job just months into Starmer's premiership – may have also made the cut. Quite the motley crew, eh? Mr S is rather perplexed about reports that the London mayor may be set to receive a knighthood – not least because of his rather disastrous reign over the city.

Thursday

Steerpike

40% of Keir’s No. 10 staff appointed uncontested

From our UK edition

It's not been a good week for Sir Keir's lefty lot. In the last few days alone, Starmer's army has been hit with the revelation that over half of all Brits feel disappointed by Labour’s achievements in government so far – while just hours ago, a new survey by FindOutNow saw Nigel Farage's Reform party surge to second place, overtaking the current government of the day. And now the beast that is Labour's cronyism row threatens to rear its head once more. Steerpike would remind readers that back in 2020, every Permanent Secretary co-signed the grandly-named ‘Declaration of Government Reform’ in June 2020, promising to usher in a new era of transparency, meritocracy and excellence in the palaces of Whitehall.

Steerpike

MoJ fail to stop theft on their own doorstep

From our UK edition

'More bobbies on the beat', cried Keir Starmer in his definitely-not-a-reset speech earlier today. But even when there are coppers out on patrol, are they doing enough to strike fear into lawless criminals? Just a stone's throw away from The Spectator offices in Westminster is the Brutalist monstrosity of the Ministry of Justice's headquarters. Known as Lubyanka – after the KGB headquarters – the address of 102 Petty France street is notorious for ruining the views of not one, but two nearby London parks. Yet while aesthetics may not be the MoJ's thing, you would hope that law and order actually is.

Steerpike

How much will the Chagos deal cost?

From our UK edition

It's a simple question: how much is the Chagos Islands' handover going to cost British taxpayers? Yet for weeks now, Labour ministers have been stonewalling and squirming in their efforts to avoid giving a clear straight answer. Shortly after the deal was announced on 3 October, Foreign Secretary David Lammy told MPs that 'the agreement will be underpinned by a financial settlement that is acceptable to both sides.' Lammy promised on 7 October that 'at the time of publishing the treaty, there will be a discussion of the costs' before adding 'but no basing agreements ever discuss costs.' In response to a question by Caroline Dineage on 'how much will the UK have to pay for the privilege of ceding our sovereignty?

Steerpike

Reform polls ahead of Labour for first time

From our UK edition

When it rains for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour lot, it pours. In the same week an Ipsos poll revealed that over half of all Brits feel disappointed by Labour’s achievements so far, now another poll brings more bad news for Starmer’s army. The FindOutNow voting intention poll has demoted Sir Keir’s crowd to third place – overtaken by none other than Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Talk about a turnaround, eh? The survey, using data collected on 4 December, shows the Tories in first place with 26 per cent backing Kemi Badenoch’s boys in blue. Next, for the first time, Farage’s lot have beaten Labour.

Steerpike

Prevent data reveals ‘Islamist’ referrals on the rise

From our UK edition

While all eyes were on the Prime Minister's big 'plan for change' announcement today, the government also chose this morning to release some new data to the public. One of the reports published today includes the latest Prevent stats – and they paint a rather interesting picture. Between March 2023 and 2024, there were a staggering 6,922 referrals to the programme which when broken down reveal an uptick in cases being referred due to 'Islamist concerns', a rise of over 130 from the previous year. How very interesting… The gap between referrals for extreme right wing behaviour and Islamist concerns has narrowed notably in the year ending March 2024, with the number of extreme right wing referrals remaining fairly similar to those recorded in previous reports.

Steerpike

Are we in for a ‘Nigel’ revival?

From our UK edition

Once the popularity of politicians was judged by how many babies they were asked to kiss – now it’s by how many kids are named after them. The Office for National Statistics has today revealed the most popular baby names for last year, with Olivia remaining the top girls’ name and Muhammad overtaking Noah to take the top spot. Celebrity names such as Billie, Lana, Reign and Saint were on the rise too. ‘Rishi’ kept his place at the political names top spot, going from 36 babies last year to 37 thus year. ‘Boris’, perhaps surprisingly, held strong too, keeping level at 28. ‘Keir’ languished around the count of three, where ONS statisticians suppress the results if less than three babies are given that particular name.

Steerpike

Half of Brits disappointed by Labour so far

From our UK edition

Another day, another round of bad news for Sir Keir Starmer's government. Now a new Ipsos poll has revealed that over half of all Brits feel disappointed by Labour's achievements (or lack thereof) so far. 53 per cent noted their dissatisfaction with the governing party in the latest survey, which quizzed 1,092 adults between 22-25 November. Given Starmer's time as PM has been dominated by reports of cronyism rows, freebie fiascos and top team infighting – not to mention Rachel Reeves's poorly-received Budget – Mr S is hardly surprised… The Starmtroopers haven't much impressed even their own crowd in the five months they've been in power – with almost a third of Labour's 2024 voters registering their dismay with Sir Keir's bunch.

Wednesday

Steerpike

BBC presenter under fire over failure to declare extra work

From our UK edition

Another day, another drama at the BBC. Now it transpires that one of the corporation's top newsreaders Clive Myrie failed to declare up to a quarter of a million pounds worth of 'external events' that he was involved in outside of his BBC job. Dear oh dear… As well as undertaking his newsreader role, the Beeb staffer has also been paid for a number of speaking and hosting work – but when it came to logging the additional work on the broadcaster's external events register, Myrie fell short. It took the press getting in touch with the BBC over the issue for the star presenter to register 29 late entries – charging £10,000 a pop for most gigs. Alright for some!

Steerpike

Will Sue Gray get a peerage?

From our UK edition

Sue Gray may no longer be Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff but that doesn't mean she isn't still making headlines. Now it transpires that the Prime Minister is planning to award a peerage to the former civil servant, despite the rather negative press attention Gray managed to garner while in the top job. How very interesting… According to the Financial Times, Starmer has grand plans to award the former mandarin with a seat in the House of Lords – while a number of other ex-MPs who allowed fresh candidates to stand in the July election are also expected to make Sir Keir's 'political' list of peerages. Gray had a rather checkered time in No. 10, with a number of negative briefings suggesting that the ex-civil servant did not particularly get on with the rest of Starmer's top team.

Steerpike

Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year 2024, in pictures

From our UK edition

In 2024, no incumbent has been safe. Whether it was the Democrats in America or the Tories in Britain, there has been plenty of drama in every corner of the globe. Here in Westminster, Keir Starmer swept to power – only to discover that governing well is quite a bit harder than some seemed to believe. Rishi Sunak meanwhile has left the political stage, to be replaced by Kemi Badenoch after a mammoth four-month contest. So in a year of shocks, the only safe seat could be found tonight at The Spectator’s Parliamentarian Awards. The great and the not-so-good of British politics crammed themselves into the opulent splendour of the Old War Office in Whitehall to toast, commiserate and celebrate the memories of this year.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Poll: public back NFU over Reeves

From our UK edition

When you're in a hole, stop digging. These words of wisdom are yet to be heeded by the bright young things in Downing Street, who appear to be ploughing on manfully with plans to slap inheritance tax on family farms. Yet despite all the state-sponsored spinning, the public seems to be increasingly turning against Labour on this issue. According to a poll conducted by Freshwater Strategy for The Spectator, a majority – 53 per cent – of voters oppose Labour’s change to inheritance tax, with barely a quarter (27 per cent) backing the move. One in three Brits (36 per cent) say the announcement makes them more likely to vote for another party, with just 15 per cent claiming it would make them 'more' likely to vote Labour.

Steerpike

Conservative Home founder joins Reform

From our UK edition

The ravens really are leaving the Tower. Last week, it was Andrea Jenkyns quitting the Tories; this week it is the turn of an even bigger name. Tim Montgomerie – the founder of Conservative Home – has today been announced as the latest prominent Conservative to switch to Reform UK. The party posted a picture of Montgomerie beaming with leader Nigel Farage and chairman Zia Yusuf on its X account. 'After 33 years in the Conservative party', it read, 'Tim Montgomerie, former adviser to Boris Johnson and creator and editor of Conservative Home, has joined Reform UK.' Ahead of a 'special announcement', new week a senior party source told Mr S that 'We have all the momentum in British politics – Reform are reconstituting the centre right.

Steerpike

Commons back proportional representation bill

From our UK edition

There have been a lot of political firsts this year: Labour's supermajority, Reform UK's Westminster seats and the incorporation of an, er, bungee jump into the Liberal Democrat election campaign. Now all eyes are on a curious development in Westminster today that has the potential to alter the UK's entire voting system… In a rather interesting move, the Commons voted this afternoon to introduce a bill to legislate on proportional representation. The ten minute rule motion was introduced by Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney and calls for: Leave [to] be given to bring in a Bill to introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England; and for connected purposes.