Steerpike

In 2025, Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government has had a tough time. From U-turns to freebie fiascos to by-election losses the party of government has been having a pretty rough ride. New Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, however, won the audience with a pithy speech that was almost just rivalled by Ed Miliband. You can't say they don't try, eh?  It was a cross-party affair, with Liberal Democrats, Reform MPs and even the Greens seeing awards coming their way. Guest of honour James Cleverly gave a fantastic performance and insisted that it was not him but, er, Robert Jenrick, that is angling for a leadership challenge.

To Barnet, where a council by-election will take place on Thursday. Former councillor Joshua Conway lost his Hendon ward seat after a change of jobs made him ineligible to serve on the council. Six candidates are in the running for the council seat – but the contest is shaping up to be a two-horse race between the Conservatives and Reform. But Mr S has noticed some rather curious goings-on in the former Tory safe seat… It would appear that the Conservatives are funnelling resource after resource into the council by-election campaign in the form of, er, very senior politicians.

There's less than a month until Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her autumn budget and speculation is abounding about what taxes will make the cut. This morning, Housing Secretary Steve Reed came under pressure on LBC, as interviewer Nick Ferrari grilled him on the introduction of a possible mansion tax. Anxious homeowners will not be reassured by Reed's response – after the Labour man refused four times to rule out a mansion tax. How curious… There have been suggestions that that the Chancellor could impose a 1 per cent tax on the portion of property values over £2 million. Those owning homes worth £3 million would pay £10,000 a year, with £4 million properties giving rise to a tax of £20,000 a year and so on.

Oh dear. NHS Fife has come under fire yet again after it emerged that the health board shared details of nurse Sandie Peggie with the Scottish government. Peggie was suspended in January 2024 after complaining about sharing a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton. The nurse then lodged a harassment complaint under the 2010 Equality Act – prompting a trans tribunal against NHS Fife – before earlier this year Dr Upton accused her of bullying and harassment. In July, Peggie was cleared of all gross misconduct allegations – and it has now emerged that NHS Fife briefings sent to SNP ministers contained unredacted details about the A&E nurse.

Well, well, well. TfL Commissioner Andy Lord has been accused of lying about graffiti on the underground, after he made comments following a clean-up operation by Looking For Growth (LFG). After footage of volunteers wiping graffiti from tube carriage walls was published, Lord claimed at a Greater London Assembly meeting earlier this year, without mentioning LFG specifically, that there was ‘evidence of people creating graffiti and then removing it’. He then went on to claim that this evidence was being ‘investigated by the relevant authorities’. Crikey! Only it transpires that TfL, er, don’t appear to have any evidence that people – whether LFG volunteers or otherwise – were vandalising public transport.

There is a spring in the step of some Tories these days. After the recent downfall of Angela Rayner and Peter Mandelson, the Conservative attack team seemingly has the bit between their teeth. So, it is perhaps no surprise then that Robert Jenrick – the XL Bully of Tory attack dogs – is playing his part in harrying poor David Lammy at the Ministry of Justice. Lammy’s flagship Sentencing Bill was debated yesterday in the Commons. Among its provisions was a scheme to allow the early release of prisoners in England and Wales who have demonstrated good behaviour. Given their massive majority, the government won by Pyongyang-level majorities when the Conservatives forced a vote.

Tomorrow marks a fortnight since Kemi Badenoch's conference speech. After a difficult first year when the Conservatives have sometimes struggled to make much of an impact, party spinners were left delighted by the press reaction to her surprise stamp duty announcement. Tory MPs have been publicly boasting about a membership surge – though no figures have yet been provided. Now, those in the Treasurer's team have added reason to celebrate. Since Badenoch's speech on 8 October, the party raised just shy of half a million in donations – north of £460k – as of the end of last week. Kerching! A senior Tory source proudly told Steerpike: 'Kemi Badenoch demonstrated at conference that only the Conservatives have a plan to deliver a stronger economy.