Steerpike

Ello, 'ello, 'ello, what's all this then? It is a new year but the same old lines from Sir Mark Rowley, the permanently under-fire chief of the Metropolitan Police. Britain's top bobby has been copping a fair bit of flack recently, amid never-ending questions about the behaviour of London's bobbies and criticism of the capital's crime rate. But now, days after Reform UK announced Laila Cunningham as its mayoral candidate, Sir Mark has used an interview with – where else? – the Financial Times, to hit back at his critics. Who needs the 'thin blue line' when you've got the pink 'un for cover, eh? Rowley denounced 'commentators' and those who 'promote narratives that suit them', citing new figures which show the number of homicides in London falling to its lowest rate since 2014.

The Dark Lord is back. Peter Mandelson has resurfaced, four months after being sacked as US ambassador for his links to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In his first interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, the Labour peer said he never saw girls at Epstein's properties, and declined to apologise to the late paedophile's victims for maintaining his friendship with the American because he was not 'knowledgeable of what he was doing'. Somehow, Mr S does not think that will appease those demanding Mandelson lose the Labour whip...

Three cheers for the House of Lords. Labour might be trying to pack Britain's second chamber with as many placemen as possible – but the noble peers are not going to take it lying down. For tonight, members of the Upper House inflicted yet another defeat on the government, this time over the deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Talk about Labour priorities, eh? Peers voted voting narrowly in favour of renegotiating the agreement, to ensure that Britain would stop making payments if the island’s use 'for military purposes became impossible.' Lord Craig of Radley, the crossbench peer and former chief of the defence staff who tabled the key amendment, said that he felt the issue should be 'sorted out before we get into formal ratification'.

Oh dear. It seems that all is not well in the party of good comrades. The Americans' stunning snatch-and-grab operation in Venezuela has divided opinion among Labour MPs. Jeremy Corbyn may no longer be running the show – but it seems some still mourn the ending of Maduro's regime. Among them was Richard Burgon, Jezza's onetime business spokesman. The hard-of-thinking socialist reacted with fury to Keir Starmer's mealy-mouthed statement, tweeting that: The Prime Minister should respond to an illegal bombing and kidnapping by Trump in exactly the way he would if Putin had carried it out. Either Keir Starmer believes in international law - or he doesn’t. You can't pick and choose. Time to stand up to Trump’s gangster politics!

So. Farewell then 2025. The Chinese Zodiac calendar called this 'The Year of the Snake' – and my goodness Westminster has had more than its fair share these past 12 months. Such is the level of one-way traffic from the Tories to Reform that even the Labour party press office struggles to keep count of the number of defective, sorry, defector, onetime Tory MPs now changing sides. Abroad, hurricane Trump has blown through the world, hurling tariffs aplenty, sending Europe into a spin, refashioning the Middle East and upending elections in Canada and Australia too. At home, we have endured the continued flounderings of our less-than-inspiring PM, whose plummeting approval ratings were the one constant for Labour in 2025. Surely, it can't get any worse next year?

It is the season of goodwill to all men. So, in the spirit of brotherly love, Reform staff have today made a kindly Christmas gesture to their Tory rivals. Two removal vans rocked up at Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) with an offer to help Kemi Badenoch's staff move out ahead of their expected departure from Matthew Parker Street in 2026. Unsurprisingly, the Tories are yet to take up Nigel Farage's team on such a generous offer... The 'Reform Removals' vans are billed as offering a 'premium removals service' for struggling political forces. 'Major movers for minor parties' is the slogan emblazoned on both sides of each van.

Once, the Liaison Committee was a must-watch in the House of Commons. But the Starmer super-majority means that the thrice-yearly gathering is much more of a snoozefest than it used to be. Two thirds of the 31 members are card-carrying Labour MPs, elected when the PM was at the (short-lived) height of his power in the heady days of summer 2024. Yet there are a few wise old birds who are ready to give Sir Keir a semi-decent grilling. Today it was the turn of Alistair Carmichael, the longtime Liberal Shetlands survivor, who chairs the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. Picking up the baton from Labour's Cat Smith, he asked Starmer about why his changes to agricultural property relief were 'targeted' at family farmers.

Another day, another bad poll for Sir Keir Starmer's Labour party. With less than six months until the Scottish parliament election, pollsters are ramping up their research north of the border. The latest Holyrood voting intention poll to have dropped is from Ipsos Scotland, carried out between 27 November and 3 December, which shows the gap between SNP and Scottish Labour has widened further. Constituency voting data shows that the Nats are consistently picking up more than a third of the vote on 35 per cent – while Labour has dropped seven points since June to sit 16 per cent. Crikey! And that spells good news for Reform UK – whose Scottish outfit is continuing to pick up support across the country.

Labour MP Stella Creasy is hiring for a senior campaigns manger, and the job specifications are quite something. The Walthamstow parliamentarian is looking for someone who can help her ‘make change happen’ (where have we heard that before?), is opposed to ‘rage bait TikToks’ and understands why politicians have their ‘flaws and frustrations’. Handy knowledge if you’re planning to work for a Labour MP, eh? The rather bizarre advert is offering a salary of between £45,000-£50,000 a year for a ‘creative and campaigning’ worker who enjoys using Canva. The description lists the following attributes as desirable: An understanding of why ragebait tik tok videos are no substitute for evidence and passion when it comes to social justice.

You're either in front of Mr S or you are behind. It was just six weeks ago that Steerpike reported that staff within Tory HQ were expecting to soon leave their longtime base on Matthew Parker Street. With the party's lease up next summer, a new headquarters is needed. And today, the Conservatives have told their members that they have bought and now own a home outright. In an email seen by Mr S, Kemi Badenoch writes that: No rent. No lease. A permanent base in Westminster we can call our own. Our new home is a sign we are moving forward, putting our finances on a stronger and more sustainable footing... This new headquarters will be more than an office. It will be a campaign engine for councillors, candidates and activists across Britain.

To Falkirk, where Nigel Farage has flown ahead of the Holyrood elections – to announce another big name member of Reform UK. Now Lord Offord has jumped ship to Reform – and he intends to stand for election in Scotland next year. The businessman was given a peerage in 2021 by Boris Johnson and even served as a minister of exports from 2023 until the election the following year.

To BBC Question Time, where the leader of the Green party made a rather interesting intervention on migration last night. Zack Polanski's party preaches that billionaires, not Britain's borders, are to blame for the country's woes and their migration policy states that, if elected to government, they will 'stop putting people in prison because of their immigration status', 'give all residents the right to vote' and 'treat all migrants as if they are citizens'. However Polanski's comments about why Britain needs migrants have, er, rather raised eyebrows – to put it mildly. He remarked on the Beeb that: 'One in five care workers are foreign nationals. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't particularly want to wipe someone's bum.' Er, right.

The festive season is well and truly upon us and The Spectator celebrated with a Christmas reception that took place on Wednesday evening. The great and the not-so-good of Westminster descended upon Old Queen Street. After a rather eventful few months in politics, parliamentarians, pundits and professionals were able to let off some steam and enjoy the festivities.