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.

Jacinda Ardern's immigration clampdown

20 May 2021 4:30 pm

For several years now New Zealand Jacinda Ardern has enjoyed the status of being one of the world’s leading liberal icons.…

London Labour youth wing calls for the abolition of Israel

19 May 2021 9:52 pm

Pro-Palestine rallies were held across the country at the weekend amid the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. Onetime Labour leader…

Neil Ferguson's Indian variant optimism: 'the curves are flattening'

19 May 2021 5:37 pm

Amid much gloom in Westminster over the threat posed by the new Covid Indian variant, Mr S was intrigued to…

Through the Keirhole: Starmer plots TV drama

18 May 2021 9:31 pm

Pitch: a struggling politician eager to make his mark. He’s 10 points behind in the polls, leading a fractitious party and struggling…

Greens team up with Tories to kill the 'progressive alliance'

18 May 2021 6:00 pm

There has been much talk in recent years about the prospect of a so-called ‘progressive alliance’ coming together to lock…

The world's unluckiest anti-racist: Corbyn's greatest hits

18 May 2021 3:05 am

Rallies for Palestine were held across the country this weekend which meant of course a starring role for one Jeremy…

Prince Harry: America’s free speech protection is 'bonkers'

15 May 2021 7:00 pm

Much has been written here in the UK about Prince Harry’s Thursday appearance on Hollywood actor Dax Shepard’s ‘Armchair Expert’ podcast.…

Americans baffled by monarch's role in Queen's Speech

13 May 2021 5:22 pm

Her Majesty the Queen might have thought any concerns about the State Opening of Parliament were behind her on Tuesday,…

Tories unveil anti-woke manifesto

12 May 2021 7:52 pm

TheQueen’s Speech yesterday may have seen the government’s fairly dry visionfor modern Britain but a group of Conservative backbench MPs…

Build Le Wall: Barnier backs a French migration ban

11 May 2021 6:51 pm

Since the conclusion of Brexit, former EU negotiator Michel Barnier has been keeping himself busy, releasing his own ‘secret journal’…

Jon Lansman finally gets a left victory

10 May 2021 6:13 pm

While the Conservatives in Cornwall may celebrate winning control of the council in last week’s election, they had one notable…

Diane Abbott calls for Labour to embrace free movement

10 May 2021 5:58 pm

Left-wing figures are picking over the carcass of the Labour party this morning, after the party performed poorly in Hartlepool…

Defeated Labour councillor: ‘The voters have let us down’

9 May 2021 11:02 pm

With dozens of Labour councillors defeated across the country, the recriminations and inquests have already begun. Various reasons have been…

Laurence Fox loses his deposit

9 May 2021 7:49 pm

The London election results have finally been declared and it turns out the poll were not lying: Laurence Fox is…

Hartlepool meltdown: best of the left round-up

7 May 2021 9:51 pm

Oh dear. Labour’s loss of Hartlepool on a 16 point swing to the Tories has not gone down well with…

Las Vegas resident urges Scots to vote SNP

5 May 2021 5:16 pm

Sunday’s anti-climactic finale looked set to be the biggest Line of Duty let-down for fans of the hit BBC series.…

Watch: Hillary Clinton blames the Russians for Brexit

5 May 2021 2:43 am

Ever since the Brexit vote in 2016, there has been a committed group of activists and politicians convinced that only…

BBC makes a cameo in SNP election campaign

4 May 2021 4:35 am

The SNP’s latest election graphic will make for uncomfortable viewing at BBC Scotland. As tweeted by Nicola Sturgeon today, the…

Zac Goldsmith, No. 10's rapid rebuttal service

1 May 2021 8:12 pm

It’s a tough gig defending this government. So tough in fact that the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson Allegra Stratton left…

A politician's guide to non-denial denials

28 April 2021 4:50 pm

Michael Gove was deployed to the Commons on Monday afternoon to answers questions on the ministerial code, an hour-long appearance…

Merkel's vaccine nationalism threatens India

23 April 2021 9:56 pm

You might have thought that Europe’s leaders would be wary of handing Brussels greater powers, given the various mishaps of the…

Pollster consistently overstated Scottish independence support

22 April 2021 4:24 pm

Few events are as eagerly anticipated in Scotland as the release of a bombshell new poll. Unionists and nationalists eagerly…

Has the shine come off Saint Jacinda?

20 April 2021 7:47 pm

For a short time it seemed as if Jacinda Ardern, the popular premier of New Zealand, could do no wrong…

Now even Richard Dawkins is cancelled by the humanists

20 April 2021 7:29 pm

For years, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins enjoyed the acclaim and approval heaped upon him by universities and institutes across the…

China's belt and road to nowhere

20 April 2021 1:26 am

Sinoscepticism is on the rise in Parliament, with China’s controversial ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ increasingly being the subject of attention…