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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The message from the EU is clear: there will be no improvement to the deal rejected by Parliament. And if talks fail? Donald Trump today makes an offer: that the United States, the UK’s No 1 customer, is standing by with its own free trade deal. It needn’t take even a year, he says, as
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This week, Julia Hartley-Brewer joined the list of right-of-centre commentators to have found themselves ‘no-platformed‘ after a Twitterstorm. The Talk Radio host had been invited to join a Question Time-style panel discussion for the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) on the ‘hot healthcare topics of the day’ – they said she was there as
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Trump and Boris; Boris and Trump – the two men have a lot more in common than funny hair, an appetite for women, and a magical ability to offend left-liberal sensibilities. But the hot question in Westminster at the moment is whether these two big beasts will meet when the American President visits London next
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Will anything end Nigel Farage’s winning streak? The Brexiteer famously walked into a Ladbrokes in June 2016 and placed a £1,000 bet on Leave winning the EU referendum campaign – a decision that pocketed him a tidy £2,500 sum. In April, ahead of the European parliament elections, the Brexit party leader decided to chance his
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As Tory leadership contender Rory Stewart roamed the districts of outer London yesterday, talking to unsuspecting members of the public about his bid to be Prime Minister, it’s probably fair to say that he had a number of unusual conversations along the way. But it seems that the oddest encounter he had wasn’t with an
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With twelve candidates so far declared for the Tory leadership contest, more MPs are expected to announce in the coming days. Those rumoured to be planning on throwing their hat into the ring include Mark Harper, Steve Baker and 1922 chairman Graham Brady. On Friday, Brady recused himself from a Conservative Party statement on the
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Alastair Campbell has been something of a Labour party fixture for the last twenty years – but not any longer. Blair’s former spin doctor has just been given the boot from the party for revealing that he voted Lib Dem at the European elections. Campbell said he was ‘sad’ and ‘disappointed’ to get an email
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Rory Stewart is emerging as something of a dark horse in the Tory leadership contest. But while the international development secretary is an impressive candidate he is not immune to making a mishap. Richard Madeley reminded him this morning of a particular low point for Stewart: his made-up ‘fact’ about Brexit –that 80 per cent
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There’s a lot of soul-searching in the Labour party after Sunday’s abysmal results in the European elections. On Monday, Corbynista commentator Paul Mason was one of the first out of the blocks, with a lengthy autopsy of Labour’s electoral failure. He placed the blame squarely on Corbyn’s Brexit-leaning advisors, and urged those responsible to be
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Is Jesse Norman standing for the Tory leadership? The Conservative MP has just taken to Twitter to provide an answer. But unfortunately 33 tweets later we are no closer to finding out. Norman wrote: ‘In recent days I’ve been asked a lot if I would stand for Leader of the Conservative Party. It’s already a
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The Brexit Party has convincingly won the European elections, picking up nearly a third of the vote. But it seems that their success still isn’t enough for some. One Lib Dem MEP – Barbara Gibson – dismissed Nigel Farage’s outfit, saying it is ‘not a real party’. Gibson, who was elected in the East of
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Enoch Powell famously said that all political careers end in failure. But for Ann Widdecombe, it seemed that her career had ended with Strictly Come Dancing when she entered the show back in 2010, after retiring from politics at the general election. Yet last night, Widdecombe once again returned to the frontline of politics after
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Tonight was a vital night for the fledgling Remain party Change UK. After the resurgence of the Lib Dems in the local elections, Chuka Umunna and Heidi Allen’s party had to fight to justify its existence, and prove that it wasn’t simply another party which was splitting the Remain vote. Alas, it appears that that
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The results have begun to trickle in from the European elections tonight, and already it looks like Labour are being hammered from both sides, as they lose Leave voters to the Brexit Party and Remain voters to the Lib Dems and Greens. And with only one region announced, it already appears that the cracks are
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It’s one day since Theresa May set an exit date for her departure from 10 Downing Street and the leadership contest to replace her is already heating up. This morning, Rory Stewart – the International Development Secretary – performed a media round in which the Tory MP declared that he would not be able to
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After three long years, she’s finally gone. The Prime Minister decided to face the music on the steps of Downing Street yesterday, her voice audibly cracking with emotion as she announced the date of her resignation on 7 June, while her husband Philip May and her Downing Street staff watched sadly on. May’s departure should
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The door of Number 10 had barely closed after Theresa May’s resignation statement this morning when Tory MPs began debating who would be the best person to replace her. Brexiteer and ERG deputy chairman Steve Baker certainly wasted no time today, but revealed that the candidate he was really thinking about was… Steve Baker. Asked by
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Now that Theresa May has officially announced she is resigning as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, the various leadership contenders hoping to take her place will be furiously canvassing their colleagues and stepping up their campaigns. But who are the favourites to succeed her so far? According to the betting exchange $Markets,
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Top politicians are constantly in demand on the lecture circuit, as large businesses and other stakeholders seek their advice on the chaos engulfing Westminster and how upcoming legislation will affect their economic interests. So it’s not surprising that Change UK’s Anna Soubry and Chuka Umunna were the star speakers at a Marketing Group of Great
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Laura Pidcock has been a rising star in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party ever since she became an MP in 2017. But the shadow minister for labour was somewhat caught out today when she appeared on Politics Live. Presenter Jo Coburn challenged Pidcock’s dismissal of Theresa May’s new Withdrawal Agreement Bill, when most of the concessions