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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Happy spring statement day one and all. As Rachel Reeves valiantly tries to wrestle the public narrative back from her critics, it seems that there is yet more pain from the Gorton and Denton by-election last week. For a new poll is out for YouGov today – and it shows Zack Polanski making gains at
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So. Farewell then Josh Simons. The Macclesfield MP has quit his job at the Cabinet Office following the revelations about his time as head of Labour Together. Back in 2023, the think tank – which helped Keir Starmer get elected party leader – spent thousands paying APCO Worldwide to dig into the background of journalists
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Poor old Sir Keir. It turns out that there was indeed a large anti-Reform tactical vote in Gorton – it just is not willing to vote for his party. Following the Greens’ runaway success in last night’s by-election, it was left to Starmer to do the time-honoured tradition of beleaguered party leaders: do five minutes
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Peter Mandelson is in a right old funk. Having been ignominiously hauled in by the Met for questioning on Monday, his lawyers have now been firing off furious statements, indignantly asking why the rozzers viewed him as a flight risk. Who could have tipped them off? But now the mysterious source has chosen to identify
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Oh dear. It seems that Ed Davey – the most righteous man in all of parliament – has got it wrong again. He and his party must have thought it a terrific wheeze when they announced that they would today be pushing for documents on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as a UK trade envoy to be
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If you didn’t laugh at this Labour government, you would cry. The Anti-Corruption Minister has resigned over corruption; the Homelessness Minister quit over making people homeless. The Police Transport Minister went after being accused of lying to the police – while the Housing Secretary did not pay £40,000 tax on her house. Now – get
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Oh dear. It seems that Martin Lewis, the self-styled ‘Money Saving Expert’, has come a bit of a cropper in his attempts to prove that he is the smartest one in the room. Kemi Badenoch was out on the airwaves this morning, promoting the Tories’ plan to cut the interest on student loans. But Lewis
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Happy birthday to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He has today been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, after photos showed cars arriving at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk earlier this morning. Thames Valley Police have previously said they were assessing a complaint over the alleged sharing of confidential material by the former prince with late
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We have a new cabinet secretary! After a shambolic week in which Downing Street were forced to admit to the lobby that they did not know who was running the Civil Service, today we finally get our answer. Antonia Romeo is the first woman to rule Whitehall, taking over from the somewhat plodding Chris Wormald.
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Just what is happening in Washington? It was only yesterday that the State Department was trying to merrily wave through Keir Starmer’s great Chagos sell-out, issuing a glowing statement suggesting that ‘The United States supports the decision of the United Kingdom to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago.’ Nothing more to
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It is Robert Jenrick’s big day out today. The newly-minted Reform ‘Shadow Chancellor’ is making his first speech since his appointment, with plenty of soothing words to calm the jitters of the bond markets. Sporting a snazzy pair of specs, he was, in the words of one Tory, every inch ‘reassuring Rob’. But the top
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The Chagos deal is set to return to the House of Lords after recess. But a group of islanders are determined to do all they can to avert the handover, by protesting right up until the point of surrender. On Monday, a four-man landing party landed on the archipelago to establish a permanent settlement, more
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You wait years for a right-wing party – and then a veritable fleet comes along at once. After Advance UK, Heritage and Reclaim, now we have Restore Britain. It is being fronted by Rupert Lowe, the Great Yarmouth MP who currently sits as an independent. He initially set up Restore Britain as a ‘political movement’
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It was the think tank which made Keir Starmer leader – but now Labour Together is struggling. The Sunday Times yesterday splashed on the news that the institute had commissioned covert research on two of its journalists in order to undermine their coverage of the organisation. In response, Alison Phillips, the new CEO of Labour
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The SNP might be heading to another victory – but all is not going swimmingly for the nationalists. The party’s former chief executive Peter Murrell – best known as Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband – is in the firing line over more allegations concerning the party finances. Murrell is facing a charge of embezzling £459,000 from
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When a PM is in crisis, what do they do? Sack the head of the civil service. Having lost both his Chief of Staff and Director of Communications at the beginning of the week, Keir Starmer resolved to make it a hattrick by dispensing with the services of his short-serving Cabinet Secretary. Poor old Chris
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Just stop Doyle! It was another bad Prime Ministers’ Questions this week for Keir Starmer today. Once again, one of those mysterious appointments for which the Prime Minister is never responsible came back to haunt him in public. After Peter Mandelson last week, this time it is Matthew Doyle, Starmer’s former comms chief who was
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This is Keir Starmer’s worst week in politics – and it is still only Tuesday. The constant flailings of the embattled Labour PM never cease to shock, amuse and entertain. But having successfully quelled the immediate revolt against his premiership, Starmer has, once again, pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. For tonight the main
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Will the last person out of No. 10 please turn out the lights? First, it was Morgan McSweeney; then, Tim Allan. Tonight, Chris Wormald, is the latest name being about to depart the heart of government. It was just 14 months ago that Sir Chris was appointed Cabinet Secretary – the most senior official in
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Oh dear. It really does seem like the end of days for Keir Starmer now. The Prime Minister has lost both his chief of staff and his director of communications in less than 24 hours. And while he continues to insist he is in control, others are preparing to take matters into their own hands.