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.

Watch: Labour MP’s bizarre Putin warning

26 November 2025 1:45 am

To the Commons, where this afternoon parliamentarians have spent some time discussing the G20 and Ukraine. The Prime Minister updated…

Lammy to scrap jury trials in backlog crackdown

26 November 2025 1:07 am

Under a shake-up of the legal system, it transpires that juries are to be scrapped in all cases except murder,…

Starmer apologises over banned TikTok dance

25 November 2025 11:11 pm

Of all the things the public might think Prime Minister Keir Starmer should apologise for, a TikTok dance is probably…

Two peers suspended over lobbying

25 November 2025 10:33 pm

To the House of Lords, where it transpires that two peers are to be suspended after they were deemed to…

Trump team warned over London’s Chinese super-embassy

25 November 2025 3:31 am

So much for a simple Chinese takeaway. In his never-ending search for growth, Sir Keir Starmer has finally alighted on…

Coutinho: Net zero is perverse

25 November 2025 3:21 am

Today saw The Spectator’s Energy Summit in full swing, with a variety of panels, debates and discussions about issues from…

Zack Polanski’s fantasy economics

25 November 2025 2:38 am

Oh dear. Green leader Zack Polanski may have enticed thousands more voters to join his party with his eco-populist rhetoric,…

Tory chair links Reform badge to the Nazis

25 November 2025 2:26 am

Ding ding ding! The gloves are coming off as tensions rise between the Conservatives and Reform UK. Tory party chairman…

Second MP quits Your Party

22 November 2025 3:54 am

Another one bites the dust. Iqbal Mohamed has become the second Independent MP to quit the left-wing Your Party amid…

Ex-Reform Wales leader given jail time over bribery

22 November 2025 12:54 am

News just in: the former leader of Reform UK in Wales has been handed a prison sentence of 10 and…

Will Starmer approve the Chinese super-embassy?

21 November 2025 9:59 pm

Well, well, well. Just days after MI5 alerted MPs and peers to Chinese espionage threats, it appears that Prime Minister…

Covid report: governments acted ‘too little, too late’

21 November 2025 3:49 am

Back to the Covid inquiry, where chair Baroness Heather Hallett, has presented the findings of its report. The conclusions don’t…

Ex-Labour MP joins Greens

21 November 2025 3:03 am

Zack Polanski’s Green party has experienced a membership boom in recent months, after the new leader was elected at the…

Home Secretary slams ‘car crash’ leadership bid briefings

21 November 2025 12:28 am

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has dominated the headlines this week after she announced her plans to crackdown on asylum seekers…

Burnham dodges questions on Westminster return

20 November 2025 9:08 pm

Well, well, well. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is back in the spotlight. Earlier this week, Norwich South MP Clive…

More Your Party splits as Sultana snubs Corbyn

20 November 2025 5:14 am

Oh dear. As if there hadn’t been enough hiccups in the launch of new left wing group Your Party, it…

Watch: Labour minister’s bizarre Chagos comments

19 November 2025 10:44 pm

Well, well, well. Baroness Chapman of Darlington – the international development minister – turned up to the House of Lords…

Badenoch guns for the Guardian

19 November 2025 5:45 am

It was all guns blazing from Kemi Badenoch today. The Tory leader has clashed before with the Guardian – most…

Full list: Labour politicians attacking asylum plans

18 November 2025 2:55 am

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will this afternoon announce big reforms to the UK’s asylum policy – including fast-tracking illegal migrant…

Poll: Scots are fed up with both governments

18 November 2025 12:30 am

Another day, another bad poll for Labour. YouGov research has revealed that a whopping 75 per cent of Scots disapprove…

Siddiq’s aunt handed death sentence

17 November 2025 9:18 pm

To Bangladesh, where the country’s ousted former prime minister – and aunt of Labour MP Tulip Siddiq – has been…

Watch: David Davis attacks veteran prosecutions

14 November 2025 10:57 pm

It has been another bad week for the government. Growth down to 0.1 per cent, a briefing war engulfing No.…

Watch: Zarah Sultana squirms on BBC

14 November 2025 10:00 pm

‘Ohhhhh Jeremy Corbyn!’ Where would Mr S be without him eh? The grift that keeps on giving has been in…

Flashback: Streeting predicts he will be PM

13 November 2025 12:47 am

Well that was jolly fun. Kemi Badenoch gave Keir Starmer an almighty pasting at PMQs, predictably lacerating him over the…

Badenoch to set out Tory Budget alternative

12 November 2025 10:00 pm

It is a funny old time for the Tories right now. The government has rather sportingly decided to commit seppuku…