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
As MPs and staff depart Westminster to begin their Christmas break, spare a thought for those at Ukip HQ who have found their party on the brink of civil war today after Douglas Carswell called for Nigel Farage to be replaced with a new leader. What’s more, if that wasn’t enough to dampen the festive spirit for Kippers, Steerpike
Last night David Dimbleby was joined on Question Time by a panel comprised of Jacob Rees-Mogg, Piers Morgan, Emily Thornberry, Mark Reckless and Hannah Bardell. As talk turned to the prospect of Heathrow expansion, Rees-Mogg — who supports the plans — said that for all the fuss about noise caused by planes, he had suffered
MPs have done their best this year to make their Christmas cards stand out. To do this, Nigel Evans opted to make himself the centre of attention, while Jeremy Corbyn managed to catch the Daily Mail‘s attention with a picture of some snow-covered bicycles. However, one such card has caught Mr S’s attention for a rather
It’s safe to say that Jeremy Corbyn’s relationship with the mainstream media (MSM) can hardly be described as a harmonious meeting of minds. In fact, ever since Corbyn was elected as Labour leader he has regularly hit out at the MSM, even finding time in his conference speech to name and shame certain publications for their coverage of
Today marked James Naughtie’s last day in the presenting chair on Today after 21 years. To honour his time as a presenter on the programme, John Humphrys played some of his highlights from over the years, before asking Naughtie to recall the parts of his job that he did not enjoy. The Scottish presenter responded by referring
Buying a present for a loved one at Christmas can be a difficult and time-consuming task, so luckily Sarah Vine has made her husband Michael Gove’s job easy thanks to her column in today’s Daily Mail. In a piece entitled ‘Sorry chaps but women love sleep FAR more than sex!’, Vine — who says that there
Since Lucy Allan was accused of faking her own death threat online, the Tory MP has gone underground — deleting her Twitter and changing her privacy settings on Facebook. Last night she made a brief return to social media in order to release a statement with an accompanying video. In this, she opted not to apologise
It’s happened. Jeremy Corbyn has released his annual Christmas card. The Labour leader has refrained from following the traditional MP format by including a photo of himself on the card — and has instead opted for a picture of some snow-covered bicycles: While Corbyn should be congratulated on managing to use the C-word this time around, it’s fair to
Although Owen Jones was once Jeremy Corbyn’s main cheerleader, in recent months his relationship with the Labour leader has cooled as his former Guardian colleague Seumas Milne has usurped him in Corbyn’s trusted circle. Still, Jones is now at least on good terms with other members of the party. Today the Guardian columnist has interviewed the outspoken Corbyn rebel Jess Phillips for
Earlier this year the Times were forced to issue an apology after they falsely claimed that Karol Wojtyla was the first non-Catholic Pope. While that entry is a clear contender for ‘correction of the year’, Mr S is interested to see if the Evening Standard enter the race after a mistake that ran in Thursday’s edition. Yesterday’s Evening Standard
Although Jeremy Corbyn is facing growing criticism over his role as a speaker at Friday’s Stop The War Christmas fundraiser, so far the Labour leader is showing no signs of backing down. Despite pleas from the likes of Michael Dugher, Tristram Hunt, Caroline Flint and Emma Reynolds for Corbyn to cancel, he looks set to
Last night guests gathered at St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street for the Spectator’s annual Christmas concert. The St Bride’s Choir provided the carols in the church — which is regarded by many as the official spiritual home for journalists — as hacks including Andrew Neil, Fraser Nelson, Jeremy Clarke and Mary Wakefield gave readings. While attendees dug deep
Jeremy Corbyn is currently facing calls to cancel his attendance at Friday’s Stop the War Christmas fundraiser dinner. However, should he stay on course and attend, the Labour leader can at least bank on getting a far friendlier reception from his comrades there than he did at his own party’s Christmas bash. Labour staff gathered in
Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the Labour party, his main cheerleader Diane Abbott has never been far from his side. In fact, Abbott has even taken it upon herself to often fight Corbyn’s corner. This has involved warning unruly MPs about the size of his mandate, as well as having a heated argument
Although Diane Abbott’s Christmas card efforts have been well-documented this year — with the Labour MP even finding time to write them during hostile meetings of the PLP, Nigel Evans is surely a contender for the ‘most striking Christmas card’ award. Evans has today sent out his own batch of cards which feature the man
While Mhairi Black has made no secret of her dislike for the Tories, she has at least found words of praise for one Conservative MP. Speaking earlier this year, the SNP MP spoke of her admiration for Jacob Rees-Mogg: ‘I could sit and listen to him all day, I disagree with him 99.9 per cent of
Lucy Allan has come under fire this month after she was accused of faking a death threat from a constituent. The Conservative MP posted a message from a user by the name of Rusty on her Facebook which asked her to rethink her stance on Syria airstrikes. While the message was hardly polite, the worst part
After stepping down as an MP ahead of the general election, Gordon Brown has taken up a role on the advisory panel of Pimco, a global investment management firm. He joins a panel of ‘world-renowned experts’ who include Jean-Claude Trichet, the former president of the European Central Bank, and Ben Bernanke, the former US Federal Reserve chairman. Pimco have released a
Yesterday the Young Britons Foundation called off their annual Activist Training Conference — following the suicide of Elliot Johnson in September, and the subsequent revelations of Tory activist bullying. Although six Cabinet ministers had cancelled their attendance at the event, and Elliot’s father Ray had written to David Cameron calling the YBF ‘a cult, indoctrinating young activists’, the organisation’s chief-executive Don Blaney
Over the weekend a man attacked passengers at Leytonstone tube station, claiming he was acting in protest at the government’s decision to carry out airstrikes on Syria. One small ray of light to emerge from the incident — which left three injured — was a video of the aftermath in which a man shouts at the offender: ‘you ain’t
