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.

Boris lashes out at Rishi’s ‘mad’ smoking ban

11 April 2024 6:57 pm

Oh dear. Having his leadership questioned is becoming an almost-daily occurrence for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. When he announced he…

Watch: Canadian MPs sing God Save the King after constitutional motion defeat

11 April 2024 6:13 pm

Well, well, well. In a turn of events that is good news for Canada’s monarchists, a motion that would have…

Who are the Westminster honeytrap targets?

9 April 2024 10:59 pm

The honeytrap scandal is the talk of the town as politicians, staffers, advisers and even journalists working in Westminster have…

Amnesty laments death of Palestinian torture group leader

9 April 2024 9:19 pm

One might expect a global human rights organisation to wholeheartedly condemn a man involved in the brutal torture of a…

David Cameron meets Trump at Mar-a-Lago

9 April 2024 5:30 pm

As the US elections draw ever closer, Donald Trump is back in the spotlight. Last night, David Cameron met with…

Watch: Pro-Palestine protestors vandalise Labour HQ

9 April 2024 3:44 am

Uh oh. Labour is once again facing dissent from its own supporters over the Israel-Gaza conflict. Things came to a…

Did David Lammy break broadcasting rules?

8 April 2024 10:46 pm

Uh oh. David Lammy is back in the spotlight again after Ofcom’s announcement today that it is investigating the shadow…

Honeytrap scandal: Jenkyns says Wragg must face disciplinary action

8 April 2024 9:42 pm

Back to the Westminster honeytrap, and now Dame Andrea Jenkyns has revealed that she was also targeted by the parliamentary…

Watch: Lammy flounders in Rayner defence

7 April 2024 8:30 pm

When you’re in a hole, who gonna call? David Lammy! Yes, the Shadow Foreign Secretary was out on the airwaves…

Scotland’s police at ‘breaking point’ over hate law

7 April 2024 12:53 am

Oh dear. As the furore around Scotland’s Hate Crime Act extends into its sixth day, there are now fears about…

Listen: David Cameron refuses to answer Gaza questions

5 April 2024 5:47 am

After the tragic news of the deaths of three British aid workers, killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza, both…

Poll predicts Labour could become Scotland’s largest party

4 April 2024 4:30 am

As Scotland’s embattled First Minister continues to face backlash over his Hate Crime Act, his party has been hit with…

Four groups keeping quiet on the SNP’s Hate Crime Act

4 April 2024 2:53 am

It’s three days since Scotland’s Hate Crime Act took effect and there is no sign of public outrage dissipating anytime…

Rishi Sunak slams Scotland’s Hate Crime Act

2 April 2024 11:35 pm

Scotland’s Hate Crime Act has got off to a rather rocky start, to put it mildly. On Monday, when the…

Will Angela Rayner take her own advice?

28 March 2024 8:56 pm

It seems Angela Rayner is in hot water again. The Labour deputy leader might have thought she had escaped unscathed…

Galloway suggests Obama involvement in Moscow attack

28 March 2024 12:39 am

The fall-out continues from Friday’s attack on Moscow concert hall attack in which 139 people were reported dead. Russian officials…

Tories split on CCHQ attack ads

27 March 2024 10:12 pm

It’s five weeks to go until the local elections and Tory high command are stepping up their attacks. On Monday,…

Watch: Stephen Colbert grovels for Kate joke

26 March 2024 11:24 pm

Oh dear. In his never-ending quest to prove that he’s almost as funny as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert has tripped…

Steve Bray is silenced, finally

26 March 2024 3:14 am

It must be a hard job being the Metropolitan Police. Too hardline and you risk howls of protest from the…

Jon Sopel joins the Garrick Club

24 March 2024 11:03 pm

Tough times for the Garrick Club, after the embarrassing leak of its membership list to the Guardian. Following the newspaper’s…

Revealed: Reform leader issues letter of complaint to ‘out of touch’ Mail group

23 March 2024 1:25 am

Richard Tice is on a mission to crack down on ‘defamatory and libellous’ slurs against his party as the election…

Fake Labour minister polls better than real frontbenchers

22 March 2024 10:30 pm

While the polls continue to predict a Labour victory at the next election, it’s not all rosy for Sir Keir…

Watch: Douglas Murray schools Al Jazeera journalist on Israel-Gaza conflict

22 March 2024 7:34 pm

When you’re interviewing an expert, it never hurts to come prepared. But when Al Jazeera journalist Jane Dutton quizzed Douglas…

Watch: Justin Welby takes a pop at CofE ‘whiteness officer’ job

22 March 2024 4:12 am

Just when you think the woke wars can’t get more ridiculous, they do. It transpires that the Diocese of Birmingham…

Watch: Donald Trump’s bid to woo Latino voters

21 March 2024 10:43 pm

President Joe Biden has been touring Nevada and Arizona in an attempt to win back disgruntled Hispanic voters. ‘This guy…