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: 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…

Simon Case quits the Garrick Club

21 March 2024 3:20 am

Should we expect a flash sale on Garrick Club memberships? The cabinet secretary Simon Case is the second high-profile figure…

Watch: Lee Anderson’s ‘institutional racism’ takedown

21 March 2024 2:29 am

It’s hardly been a week since Lee Anderson defected to the flanks of Reform UK and already the red wall…

David Lammy’s Thatcher u-turn

20 March 2024 11:50 pm

As Labour prepares for power, the party’s leading lights are busy u-turning: not least on their views on Margaret Thatcher.…

Simon Case’s five worst WhatsApp moments

20 March 2024 3:12 am

At long last, Simon Case has received his hearing date for the UK Covid Inquiry. The most senior civil servant…

BBC apologises for calling Reform ‘far-right’

19 March 2024 10:24 pm

Another day, another BBC blunder. This time the broadcaster admits that it was wrong to describe Richard Tice’s Reform UK…

Night czar is ‘good value for money’ insists Sadiq Khan

18 March 2024 11:39 pm

Back to one of Sadiq Khan’s worst mistakes in office: Amy Lamé. The underwhelming ‘night czar’ is in the news…

Porn project received thousands of pounds of Scottish taxpayers’ cash

16 March 2024 1:48 am

Good heavens. Just when you think events north of the border can’t get any more ridiculous, they do. Now it…

Meghan launches new lifestyle brand

15 March 2024 8:57 pm

Never able to keep herself from the spotlight for long, Meghan is back on Instagram. After her Archetypes podcast series…

Could Starmer really become the UK’s ‘most unpopular leader’?

15 March 2024 9:18 am

The Tory party hasn’t had the best week, what with one of their MPs defecting and their biggest donor embroiled in…

Robert Jenrick: The Tories have a young person problem

13 March 2024 8:35 am

Is ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick on manoeuvres? He certainly looked the part as he waxed lyrical to a crowd of…

Badenoch calls for forgiveness over Tory donor’s ‘racist’ remarks

13 March 2024 4:10 am

The Frank Hester saga continues after the Tory donor’s ‘rude’ remarks about Diane Abbott came to light on Monday. A…

Lee Anderson’s top three spats with Reform

12 March 2024 12:29 am

Well, well, well. The rumours turned out to be true. This morning the former deputy chairman of the Tory party…

Picture agencies ‘kill’ royal photo over editing fears

11 March 2024 10:14 am

Kensington Palace is making headlines this evening — but not in the way officials hoped. A photo that was meant…

Meghan Markle’s PR push

9 March 2024 2:59 am

The Queen of Privacy is doing it again. After a brief hiatus from the spotlight, the Duchess of Sussex has…

Theresa May to quit parliament at the election

8 March 2024 5:56 pm

Another one bites the dust. Theresa May has today become the 60th Tory MP to announce she is standing down…

‘You’re fired’ – watch Trump’s prebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union speech

8 March 2024 8:17 am

In a few hours, Joe Biden will deliver what could be his final State of the Union address as President.…

Papers deliver verdict on ‘fiscal drag queen’s’ Budget

7 March 2024 11:08 pm

Jeremy Hunt is facing a day of reckoning after announcing the Budget on Wednesday. The Chancellor framed his statement as…

Watch: Trump ally tells Emily Maitlis to ‘f*** off’

6 March 2024 10:30 pm

The News Agents podcast has had a mixed reception in the UK but its presenters are having an even rougher…

Listen: Jenrick warns of foreign state media ownership

6 March 2024 9:00 pm

Will a UAE-backed entity buy the Telegraph and The Spectator? Not if parliament gets its way. More than 100 MPs have signed a letter saying…

How did Newsnight end up defending a Syrian child rapist?

6 March 2024 8:27 pm

This week, a Syrian man named Omar Badreddin was sentenced to 18 years in prison, after being found guilty of…

Ten of the worst Tory tax hikes since 2010

6 March 2024 7:44 pm

It’s Budget day today. With the tax burden predicted to amount to 37 per cent of national income by the…

GB News suffers big losses as TalkTV goes online

6 March 2024 3:01 am

What a week for TV broadcasters: it’s been non-stop breaking news about, um, themselves. After BBC Verify’s debacle yesterday, it’s…