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.

Foreign nationals convicted of a quarter of sex assaults on women

18 June 2025 8:49 pm

Britain’s grooming gangs scandal has dominated the news this week, after the publication of Baroness Casey’s review on Monday. Now…

Ex-Tory MP pleads guilty to harassment

18 June 2025 12:55 am

To Cardiff, where a former Conservative politician has pleaded guilty to harassing their ex-wife. Katie Wallis, formerly Jamie Wallis who…

Poll: just 3 per cent of women back Stella Creasy’s abortion amendment

17 June 2025 11:59 pm

It is a big week for big Commons moments. On Monday, we had the long-awaited announcement of an inquiry into…

Casey hits out at ‘politicisation’ of grooming gang report

17 June 2025 8:22 pm

As Westminster continues to dissect the truly troubling findings laid out by Baroness Casey’s report into Britain’s grooming gang scandal,…

Is this the worst Labour MP in parliament?

17 June 2025 6:05 pm

The publication of Louise Casey’s report into rape gangs was a sobering affair. But not, apparently, for Shaun Davies, Labour…

Listen: Thought for the Day bishop’s bizarre grooming gang claim

17 June 2025 1:00 am

Well, well, well. As Baroness Casey prepares to publish her review into Britain’s grooming gang scandal, a rather curious speaker…

Lefties abandon Stella Creasy’s abortion amendment

17 June 2025 12:53 am

A real cheery week in the Commons is looming for our lucky legislators. There’s assisted dying, grooming gangs and a…

Will the assisted dying vote be delayed?

16 June 2025 10:17 pm

All is not well with the Labour lot. It has emerged that more than 50 lefty MPs submitted a letter…

Watch: Treasury minister’s car crash interview

16 June 2025 8:29 pm

Dear oh dear. It’s never a good look to go onto the airwaves to boast about your department’s new infrastructure…

Phillipson visits zero private schools in 11 months

15 June 2025 12:07 am

It’s been quite the year for Bridget Phillipson. The under fire Education Secretary is now regularly tipped as one of…

Labour MP’s migrants claim contradicted by own government data

14 June 2025 12:00 am

Uh oh. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones has found himself in a tight spot after his Question Time…

Jolyon Maugham wades into abortion debate

13 June 2025 11:04 pm

No one was especially interested in Jolyon Maugham’s take on next week’s abortion amendments, but the Babe Ruth of the…

Economist accuses Reeves of ‘making up numbers’ in spending review

13 June 2025 2:12 am

While certain government departments celebrated Rachel Reeves’s spending review – Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner even threw a party the…

Reform gains another councillor in blow for Scottish Tories

12 June 2025 9:31 pm

Dear oh dear. With just days to go until the Scottish Conservative conference, party leader Russell Findlay will have been…

Khan takes a pop at Reeves over spending review

12 June 2025 12:43 am

There were always going to be winners and losers in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s spending review and it appears that Sadiq…

US urges UK to U-turn on Israeli sanctions

11 June 2025 8:52 pm

As if the Labour government didn’t have enough on its plate with Rachel Reeves’s spending review to be announced at…

Tories score double the donations of Reform

10 June 2025 11:42 pm

How much have political donors gifted to their party coffers? Well, the results are now in. Today’s Electoral Commission figures…

Watch: Eco-activist Greta Thunberg deported from Israel – by plane

10 June 2025 9:37 pm

Well, well, well. After the failed attempt by Greta Thunberg and her comrades in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on ship…

Civil servants told to quit if they don’t like Gaza stance

10 June 2025 9:14 pm

To Whitehall, where Foreign Office staff are kicking up a fuss about the UK government’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.…

Dutch sound alarm on Chinese super-embassy in London

10 June 2025 12:36 am

For years, Steerpike has been warning about the dangers of a new Chinese ‘super-embassy’ being built in Tower Hamlets. Located…

Police blow £17 million on 300 diversity staff

9 June 2025 10:53 pm

Good news for British bobbies: you are about to get a real-terms pay rise. Yes, that is right: Yvette Cooper…

SNP ferry fiasco worsens. Again

9 June 2025 9:15 pm

Back to Scotland, where yet another ferry is facing further delays. The MV Glen Rosa, which is being built at…

Gary Lineker blocked from addressing Jewish writer’s memorial

9 June 2025 8:24 pm

Gary Lineker may have been finally forced out of the Beeb, but the ex-footballer is still managing to make headlines.…

Reeves underwhelms at CBI shindig

6 June 2025 10:47 am

Oh dear. It sounds as though Rachel Reeves was something of a bust at the big CBI shindig last night…

Cleverly splits from Kemi on climate

5 June 2025 12:24 am

Tree-hugging isn’t just for the Greens, it seems – as former Tory leadership contender James Cleverly will insist this evening.…