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.

Full list: Labour MPs who opposed Heathrow expansion

28 January 2025 4:40 am

There are just two days to go until Rachel Reeves’ big growth speech. The Chancellor is expected to turn her…

Navy rebrands HMS Agincourt to appease French

28 January 2025 3:18 am

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. Trump might be back in the White House but here in…

Starmer’s foreign policy doctrine revealed

27 January 2025 11:55 pm

It is sometimes claimed that Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones’ Diary series is based on Keir Starmer. One is…

Rachel Reeves’ ironic artwork choice

26 January 2025 3:42 am

To govern is to choose. So what have Labour’s ministers chosen to hung on their walls? Raiding the Government Art…

Reform tops poll for first time

25 January 2025 3:34 am

As the new Labour government continues to struggle with voters, support for Reform UK only seems to be growing. New…

Bishop compares disgraced Welby to God

25 January 2025 2:30 am

The Church of England has received a rather lot of bad press, to put it mildly, after the Archbishop of…

Labour MP: is hair colour a ‘protected characteristic’?

25 January 2025 1:24 am

As Donald Trump starts clamping down on diversity, equality and inclusion practices, it’s a shame that the same can’t be said on…

Braverman calls on Tories and Reform to ‘unite the right’

23 January 2025 4:00 am

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has had a rather good few months, with a number of opinion polls showing the Clacton…

Starmer’s academies U-turn

23 January 2025 12:04 am

Today’s PMQs won’t go down in history as Sir Keir Starmer’s finest half hour, with the PM losing marks over…

Five failings of the assisted dying committee

22 January 2025 11:19 pm

Back in November, MPs waved through Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill by 330 votes to 275. Some of those who…

BBC under fire over Trump coverage

22 January 2025 11:14 pm

Uh oh. The Beeb’s back in the spotlight – and this time it’s over some rather interesting reporting on the…

SNP minister admits misleading parliament over Limogate

22 January 2025 6:33 am

Well, well, well. Just when the Scottish government thought it had steadied the SNP ship after two rather tumultuous years,…

Will Trump deport Prince Harry?

22 January 2025 3:17 am

To the US, where President Trump is busy making the most of his return to the top job. At his…

What Rishi Sunak did next

22 January 2025 2:48 am

It wasn’t so long ago that political commentators and Tory MPs alike were confidently predicting that Rishi Sunak would leave…

Burghart warns of ‘overwhelming power’ of Treasury

22 January 2025 12:55 am

To London, where the Institute for Government’s 2025 conference is in full flow. This afternoon the think tank hosted a…

Starmer U-turns on US trade deal

21 January 2025 10:45 pm

It’s a day ending in ‘y’ – so of course Keir Starmer is spinning like a top. Donald Trump’s inauguration…

Only a fifth of Brits optimistic about Labour

21 January 2025 9:40 pm

Another day, another set of poor poll results for Labour. At the start of its 2025 conference, the Institute for…

SNP minister faces scrutiny over football expenses

21 January 2025 1:58 am

Back to Scotland, where SNP health secretary Neil Gray is in the spotlight over some rather curious expense claims. The…

Ex-Tory MPs gear up for Commons return

21 January 2025 1:12 am

The new year is three weeks’ old – but some Tories are determined to stick to their resolutions. An impressive…

Axel Rudakubana pleads guilty to Southport murders

20 January 2025 11:00 pm

To Liverpool and the case of the Southport murders. Today, 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls…

The sad decline of the Westminster lunch

20 January 2025 8:30 pm

‘Lunch?’ growled Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. ‘Lunch is for wimps.’ Yet for half of Westminster the noble art of…

Will MAGA push out Mandelson?

19 January 2025 4:55 pm

They do say you shouldn’t take anything for granted and it seems Peter Mandelson is beginning to realise that too.…

Humza Yousaf takes aim at media in Grazia photoshoot interview

18 January 2025 12:08 am

Hapless Humza Yousaf has a lot more time on his hands after he was forced to quit as Scotland’s First…

Alastair Campbell finally admits what Tony Blair got wrong

17 January 2025 11:25 pm

No one expected this day to come – but here we are. Alastair Campbell, former Labour spinner and full-time Tony…

Nandy denies Labour ‘governs by social media’ over grooming gang review

17 January 2025 9:41 pm

Well, well, well. Britain’s grooming gangs scandal is still dominating the headlines and pressure is piling on the Labour government…