Steerpike

Well, well, well. It transpires that Independent MP Rupert Lowe – formerly of Reform UK – has now been cleared by parliament's standards commissioner after he was probed over funds for his independent 'Rape Gang Inquiry'. Lowe was investigated after allegedly failing to register hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations for his project, with more than £600,000 raised by a Crowdfunder started by the Greater Yarmouth MP in March. The Commissioner noted: I opened a formal inquiry on 10 July 2025. My inquiry sought to confirm whether these donations qualified as registrable interests and whether Lowe had failed to register them within the 28-day window set by the House.

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 towards the Labour MP's campaign in the run-up to the general election last summer. How very interesting… Blackett has joined the board to help provide 'strategic direction, oversight, support and challenge for the department with a view to the long-term health, reputation and success of the FCDO' – and will be paid up to £15,000 a year for the job, which typically requires a commitment of 20 days a year for three years. Alright for some!

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 delivered a rather damning verdict on their new PM. YouGov polling reveals that 44 per cent of Brits think that, just a year into Labour's first term, Starmer should quit the top job and let someone else take over as Labour leader. Crikey! The survey – which quizzed 1,702 British adults on 7 July – revealed that almost one in two Britons think the PM should step aside, while a third think Starmer should stay on as Labour leader.

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 party campaigning hard on government waste and mismanagement... And it seems that McMurdock has now concluded that is future (or what remains of it) is going to be outside the party. He, like Rupert Lowe before him, intends to now serve out the remainder of his time in parliament. In a statement, McMurdock wrote on X that: Further to my statement tweeted on 5th July 2025.

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 a working missile programme, the good city of Brighton is safe – for now I am not saying that we should do this, of course – it would be a horrible, psychopathic thing to do. I am merely hypothesising, in a slightly wistful kinda way. One on Glasto, one on Brighton, and the UK would soon begin its recovery, with only a few chunks of gently glowing cobalt 60 left to remind us of what we are missing.

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 the Tory leader delivered a rather risqué line about Reform, according to a recording sent to Mr S. Badenoch told her audience on Wednesday that: Sometimes it's really challenging when we have opponents to the left and the right of us promising people things that we know that they can never do. And a man sent me an email the other day. He said that "There are liars in politics and that there are bullshitters.

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 allegations surrounding his 'business propriety during the pandemic'. McMurdock, the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, will sit as an independent in the Commons while the claims are investigated.

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 on Labour and the Chancellor's tears in the Commons. From Sir Paul Marshall to the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, there are a number of notable faces. And despite all the Labour drama, Mr S has noted a Labour presence while Reform UK and the Conservatives turn out in force. Several Cabinet ministers appeared, including Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Environment Secretary Steve Reed.

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, um, fund his legal bills. Good heavens… As reported by the Daily Record, the onetime chief executive of the Scottish National party had his application for solemn legal aid approved by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. The 60-year-old will receive support which is usually granted to those who cannot afford to pay for legal help themselves – however in some cases they still need to make their own contribution.