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
Well, well, well. There has been a rather interesting appointment made to the Foreign Office board by David Lammy, as Karen Blackett joins as a non-executive director. This is not the advertising executive’s first brush with the now-Foreign Secretary however – as it transpires that Blackett is actually a Lammy donor, putting a whopping £5,000
As Sir Keir Starmer’s migration talks with French president Emmanuel Macron drag on, the TV segments on the subject are getting progressively weirder. Take this morning’s GB News piece aboard Nigel Farage’s boat. The Reform UK leader was supposed to be getting quizzed on the noises coming out of the Anglo-French borders deal – which
Like Forrest Gump, The Spectator has an amusing habit of turning up at the right moments in history. Boris during Partygate? There was a copy of our mag in one of the No. 10 snaps. The latest season of Industry? There was a fake front cover proudly on display. And now it seems that this
When it rains for Sir Keir Starmer, it pours. The Prime Minister faced the biggest rebellion of his premiership last week after 49 Labour rebels voted against his welfare bill – despite the government making significant concessions that effectively put off any reforms until the end of next year – and now the public has
Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was a rather illuminating session. Tory party leader Kemi Badenoch will be rather pleased at the news headlines her line of questioning has generated, after she repeatedly quizzed Sir Keir Starmer on his government’s tax pledges. While he gave an uncharacteristically direct response to her first query – stating that ‘yes’,
Gregg Wallace’s 20-year career with the BBC is finished – and so is any admiration he had for the broadcaster, apparently. When the corporation probed the former MasterChef presenter after more than 50 women came forward with allegations about the TV star – and reported that a further 11 had accused him of inappropriate sexual
Uh oh. Elon Musk’s AI chatbot is in the doghouse – after Grok shocked Twitter users when it began praising, er, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. In a rather baffling series of responses to social media users, the xAI bot first slammed Jewish people as being arbiters of anti-white hate before claiming the best person to
Oh dear. It appears that after the Sunday Times story last weekend, there is no way back for James McMurdock. The paper went hard on allegations about the Essex MP’s financial dealings, reporting that he had borrowed £70,000 under the government’s Bounce Back loans scheme in 2020 through two companies. A sub-optimal look for a
It seems that some people really can’t take a joke… In the magazine this week, Rod Liddle wistfully contemplated the idea of nuking Glastonbury, pointing out that a small-yield nuclear weapon dropped on the festival ‘would immediately remove from our country almost everybody who is hugely annoying.’ Rod added, for good measure: Given our current lack of
What a week it has been in British politics. After the welfare rebellion on Tuesday and then the shambles of PMQs on Wednesday, life in CCHQ must now seem a little easier. This week, it was the turn of Kemi Badenoch to address the Conservative Group dinner at the Local Government Association annual conference. And
Oh dear. Reform UK has made much of its recent progress. Having lost Rupert Lowe at the beginning of this year, Farage’s forces then gained Sarah Pochin at a stonking set of local elections. But now the parliamentary party is backed down to four MPs again, after James McMurdock chose to resign the whip, amid
It’s been a tumultuous first year for Sir Keir Starmer, and with backbenchers and opposition politicians alike becoming far more vocal, where better to take the temperature of Westminster then at The Spectator’s annual summer party? The party, always in early July, is typically a scene of political drama: it comes just days after Labour’s latest U-turn
Mr Steerpike is a fan of Accidental Partridge moments, and this one was back of the net. Lefty actor Steve Coogan popped up on BBC Breakfast this morning to talk up his appearance at this weekend’s Co-op congress in Rochdale. Amid swipes at the government and big business, the comedian was becoming visibly exasperated by presenters Charlie
Support for Nigel Farage’s Reform party is surging in the UK, and it appears the group is making waves across the pond too. As reported by the Telegraph, US Vice-President JD Vance is getting interested in Farage’s outfit, even quizzing UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson about the rise of Reform. It’s one sign
Just when the SNP thought Operation Branchform had disappeared, the curious case into the party’s funds and finances has reared its head again. Now it transpires that former SNP chief Peter Murrell – and ex-husband of Dear Leader Nicola Sturgeon – has been granted legal aid after being charged with embezzlement, meaning the taxpayer will,
All is not well on the Labour front benches. As Sir Keir Starmer defends his welfare U-turn in the Commons – after last night an eleventh-hour concession saw the government push back Personal Insurance Payment changes – behind him Chancellor Rachel Reeves is struggling to keep it together. Looking both upset and rather sleep deprived,
Uh oh. After Sir Keir Starmer’s embarrassing U-turn on his government’s welfare bill last night – where changes to Personal Insurance Payments were pushed back until after disability minister Stephen Timms’s review on it all next year – cabinet minister Pat McFadden has been out on the airwaves this morning defending his leader. But when
To the Lucy Letby case, where it transpires that the Crown Prosecution Service is considering further criminal charges against the ex-nurse. Murder investigators have passed evidence of further allegations that relate to baby deaths and collapses at the hospitals that employed her – and these are now being considered by the CPS after the Cheshire
Well, well, well. It appears that Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has managed to secure yet another notable donation – and this time from Tory donors who backed Boris Johnson. According to the MPs’ register of interests, the Tory party leader has received a £150,000 donation from Lord Bamford, who was a generous donor to Johnson
To the Countess of Chester Hospital, where three hospital managers have been arrested as part of a corporate manslaughter probe relating to the conviction of nurse Lucy Letby. Cheshire police have confirmed that the hospital bosses have been arrested today on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. They have been bailed pending further inquiries. It follows