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.

Labour in fresh cash-for-access scandal

30 January 2026 8:45 pm

It’s a day ending in ‘y’ – so that means another scandal for Keir Starmer’s beleaguered team. This time it…

Matt Goodwin unveiled as Reform MP hopeful

28 January 2026 1:25 am

Andy Burnham may not be standing – but at least we know one man who is. With only five weeks…

Rael Braverman joins Reform (again)

27 January 2026 3:45 am

The in-and-out movements of the Bravermans have been quite something to behold. This morning it was the turn of Suella…

Burnham hits out at Team Starmer

26 January 2026 8:48 am

Poor old Andy and those sad eyes of his. The Mayor of Greater Manchester has had a pretty rotten day,…

Welsh Tory expelled for Reform talks

20 January 2026 10:04 pm

Another one bites the dust. After Kemi Badenoch expelled Robert Jenrick from the Conservative party in Westminster, it seems that…

Trump slams Starmer’s Chagos deal

20 January 2026 6:39 pm

Oh dear. Less than 24 hours after Keir Starmer did his big Hugh Grant act over Greenland, Donald Trump has…

Tories purge the Jenrickites

20 January 2026 5:21 am

It seems that Kemi Badenoch isn’t done with Robert Jenrick just yet. Tonight she is set to meet Tory MPs…

Poll: public back Badenoch’s sacking of Jenrick

20 January 2026 12:59 am

So, who’s gonna be the next to go? The rate of Reform switchers has stepped out in recent days with…

Farage turns on Tory MP over Mauritius

18 January 2026 7:59 am

It seems that Nigel Farage has not taken too kindly to all Kemi Badenoch’s talk of ‘cleaning house’. The leader…

Badenoch backs Starmer on Greenland

18 January 2026 4:38 am

Leave it to Donald Trump to knock Robert Jenrick off the news cycle. The US President has not taken too…

Andy Burnham joins Hillsborough revolt

18 January 2026 4:10 am

Can Keir Starmer get anything right? Just days after yet another U-turn on digital ID, it now seems that his…

Now the cabinet guns for Wes Streeting

17 January 2026 7:40 am

Oh dear. With the right in civil war, Keir Starmer might have thought his week was ending on a high,…

West Mids police chief bows out (finally)

17 January 2026 3:14 am

Congratulations to Craig Guildford who has finally realised whatever else knew two days ago. The disgraced West Midlands Police chief…

Nick Timothy takes Jenrick’s job

16 January 2026 3:33 am

It’s a treacherous business, politics. One day you’re the future Tory leader, the next you’re sitting on the independent benches…

Tory chairman: ‘This was treachery’

16 January 2026 2:18 am

So. Farewell then Robert Jenrick. The most popular member of the shadow cabinet (according to ConservativeHome at least) was this…

When will the West Midlands Police chief go?

14 January 2026 9:30 pm

Congratulations to the Met: you are officially no longer the worst run police force in the United Kingdom. The West…

Full list: Labour U-turns to date

14 January 2026 8:24 pm

It was just 18 months ago that Keir Starmer took office, pledging to ‘stop the endless Conservative chaos’. How times change.…

Lords hit back at Chagos deal – again

13 January 2026 9:28 am

When David Lammy announced that the Chagos Islands were to be handed over to Mauritius, it was greeted as the…

Starmer’s team could ban Musk’s X

13 January 2026 3:53 am

During Covid, it used to be asked what Boris Johnson the journalist would make of Boris Johnson the Prime Minister.…

Met chief insists London is getting safer

12 January 2026 9:28 pm

Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello, what’s all this then? It is a new year but the same old lines from Sir Mark…

Mandelson refuses to apologise for Epstein association

11 January 2026 10:17 pm

The Dark Lord is back. Peter Mandelson has resurfaced, four months after being sacked as US ambassador for his links…

Labour MP threatens by-election over jury plans

11 January 2026 9:23 pm

A new year and new headaches for the Labour whips’ office. Karl Turner, the long-serving MP for Hull East, has…

Lords force Chagos deal delay

6 January 2026 8:28 am

Three cheers for the House of Lords. Labour might be trying to pack Britain’s second chamber with as many placemen…

Watch: Labour MP attacks Starmer

6 January 2026 7:26 am

It’s all kicking off in the Commons tonight. The smash-and-grab assault on Caracas continues to dominate conversations in Westminster, with…

Labour MPs squabble over Venezuela

4 January 2026 6:42 pm

Oh dear. It seems that all is not well in the party of good comrades. The Americans’ stunning snatch-and-grab operation…