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.

Rishi publishes his six-figure tax bill

23 March 2023 4:08 am

It’s a good day to bury bad news. After months of stalling, No. 10 have chosen today of all days…

Budget Poll: half of voters see Tories as a high tax party

21 March 2023 2:27 am

It wasn’t so long ago that the Conservatives won a landslide on Boris Johnson’s pledge not to put up income…

Boris gets a boost as local Tories reselect him

17 March 2023 9:35 am

It’s a big week for Boris Johnson as he prepares to give evidence before the Privileges Committee next Wednesday. So…

Is Rishi Sunak really Enoch Powell in disguise?

16 March 2023 9:33 pm

It may seem like a bizarre question but it’s the one that is obsessing much of the left: is Rishi…

Rishi’s Richmond flourish in No. 10

15 March 2023 2:48 am

During Boris Johnson’s tenure, No 10. Downing Street seemed to anthropomorphise into being political actors itself. From partygate to wallpapergate,…

Will Rishi invite Biden to his California pad?

15 March 2023 2:30 am

When Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister last October, Joe Biden phoned him to reaffirm the ‘special relationship’. But when the two leaders…

Jeremy Hunt’s sober Budget briefing

14 March 2023 9:21 pm

How times change: seven months ago we were eagerly awaiting the Tiggerish Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s fiscal event, replete…

Now it’s Theresa’s turn to write her book

14 March 2023 3:50 am

‘Former Prime Ministers’ remarked William Gladstone ‘are like untethered rafts drifting around harbours – a menace to shipping.’ And as…

Gary Lineker to return to Match of the Day

13 March 2023 9:14 pm

Well, it was nice while it lasted. Following the farce of last night’s 14-minute episode of Match of the Day,…

Will the BBC chairman go after Lineker row?

13 March 2023 2:33 am

Day five and the Gary Lineker row shows no sign of abating any time soon. The BBC has gone into…

Match of the Day viewing figures rise without Gary Lineker

12 March 2023 9:45 pm

Oh dear. This wasn’t how it was meant to go. After Gary Lineker was forced to ‘step back’ from presenting…

The BBC’s nightmare hat-trick of blunders

11 March 2023 5:23 am

Oh dear. It seems that the BBC press office has had a nightmare 24 hours, with not one but three…

Gary Lineker taken off Match of the Day

11 March 2023 3:50 am

Talk about an own goal. It seems that Gary Lineker’s increasingly aggressive anti-Tory tweets have got the multimillionaire into hot…

Gary Lineker doubles down on his Tory attacks

10 March 2023 2:59 am

No red card for Gary Lineker, it seems. The Sun reports this afternoon that the outspoken TV presenter is staying…

Hancock wanted to ‘deploy’ new Covid variant and ‘frighten the pants off everyone’

5 March 2023 11:00 am

Day 5 of the Telegraph’s Lockdown Files and the most startling stories yet. Here’s what’s new: Matt Hancock asked when…

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…