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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It’s been an eventful few weeks for Liz Truss. Our new Prime Minister has faced a baptism of fire not seen since by an incoming premier since Churchill and the fall of France in 1940. War, inflation, a-cost-of-living crisis and the death of the Queen: so much for a honeymoon. Still, Her Majesty’s passing has
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Since becoming the Tory leadership favourite early last month, Liz Truss is used to all sorts of people coming out of the woodwork. Old friends, former allies and even the odd foe have been very keen to share their opinions on Truss, the onetime Lib Dem radical turned Brexit-backing cabinet mainstay. But one person who
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Politics is a cruel business. One minute the gods are shining brightly on you, the next, you’re consigned to the barren wilderness. And few know that better than Liz Truss, our northern Premier with a Sicilian bent. For Truss, The Godfather appears to be less a film than an instruction manual, judging by the nature
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First it was Brexit, now it’s the Queen. That the New York Times has a near-pathological loathing for Britain is nothing new at this point; but it seems that the motivating factor for the ‘Gray Lady’s’ Anglophobia has switched in recent days from the 2016 referendum result to the passing of our beloved monarch. Barely
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Preparations in Whitehall continue at pace ahead of Her Majesty’s funeral on Monday. And for a handful of hardy souls queuing overnight, they had the privilege of witnessing the rehearsals ahead of the great event. One organiser told Steerpike’s man on the spot that the run-through was meant to be conducted without a public audience
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What better way to mark the death of the monarch than via some good old royal disinformation? Twitter users have been in a strop today about Prince Andrew, the black sheep of the Windsor mob. Apparently, his brother, King Charles, has taken it up on himself to appoint the Duke of York as a ‘Counsellor
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There’s a sad mood of mourning in Westminster at present so thank God for Matt Hancock’s ongoing efforts to become relevant again. The Casanova of the Commons has tried every trick in the book to mount a cabinet comeback since losing office in disgrace some 14 months ago. He’s signed a book deal, joined the
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It’s a grim old time in Westminster at the moment. The Queen is dead, prices are up, inflation is rampant and a winter of discontent beckons. But, from the Big Apple itself, a ray of light at last. For the New York Times, the world’s worst newspaper best known for Brit-bashing Anglophobia, is embroiled in
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There was much anger and sadness in Whitehall last week at the sacking of the Treasury’s top civil servant Sir Tom Scholar by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on his first day in office. But one person who won’t be shedding tears for the departing Permanent Secretary is Lord Agnew, who served as a minister in Scholar’s
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Preparations for Her Majesty’s Lying-in-State in Westminster Hall are continuing and all is not well in the Houses of Parliament. After yesterday’s news that MPs’ staff are unhappy at their exclusion from those given priority access to pay their last respects, now Mr S can tell his readers that at least two other fresh rows
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Comparing the Russian and American royal coverage of the last few days, you’d never guess which was on the UK’s side. Whereas Vladimir Putin has praised the late Queen and Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda called her ‘the last living titan of the 20th century,’ some of the transatlantic broadcasters appeared to greet the death of the sovereign as
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As Her Majesty the Queen embarks on her final journey south, many in Westminster are preparing to attend the Lying-in-State for the monarch. This will take place in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster, at the heart of British government. The Queen will lie in state here for four full days
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King Charles III has been proclaimed monarch of the United Kingdom. At a ceremony at St James’s Palace – attended by 250 dignitaries, including privy councillors and high commissioners of Commonwealth states – the Accession Council formally proclaimed the new sovereign. This is the first time the ancient ceremony, which has not been held for
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This evening King Charles III addressed the nation for the first time as sovereign. He reflected on his mother’s life-long service and pledged to do the same, saying: ‘As the Queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles
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There’s a grim mood in parliament today. Across the House, MPs are queuing up to pay tribute to Her Majesty with Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer delivering two noticeably excellent speeches. But some light relief on this dark day has been offered by recollections of the Queen’s sense of humour and ability to make people
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There’s a sombre mood in parliament today as MPs gather to pay tribute to the Queen. Over the following days, they will swear allegiance to the new King and share their memories and recollections of Elizabeth II. Prime Minister Liz Truss opened the proceedings in parliament, telling the House that the late monarch was one
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The Queen’s death has prompted an outpouring of mourning around the globe. But that sense of loss apparently doesn’t extend to the newsroom of the New York Times, where tragedy was inevitably greeted as an invitation for clickbait. Having previously hired the services of Russia Today’s Jonathan Pie to castigate Britain, the world’s worst newspaper
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Therese Coffey is a well-known music lover. When she’s not reciting prayers for Queen and country, she’s enlivening the corridors of parliament with her karaoke singing. But this morning the newly appointed Health Secretary suffered a moment of slight embarrassment after her ring tone went off in her first broadcast interview on LBC. Interviewer Nick
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The great ministerial merry go round continues at pace. Liz Truss’s triumph in the leadership race has seen a number of ambitious MPs enter government for the first time; among them is Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. His new frontbench role as security minister means he has to surrender his post
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Tory wives: where would we be without them? Among the casualties of today’s reshuffle was Johnny Mercer, the veterans’ minister who duly published a farewell letter on Commons headed paper, defending his record in post. The former soldier wrote how ‘disappointed’ he was ‘to leave a role I established’ adding, acidly, that ‘any Prime Minister
