Steerpike

Labour might be making headway in the polls, but the party’s rifts haven’t gone away. Today, Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, has hit out at the late Margaret Thatcher – only days after Sir Keir Starmer praised her ‘natural entrepreneurialism’ in his Sunday Telegraph op-Ed. Speaking to reporters, Sarwar said: Margaret Thatcher destroyed communities across the country. She decimated Scotland. That's why it was right to oppose her then, and it's right for us to oppose the modern day Thatcherism of this Conservative party. His comments continue a trend of Scottish Labour pushing back on policy positions adopted by their London-based colleagues – including the bedroom tax, the two-child benefit cap and Scotland’s gender reforms.

He has served under four of the last five Tory premiers. So who better to address revellers at the ConservativeHome Christmas shindig than Michael Gove? This evening the Levelling Up Secretary took to the stage to deliver the canapé equivalent of a state of the nation address. And, in true Gove style, he began by heaping praise on his hosts. ConservativeHome, he noted, was founded in 2005 and as such has now ‘been going for more than 18 years – it’s older than many members of the House of Lords!

If things seem bad, they can always get worse. That's the message for poor Rishi Sunak in the latest ConservativeHome league table of party members. The Prime Minister today records his worst ratings ever, racking up a dire -25.4 among card-carrying Conservatives. It comes after a yo-yoing three months in which his negative ratings rose to 25.8 after the Net Zero speech before falling slightly to 7.1 after party conference season. But Sunak is now bottom of his own cabinet – one place beneath longtime-struggler Jeremy Hunt, whose ratings rise to 'just' -13.4. So much for that Autumn Statement bounce... The other big beasts around the cabinet table fare little better either. Lord Cameron's return is hardly a triumphant one, with the membership awarding him -4.

All great tragedies must have a villain. And who serves that role better at the Covid Inquiry than Matt Hancock? After weeks of damning testimony from his critics, the Casanova of the Commons finally began his long-awaited evidence session yesterday morning. Most of his defence has previously been set out in his much-mocked Pandemic Diaries – a work surely in breach of both good taste and the Trade Descriptions Act. But there was a moment of levity today when Hancock turned his attention to his old enemy, Nicola Sturgeon – one of the few politicians potentially more narcissistic and power-crazed than he is.

Looking back, 2023 didn't have all of the fireworks that the previous 12 months brought. As December fast approaches, both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer remain in post – a change from 2022 and the year of four Chancellors, three premiers and two monarchs as well. But at this year's Spectator Parliamentarian Awards, the gossip was in full flow this evening as the great and the good descended on London’s Rosewood Hotel to mix and mingle. Among those in attendance were Home Secretary James Cleverly and his recently-axed predecessor Suella Braverman, with Jon Ashworth, Peter Kyle and Grant Shapps among those spotted by Mr S. 'All political careers end in hosting The Spectator awards,' began Sajid Javid as tonight's Master of Ceremonies.

A curious performance in the Commons today by Robert Jenrick. The Immigration Minister has long been seen – in the press at least – as a staunch Sunakite, put in at the Home Office to keep a watchful eye on Suella Braverman. But has that all changed after thirteen months at 2 Marsham Street? At Oral Questions this afternoon, Jenrick was asked when a plan to cut immigration will come before the Commons. Watched on by Tory backbenchers and his boss James Cleverly, Jenrick told them that 'My plan would have been brought to the House before last Christmas if it could have been' despite, er, insisting that he is at one with the Prime Minister on this. It was not the only odd moment in the session.

Oh dear. It seems that the Bank of England Governor is suffering from a permanent case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. Andrew Bailey – whose tenure at Threadneedle Street has done little for the Bank's reputation – has caused needless headlines with another Eeyore-esque interview about the UK economy. Speaking, bizarrely, to local media in Newcastle, the head of one of the world's most powerful central banks decided that now would be the perfect time to cast doubt on his country's growth prospects. Bailey told the Newcastle Chronicle that: If you look at what I call the potential growth rates of the economy, there’s no doubt it’s lower than it has been in much of my working life. It does concern me that the supply side of the economy has slowed. It does concern me a lot.