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  • How (not) to start a political party

    How (not) to start a political party
    2025/10/31
    With Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party suffering some teething problems, host Patrick Baker delves into the art of starting a new political outfit. Corbyn himself speaks to POLITICO's Bethany Dawson at one of the many Your Party regional assemblies happening across the country. With tensions between Corbyn and co-leader Zarah Sultana simmering as the duo try to get their start up off the ground, Labour insider Sienna Rodgers of The House magazine explains the roots of the discord and how rival factions have been undermining the party's progress at an early stage. Patrick sits down with former Change UK MP Gavin Shuker in Nando's, site of one of the now-extinct party's early summits, to discuss the pitfalls of starting a new venture in Westminster. Journalist Catherine Mayer, who co-founded the Women's Equality Party alongside comedian Sandi Toksvig, lifts the lid on the curious underworld of smaller political parties and the outsized impact they can have on our politics. Professor Alan Sked, the founder of UKIP, tells the story of arguably the U.K.’s most consequential political newbie and describes how he slowly lost control of the party to Nigel Farage. And Reform UK board member and Farage's former press secretary Gawain Towler sets out how he believes the U.K.’s current insurgent can complete its journey from newcomer to party of power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    44 分
  • What Liz Truss wants Britain to learn from Trump

    What Liz Truss wants Britain to learn from Trump
    2025/10/24
    Liz Truss is never far from the shores of the United States, hobnobbing with the folk seeking to "Make America Great Again." What does she think Britain can learn from the second Trump era? Anne McElvoy travels to Washington to talk to the former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss, who’s on a self-proclaimed “mission” to remake the U.K. in the image of MAGA-land. It’s exactly three years since she left Downing Street after just 49 days in office following a mini-budget that sent the markets into freefall — and has haunted her party ever since. In a wide-ranging interview, Truss tells Anne that the Green Party might end up being the official opposition party after the next general election and argues that voters are sick of "technocratic managerial crap" in politics. She insists that she will foreseeably not be joining Reform UK, despite criticizing her own party’s record in office. Truss also pours scorn on both Kemi Badenoch’s leadership of her old party and the Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves, whom she blames for an impending economic crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    41 分
  • Starmer ally: Come clean on relations with China after spy row

    Starmer ally: Come clean on relations with China after spy row
    2025/10/17
    It’s been a week where the politics of the Middle East and Britain’s relations with China have loomed large over Westminster. For all the backslapping and goodwill of Sharm el-Sheikh, will the ceasefire and exchange of hostages and prisoners in Gaza pave the way for a political solution? What part could Britain play? And how will the row over the collapsed Chinese spy case play out at home as the blame game between the government, opposition and prosecutors continues to rumble on? What impact will it have on Keir Starmer's attempts to boost economic relations with China? Anne McElvoy talks to one of Westminster’s most prominent figures on foreign affairs, Emily Thornberry, who chairs the influential Foreign Affairs Select Committee of MPs. As one of Labour’s most senior backbenchers and a former shadow attorney general, she’s been unafraid to be a critical friend of Starmer. She's also joined by Tim Ross, POLITICO’s chief political correspondent for Europe and the U.K., who’s been reporting on the reaction to President Trump's Gaza peace plan and gauging the mood in Westminster over the row about Chinese espionage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    32 分
  • Inside Party Conference: Where next for the Tories?

    Inside Party Conference: Where next for the Tories?
    2025/10/10
    With dire poll ratings and Reform UK in the ascendancy, Kemi Badenoch’s well-received speech at party conference provided a rare moment of optimism for the Conservatives. But where are they headed next? Host Patrick Baker has been behind-the-scenes of Conservative Party conference in Manchester, on a mission to find out. From the control center – A.K.A. the Politico Pub at the heart of the conference arena – Patrick challenges Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly on whether the party’s new hardline immigration policies represent a shift away from moderate, center-ground conservatism. Members of the old guard, ex-cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps and Robert Buckland, share their views on how the Tories can win back a sceptical electorate. POLITICO’s Annabelle Dickson joins Patrick for a conversation about what Conservatives on the ground are saying about the party’s future. Kemi Badenoch pays a visit to the pub, where her pint-pulling skills are put to the test and assessed in real time by POLITICO’s Emilio Casalicchio. Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride sits down with Patrick to explain why he’s confident the Tories can win back trust on the economy and how the party can avoid becoming Reform-lite. Patrick tours the conference gatherings to see how the party faithful are warming to the man many believe wants to succeed Kemi Badenoch next May, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick. And Tory grandee Michael Heseltine expresses fears that his party is paying too much attention to Nigel Farage at the expense of the wider electorate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    36 分
  • Postcard from Liverpool: is Starmerism over already?

    Postcard from Liverpool: is Starmerism over already?
    2025/10/03
    Host Sascha O'Sullivan goes behind-the-scenes of Labour Party conference in Liverpool, talking to senior politicians and advisors as she tries to hunt for Keir Starmer's ideology – once dubbed "Starmerism". She tracks down Andy Burnham as the threat of a leadership challenge from the Manchester Mayor fades into the distance. And she speaks to Lucy Powell as she runs to be deputy leader of the Labour Party. Outside the POLITICO Pub, Sascha interviews Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy about what he thinks Starmerism means. And Sascha speaks to head of policy at Labour Together Morgan Wild and former senior advisor to the Prime Minister Peter Hyman about why finding a philosophical direction for the party is so important. Financial Times journalist Stephen Bush and Labour MP Alistair Strathern give Sascha their analysis on the all-important speech from the Prime Minister – and what it says about the future of Keir Starmer's Labour Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 分
  • What do Gen Z want?

    What do Gen Z want?
    2025/09/26
    Four and a half thousand miles away in Nepal, Gen Z protestors recently brought down their government in just 48 hours, amid roiling anger over corruption and nepotism. The uprising, led by online influencers harnessing the power of AI and Tik Tok, has sent shockwaves through South Asia. So, this week on Westminster Insider, host Patrick Baker decides it’s time to look at U.K. politics through the eyes of Gen Z — generally regarded as those born between 1997 and 2012. Luke Tryl, UK director of polling company More in Common, sheds light on the concerns of a generation that has only ever known constant crisis — from the 2008 financial crash to Brexit paralysis and then the Covid-19 pandemic. A Gen Z focus group describes what matters to them, and which political parties are grabbing their attention. Gen Z MPs — Sam Carling, the Labour MP known as the ‘Baby of the House’, Keir Mather, who recently became the youngest Government minister in 200 years, and Lib Dem MP Joshua Reynolds — set out their plans to restore their generation’s faith in mainstream Westminster politics. ‘Your Party’ co-leader Zarah Sultana, which has polled well with young people, speaks to Patrick at a grassroots party meeting in North London, where we hear from Gen Z about their hopes for the future, and why they still back Jeremy Corbyn. With a big increase in Gen Z men voting for Reform UK, Owain Clatworthy, a 21-year-old Reform UK councillor in Bridgend in Wales, explains why he stood for Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist party at such a young age. And following the recent killing of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a U.S.college campus, Patrick attends his memorial in London to speak to young men inspired by Kirk’s ultra-conservative brand of right-wing politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    46 分
  • Inside the fight to stop migrants crossing the Channel

    Inside the fight to stop migrants crossing the Channel
    2025/09/19
    Just this week, Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, has made a fresh effort to remove migrants arriving from the English Channel with the Government's one-in-one-out agreement with France. So this week on Westminster Insider, host Sascha O'Sullivan finds out why it's so hard – and who is really in control. She speaks to former Home Secretary James Cleverly who explains the thinking behind the controversial Rwanda plan and how it clashed with the courts. Glyn Williams, a top civil servant at the Home Office for more than a decade, tells Sascha the European Convention of Human Rights frustrated the department's ability to deport people and explains how the fight to stop the boats has changed since it was declared a 'national emergency' by former Home Secretary Sajid Javid in 2018. Nicola Kelly, author of Anywhere but Here and former Home Office press officer, explains why processing has always been such a pinch point in the asylum system. And lawyer Joe Middleton KC, head of immigration and human rights law at Doughty Street, takes Sascha through the appeals process available to migrants rejected by the Home Office. Andrew Harding, BBC Paris Correspondent, tells Sascha how powerful the gangs are and how clever they are in adapting to any efforts to stop migrants crossing at the Channel. And Sascha speaks to Georgina Wright, special advisor at the German Marshall Fund, a European think tank, about whether France is as concerned with boat crossings as the Brits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    47 分
  • Secrets of a state visit

    Secrets of a state visit
    2025/09/12
    U.S. President Donald Trump is in town next week for an unprecedented second state visit to the U.K. The sacking of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s Ambassador to Washington, following the revelations about the extent of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, could not have provided a more awkward backdrop for the visit. Shorn of his “Trump whisperer,” and badly bruised by recent events, the prime minister needs to make the most of the opportunity after deploying the ultimate diplomatic move. The U.K. is looking to make progress on a whole host of thorny issues, including trade and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. This week on Westminster Insider, host Patrick Baker explores what the British state has up its sleeve when it comes to charming foreign dignitaries into giving the U.K. what it wants. Theresa May’s former Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell explains the jeopardy attached to Trump’s dealings with the press when he’s abroad, and the stress involved in trying to minimize the U.S. president’s exposure to any protests. Esther Webber, POLITICO’s senior foreign and defense correspondent, takes us through what’s at stake with this Trump visit, and reveals how the royal family are set to be deployed to woo a U.S. president known for his love of pomp and pageantry. Robert Hardman, the royal historian and author of “King Charles III: The inside story,” reveals the U.K.’s long and storied history of inviting controversial world leaders on state visits, leveraging the mesmerizing power of the monarchy as the ultimate diplomatic weapon. Grant Harrold, a former royal butler to King Charles, explains the importance of etiquette to the royals, and takes us through what Trump can expect at the glittering state banquet. Former Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell lifts the lid on what it’s like to be entrusted as guardian of the Government’s vast wine cellar, and how the finest claret is served up to heads of state to lubricate potentially difficult political discussions. And Kate Fall, former deputy chief of staff to David Cameron, recounts her former boss taking China’s President Xi for pints at the pub on a 2015 state visit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    33 分