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: Johnny Mercer attacks Labour ‘Inbetweeners’ MP

21 July 2023 3:42 pm

An enjoyable bit of by-election telly this morning. As political bigwigs trooped into the news studios to discuss last night’s…

Humiliation for Coutts as they grovel to Farage

21 July 2023 3:42 am

Gerald Ratner, eat your heart out. The decision by Coutts to ‘de-bank’ Nigel Farage over reputational concerns and then brief…

Do the public really support Mick Lynch’s rail strikes?

20 July 2023 9:16 pm

Britain is once again stuck at a red signal – with yet another set of rail strikes bringing the country’s trains…

Watch: Nigel Farage launches fresh attack on Coutts

20 July 2023 5:27 pm

Coutts gave Nigel Farage the boot as a customer because their reputation risk committee didn’t approve of his political views.…

Will the BBC now apologise to Nigel Farage?

19 July 2023 7:07 pm

Oh dear. It seems that Auntie has done it again. This time it’s the row over Nigel Farage’s bank account,…

Watch: Nigel Farage claims Coutts account shut over his ‘values’

19 July 2023 5:36 pm

The plot thickens. Nigel Farage claims he has got to the bottom of why he was ditched by the elite…

Tobias Ellwood’s Taliban blunder

19 July 2023 1:00 am

It’s long been the case that trips abroad can allow for a new perspective – to broaden the mind. But…

Boris: Get Ukraine into Nato ASAP

15 July 2023 4:07 am

Boris Johnson’s post-premiership crusade continues. The former PM has today attacked Nato for being too soft on Ukraine’s accession. The…

Ex-BBC presenters close ranks around Huw Edwards

15 July 2023 1:50 am

In the days since the Huw Edwards scandal broke, the television broadcaster’s wife has been praised for a dignified statement…

Claims about BBC presenter ‘rubbish’ says young person’s lawyer

11 July 2023 4:24 am

Allegations about a BBC presenter paying £35,000 for sexually explicit photos are ‘rubbish’ according to the lawyer of the young…

GB News investigated… again

11 July 2023 2:15 am

Another day, another investigation into GB News. This time though it’s not Ofcom probing the self-proclaimed ‘people’s channel’, but rather…

BBC suspend presenter over explicit photo allegations

10 July 2023 2:25 am

For the BBC, it never rains but it pours. Having only just emerged from the row over Richard Sharp’s appointment,…

Is Mhairi Black Westminster’s laziest MP?

10 July 2023 1:34 am

The dust is settling after the SNP Westminster group’s deputy leader announced she would be standing down at the next…

Watch: protestor crashes Osborne wedding

9 July 2023 8:24 pm

George Osborne’s happy day hasn’t gone as smoothly as the ex-Chancellor would have liked. First, he had to call in…

Keir and Khan clash on Ulez

7 July 2023 3:21 am

Ding, ding, ding! That sound you can hear is two monumental egos colliding in a bit of vintage Labour politicking.…

Watch: protestors disrupt Starmer speech

6 July 2023 9:42 pm

Hold a major sporting, political or national event these days and chances are you’re going to be disrupted by a…

Spectator summer party 2023, in pictures

6 July 2023 6:57 am

It’s 75 years today since the NHS was founded. So what better way for Westminster’s elite to mark the occasion…

The SNP Westminster group’s civil war continues

6 July 2023 2:57 am

All is not well among the SNP’s Westminster group and this time, it’s not Mhairi Black causing them trouble. Leader…

What makes Joe Biden think Ursula Von Der Leyen is fit to run Nato?

5 July 2023 7:25 pm

Steerpike hates to brag, but you heard it here first. The Telegraph is now reporting that Joe Biden, having glock-blocked…

Watch: Douglas Murray eviscerates the case for historical apologies

5 July 2023 5:51 pm

As America celebrated 4th July yesterday, it appears not everyone over the pond was keen to celebrate the country’s Independence…

Secessionists seethe over the ‘Scottish coronation’

4 July 2023 8:00 pm

King Charles III is all set for his ‘Scottish coronation’ in Edinburgh tomorrow. Yet despite the royal fervour north of…

Parliamentary police officer purged every six months

4 July 2023 1:37 am

These days, the reputation of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) Unit is at a low ebb, following the scandals…

Bank of England: ‘any gender’ can be pregnant

3 July 2023 11:18 pm

Talk about getting your priorities right. As ministers battle to get inflation down from the double digit highs of earlier…

Zac Goldsmith: the greatest hits

1 July 2023 2:23 am

It seems that Zac Goldsmith’s decade-long dance with government is over. The Old Etonian today handed his notice after four…

Macron hobnobs with Elton John as France burns

30 June 2023 4:07 pm

France is in chaos after another night of violence sparked by the shooting of a teenager by a Paris policeman.…