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
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Up until now, the subject of the Prime Minister’s political survival has been an awkward question for any Labour MP. Privately, many concede that he is ‘done’; publicly their proclaim their faith in a man who is stretching their patience to breaking point. The number who have called on him to go can be counted
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Oh dear. For many years, there has been an iron rule of Labour broadcasting: when you’re in a jam, call Pat McFadden. Generations of underpaid, overworked press officers have come to respect the Paisley pugilist for performing media heroics on a scale equivalent to the Gloucestershire Regiment at the Battle of the Imjin River. Hordes
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Oh dear. It seems that Keir Starmer’s strategy has, er, backfired once again. Having spent yesterday afternoon declaring to all and sundry that he was shocked, SHOCKED to discover that Peter Mandelson might have been a wrong ‘un, it was left to Olly Robbins this morning to deliver his response. With the calm demeanour of
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Keir Starmer has not being having a good time of it in the Commons. Once again, the PM has been dragged in front of the House to explain why on earth he appointed Peter Mandelson as US ambassador – despite his well-publicised relationship with the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. This time, the questions have been over
With its ruthless backstabbing, unscrupulous characters and long-suffering flock, there is much overlap between the politics of the Church of England and those of the United Status. But, as Donald Trump continues to infuriate Catholics by brawling with the Pope, it seems that the onetime primate of the CofE is determined to get in on
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Spin, spin, spin! That furious sound you can hear out of Westminster is Labour’s apparatchiks doing their damnedest to dig Keir Starmer out of yet another hole. The Prime Minister is accused of misleading parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Our Man in Washington. The Labour grandee failed his developed vetting clearance in
They say that the clue is in the name, but with Meghan the first two letters give the game away: Me. The Duchess of Sussex is staying true to form by making it all about herself on her and her husband Harry’s tour of Australia. Meghan told a group of students that for a decade
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Of all Labour’s U-turns, none is perhaps more egregious than their stance on China. In opposition, they were happy to claim credit as a champion of the Uyghur Muslims, pushing in parliament for Beijing’s treatment of Xinjiang to be recognised as a genocide. But in office, a succession of ministers have traipsed out to the
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Whooooo remembers John Bercow? It has been sometime since the disgraced former Speaker attracted Steerpike’s attention. Having been banished unceremoniously from The Traitors two years ago, Mr S’s chief preoccupation with Bercow was whether or not he remains a member of the Labour party, having been suspended some four years ago. But the onetime Monday
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It is a hard time to be a Labour MP. The polls are flagging, the economy is stagnating and the Middle East remains in crisis. But facing electoral armageddon in three weeks’ time, one brave backbencher has taken it up on herself to raise her party’s spirits. Samantha Niblett, the Honourable Member for South Derbyshire,
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Purdah is one of those words familiar to anyone covering the world of Westminster. It refers to the ‘pre-election period of sensitivity,’ when government activity and public communications are restricted to ensure impartiality. In these times of political crisis, it seems to be the word on everyone’s lips: indeed, back in February, when Keir Starmer’s
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In his never-ending mission to reboot his premiership, Keir Starmer has found a great new cause: Europe. The Prime Minister’s allies are briefing furiously that their boss is keen to pick a fight on this issue, believing it is a chance to win Remainers back to the Labour party. Ministers are to introduce legislation that
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With almost 5,000 wards up for grabs, it’s all hands to the pump at these local elections. And in their desire to field a full slate for 7 May, the good Conservatives of Greenwich have turned to a familiar face to stand in the unpromising territory of Woolwich Arsenal. Hugh O’Leary, best known as Liz
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It seems that the Chagos deal is the grift which keeps on giving. The government last night confirmed that it had been forced to pause the legislation granting the islands’ handover, following a U-turn by Washington. Now, Mr S can reveal that humiliation follows humiliation for our poor, beleaguered Prime Minister. Sir Keir has made
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Reform’s approach to these local elections seemed to be a variation on a wedding classic: ‘something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.’ As well as the fireworks and the town hall-style meetings, there are a fair few ex-Tories now swelling Nigel Farage’s ranks. Mr S has done some counting and it seems that
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When is an adult not an adult? It’s a question that the Labour party does not seem to be able to answer. Having struggled for years with the definition a woman, the party is now struggling to explain what constitutes a child. In their manifesto, the government committed to giving 16- and 17-year-olds the vote,
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As we head towards the Scottish parliamentary elections in May, one party leader has a particularly unenviable job: step forward Anas Sarwar. Only a couple of months ago the Scottish Labour leader was calling for the party’s national leader, Sir Keir Starmer, to step down. Now he has to convince the Scottish electorate to put
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An own goal or back-of-the-net? The pundit class are divided on Reform’s latest stunt, with Nigel Farage rocking up to Portman Road to snap pictures waving an Ipswich Town shirt. But while some are describing it as ‘PR suicide’, within Milbank Tower there is delight at the ‘cut-through’ of the Clacton MP’s latest photo opportunity.
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Morgan McSweeney may be out of office – but he is certainly not out of the headlines. A mystery concerns the ex-No. 10 chief of staff’s phone, amid ongoing Tory pressure to release the so-called ‘Mandelson files’: all the messages relating to the appointment of the (now former) US ambassador. The Sun reported on Saturday
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Ding, ding, ding! In the teal corner, it’s Tim Montgomerie, longtime Tory sage turned Reform defector. And, in the, er, other teal corner, it’s, um, Matt Goodwin, onetime academic turned Reform parliamentary candidate. Goodwin’s latest book Suicide of a Nation: Immigration, Islam, Identity has come under fire online over the veracity of its claims and
