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.

Defence minister refuses to answer Iran question three times

23 June 2025 7:44 pm

It seems the Labour lot has got themselves in quite a tizzy over events in the Middle East – and…

RAF Brize Norton chief’s views on patriotism revealed

21 June 2025 11:27 pm

On Thursday night, a group of Palestine Action protestors managed to enter RAF Brize Norton, spraying paint into a pair…

Poll: majority of Brits think small boats unstoppable

21 June 2025 3:02 am

Summer is here! And you know what gorgeous weather means: more small boats crossing the Channel. Get ready for the…

Poll: public want care home opt out for assisted dying

20 June 2025 4:25 am

It’s a big day in parliament tomorrow. Both sides of the assisted dying debate are gearing up for a crunch…

Watch: SNP housing secretary slips up on social housing

20 June 2025 3:59 am

SNP MSP Mairi McAllan appears to be rated rather highly by First Minister John Swinney, who created an entirely new…

JK Rowling blasts the National as ‘anti-women’

20 June 2025 1:58 am

Scotland’s self-identifying ‘newspaper’ is at it again – and this time it has provoked the wrath of renowned writer JK…

NSPCC refuses to apologise to Braverman over grooming gangs letter

19 June 2025 10:52 pm

Baroness Casey’s landmark review into Britain’s grooming gangs contained some truly horrific revelations. The damning audit found that disproportionate numbers…

Revealed: Birmingham’s pest control costs soar as bin strikes continue

18 June 2025 10:42 pm

Today marks the 100th day of the Birmingham bin strikes. The City of a Thousand Trades has been subjected to…

Foreign nationals convicted of a quarter of sex assaults on women

18 June 2025 8:49 pm

Britain’s grooming gangs scandal has dominated the news this week, after the publication of Baroness Casey’s review on Monday. Now…

Ex-Tory MP pleads guilty to harassment

18 June 2025 12:55 am

To Cardiff, where a former Conservative politician has pleaded guilty to harassing their ex-wife. Katie Wallis, formerly Jamie Wallis who…

Poll: just 3 per cent of women back Stella Creasy’s abortion amendment

17 June 2025 11:59 pm

It is a big week for big Commons moments. On Monday, we had the long-awaited announcement of an inquiry into…

Casey hits out at ‘politicisation’ of grooming gang report

17 June 2025 8:22 pm

As Westminster continues to dissect the truly troubling findings laid out by Baroness Casey’s report into Britain’s grooming gang scandal,…

Is this the worst Labour MP in parliament?

17 June 2025 6:05 pm

The publication of Louise Casey’s report into rape gangs was a sobering affair. But not, apparently, for Shaun Davies, Labour…

Listen: Thought for the Day bishop’s bizarre grooming gang claim

17 June 2025 1:00 am

Well, well, well. As Baroness Casey prepares to publish her review into Britain’s grooming gang scandal, a rather curious speaker…

Lefties abandon Stella Creasy’s abortion amendment

17 June 2025 12:53 am

A real cheery week in the Commons is looming for our lucky legislators. There’s assisted dying, grooming gangs and a…

Will the assisted dying vote be delayed?

16 June 2025 10:17 pm

All is not well with the Labour lot. It has emerged that more than 50 lefty MPs submitted a letter…

Watch: Treasury minister’s car crash interview

16 June 2025 8:29 pm

Dear oh dear. It’s never a good look to go onto the airwaves to boast about your department’s new infrastructure…

Phillipson visits zero private schools in 11 months

15 June 2025 12:07 am

It’s been quite the year for Bridget Phillipson. The under fire Education Secretary is now regularly tipped as one of…

Labour MP’s migrants claim contradicted by own government data

14 June 2025 12:00 am

Uh oh. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones has found himself in a tight spot after his Question Time…

Jolyon Maugham wades into abortion debate

13 June 2025 11:04 pm

No one was especially interested in Jolyon Maugham’s take on next week’s abortion amendments, but the Babe Ruth of the…

Economist accuses Reeves of ‘making up numbers’ in spending review

13 June 2025 2:12 am

While certain government departments celebrated Rachel Reeves’s spending review – Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner even threw a party the…

Reform gains another councillor in blow for Scottish Tories

12 June 2025 9:31 pm

Dear oh dear. With just days to go until the Scottish Conservative conference, party leader Russell Findlay will have been…

Khan takes a pop at Reeves over spending review

12 June 2025 12:43 am

There were always going to be winners and losers in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s spending review and it appears that Sadiq…

US urges UK to U-turn on Israeli sanctions

11 June 2025 8:52 pm

As if the Labour government didn’t have enough on its plate with Rachel Reeves’s spending review to be announced at…

Tories score double the donations of Reform

10 June 2025 11:42 pm

How much have political donors gifted to their party coffers? Well, the results are now in. Today’s Electoral Commission figures…