Steerpike

It's the surest sign that a politician is on maneuvers: a slimmer waistline and a sharper suit. But are some of our leading lights in Westminster getting some extra help in their bid to battle the bulge and take the Tory crown? For the Mail on Sunday today reports that at least two Conservative leadership hopefuls are injecting themselves with Ozempic in order to 'hit their fighting weight in time for the next Tory contest'. Whoever could they be..? The weight-loss drug is taken via regular injections and works to suppress the user's appetite – difficult when you're supposed to be out constantly dining your fellow colleagues. Still, at least neither of the two leadership hopefuls have yet suffered the fate of another of their number.

A stern-looking Jeremy Hunt gave a speech in a rented office opposite the Treasury today saying he had come to puncture myths. Labour has said that if he abolishes National Insurance (as he hints) it would cost £48 billion. Asked about this, he said: ‘It is a lie – I don’t make any bones about it.’ Strong words. But how robust were his own facts? Let’s look at some of his claims. Hunt claims UK has been a job-making factory Let’s start with jobs. The president of the CBI described the UK as “a job-creating factory”. That’s because over the last 14 years we have painstakingly built one of the most flexible labour market in Europe.

If you thought the Scottish Greens couldn’t get any battier, then strap in. Patrick Harvie’s barmy army has ramped up its baffling stance on gender politics and is now expelling party members for declaring that ‘sex is a biological reality’. There really are no words… The eco-zealots have turned on their own membership after a handful of activist members signed the ‘Scottish Green Declaration for Women’s Sex-Based Rights’ in a protest against the party's position on gender issues.

Uh oh. The dreaming spires are once again caught up in controversy. Ministers have accused Oxford University of attempting to ‘stitch up’ its chancellor selection process to stop another white, male politician from taking the top job. Now, after a number of senior politicians urged the uni to rethink its plans, Oxford has finally thrown in the towel and U-turned. Talk about a row back… The publication of chancellor election rules in March was met with a heated backlash after critics accused the university of attempting to ‘vet’ candidates it did not like.

Dear oh dear. Has all Labour’s tough talk on tackling immigration been purely for show? That’s how things appear after a question on illegal migration today saw a grand total of, er, zero Labour backbenchers turn up. Not even Natalie Elphicke, the Dover and Deal defector who made tackling immigration her defining mission, bothered to attend. How curious. On Friday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer travelled to the coastal town of Deal to bang on about his party's immigration plans amidst the controversy he found himself in over Elphicke's defection. He committed to scrapping the Rwanda scheme ‘absolutely, flights and all’ and instead pledged to divert £75 million to allow specialist officers 'to break gangs'.

How time flies. Half a year has passed since former prime minister David Cameron made a shock return to frontline politics — and the House of Lords. His appointment as Foreign Secretary was a controversial one, with certain sections of the Tory party pretty sceptical at Dave’s big return. His ardent support for Remain ruffled some feathers, combined with an underlying resentment that Sunak maybe didn’t much value the talent pool among his own colleagues in the Commons.  Cameron’s history of foreign policy failings isn’t short, either. From his Libya adventure and the Syria debacle to the Brexit gamble that cost him his job, the former Prime Minister certainly isn’t without a chequered past. So how has Cameron handled the last six months?

Oh dear. It’s not just Reform UK that has had trouble with party candidates in recent weeks — the Labour party is facing issues of its own. Candidates for both the local and general elections have been found to have made and shared some rather inappropriate views — which are now coming back to bite them. Only yesterday, one prospective parliamentary candidate was dropped by Labour after being investigated over her social media activity while just last month a Labour councillor quit the party when her Twitter came under scrutiny. When will they learn?  Find the list – so far – here: Wilma Brown The Scottish Labour candidate for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy was suspended from the party last month after being accused of liking racist and Islamophobic social media posts.

There may be a new First Minister in the driving seat but can the SNP overtake Labour's lead in the polls? Just this morning, Savanta revealed that, for the very first time in the pollster's history, Labour is four points ahead of the SNP in Westminster voting intention. It's certainly not the best start to the job for freshly-appointed John Swinney... And despite officially leading his country for about, er, two days, Swinney is already facing dissent over his decision-making. In a move that was widely anticipated, the First Minister made Kate Forbes his second-in-command – much to the dismay of the Scottish Greens. The eco-activists promptly fell into fits of rage, ranting and raving about ‘progressive values’ and a return to the 1950s.