Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from London and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk.

Hancock and Gove’s cringeworthy Covid love-in

5 March 2023 2:09 am

Last night it seemed as if the Matt Hancock WhatsApp messages released by the Telegraph couldn’t get any worse, after…

Seven things we learned from the juiciest lockdown files yet

4 March 2023 6:21 pm

Day four of the lockdown files and it’s the juiciest so far. Here’s what the Telegraph released last night: 1. Matt Hancock thought…

Matt Hancock’s Covid social media frenzy

4 March 2023 4:39 am

Another day, another painful set of WhatsApp messages about Matt Hancock. Yet again the Daily Telegraph have released another batch…

Five things we’ve learned on day three of Hancock’s lockdown files

3 March 2023 6:41 pm

Ping! It’s day three of the ‘Lockdown Files’ and a whole new tranche of former Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s WhastApp…

Trans row rocks Guardian towers, again

3 March 2023 3:22 am

Oh dear. It seems that life in the offices of the world’s wokest paper isn’t all its cracked up to…

Five things we’ve learned on day two of Hancock’s lockdown files

2 March 2023 6:11 pm

More revealing Matt Hancock messages dropped late last night as the Telegraph released another tranche of the former health secretary’s WhatsApps. Here…

Watch: ministers considered ‘exterminating all cats’ in Covid

2 March 2023 8:13 am

It’s not a great time to be a friend of Matt Hancock, knowing that any moment the Telegraph might splash…

Five things we’ve learned from Hancock’s lockdown files

1 March 2023 7:27 pm

It’s not just the spectre of Brexit that is haunting Westminster. Overnight the Telegraph has released a smorgasbord of stories…

Coming soon: Matt Hancock’s media empire

27 February 2023 7:35 pm

Boris, Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol – all are dominating the news agenda yet again. So it only seems…

Why was EU chief due to meet King Charles?

25 February 2023 7:59 am

There’s been a sense of deja vu in Westminster in recent days, with a Tory leader under pressure on Europe…

Grandees attack the Guardian over its Corbyn leader

22 February 2023 9:56 pm

It seems the wokest paper in all the west has blundered once again. Last Wednesday the Guardian published a leader…

Kate Forbes’ nightmare 24 hours

21 February 2023 8:23 pm

It seems that Kate Forbes’ stance on same-sex marriage hasn’t gone down too well with some of her more socially…

Kate Forbes: I’m against gay marriage and self-ID

21 February 2023 5:57 am

It’s day one of Kate Forbes’ bid to be First Minister and she is certainly making headlines. The Finance Minister…

South Park incinerates Harry and Meghan

17 February 2023 3:46 am

If we hadn’t heard enough about ‘the Dumb Prince and His Stupid Wife’ – not Steerpike’s words – now South Park has…

Trump denounces ‘failed woke extremist’ Sturgeon

16 February 2023 9:06 pm

Reading some of the tributes from English luvvies yesterday, you would have had no idea that Nicola Sturgeon was anything…

Who really owns Britain’s waterways?

13 February 2023 11:40 pm

Stop press: Fleet Street is officially full of sewage. Flicking through the papers this morning, Steerpike was intrigued to see…

Boris cashes in with £2.5 million pay-day

9 February 2023 2:18 am

It seems the days of ex-prime ministers going quietly into the sunset of retirement are well and truly dead. By…

Poll: public want a ‘modest’ coronation

6 February 2023 11:16 pm

Strikes. Inflation. Political instability. It’s been a pretty miserable few months in Britain – but some in government are hoping…

Could Boris Johnson run for president? ‘I don’t rule it out’

1 February 2023 10:35 pm

The 2024 race for the White House is on. Donald Trump is in, Nikki Haley is getting ready, Joe Biden…

Boris battles the Kremlin over Putin threats

30 January 2023 11:55 pm

Ding, ding, ding! In the red corner, it’s the menacing goons of Moscow’s Red Square. And in the blue corner,…

Next Tory chairman: runners and riders

30 January 2023 12:18 am

One man’s loss is another man’s gain and few know that maxim better than Conservative MPs. Members of the parliamentary…

Nadhim turns on the media

29 January 2023 11:04 pm

So. Farewell then. Nadhim Zahawi. It’s been quite the six months for the onetime favourite to succeed Boris Johnson. He…

Alan Cumming’s bizarre OBE stunt

28 January 2023 5:59 am

Congratulations must go to Alan Cumming who has today worked out what the acronym ‘OBE’ stands for – a mere…

Is Prince Harry holding Meghan back?

28 January 2023 4:03 am

A big house, Californian sunshine, oodles of dosh and, of course, priceless privacy – life in Montecito must be pretty…

Hong Kong row embroils Commonwealth group

27 January 2023 6:51 am

A most undiplomatic row has engulfed one of Westminster’s most prestigious groups. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association boasts 180 branches around…