The Rundown by PoliticsHome: Recent Episodes
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Our weekly podcast from Politics Home discussing all the ups and downs in Westminster. Please subscribe and share - and keep up with all the latest news on PoliticsHome.com. Got a question for the team? news@politicshome.com.
Something a little bit different again this week, as host Alain Tolhurst and the PolHome team head up to Manchester for the Conservative Party’s annual conference, and return with a despatch from the four-day event, finding out what the mood is like among the Tories as they settle into the slog of opposition.
Featuring MPs, pollsters and academics, including Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride, Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly, shadow transport minister Greg Smith, pollsters Allie Jennings from ThinksInsight and Patrick English from YouGov, politics professor Rob Ford, and economist Tom Pope from the Institute for Government, they assess whether there is still life left in the party, what their plan is to get back into office, and whether it will be Kemi Badenoch who tries to lead them there...
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week's episode is a little different, as listeners are taken deep within Labour’s annual party conference, giving you the inside track on how things unfolded in Liverpool over the past few days, from Andy Burnham's leadership challenge, Cabinet ministers taking on Nigel Farage, as well as the less serious moments such as a charity rugby league game and the infamous Mirror party on the final night.
Host Alain Tolhurst spoke to a number of MPs, including transport minister Keir Mather, Charlotte Nichols, Josh Dean, Peter Swallow, Ben Goldsborough and Josh Fenton-Glynn, as well as West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, former MP and Manchester deputy mayor Kate Green, and pollsters Scarlett Maguire of Merlin Strategy and Patrick English from YouGov, plus the rest of the PolHome team, about the story of this year’s event.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week the focus is on the Liberal Democrats after the party held their annual conference in Bournemouth.
Which despite still giving off a celebratory mood at becoming the third-largest party in the Commons last year, was beset by questions over whether Ed Davey’s stunt-based leadership style is wearing a little thin.
And a discussion whether they are punching below their weight in the political discourse 12 months on from their biggest electoral success, as Reform and Nigel Farage continue to pull Westminster and the media’s focus.
The episode starts with some despatches from the south coast, recorded by PolHome reporter Zoe Crowther at the event, who spoke to a number of the party’s MPs about the big themes of conference, and where the Lib Dems are positioning themselves in our fractured political system.
She spoke to Jess Brown-Fuller, former leader Tim Farron, and James MacCleary, before joining host Alain Tolhurst alongside another Lib Dem MP, Alison Bennett, her party’s spokesman on care and carers, as well as Sophie Church, reporter on our sister title The House magazine.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week the so-called ‘dark arts’ of politics are being demystified, with a look inside the system known as whipping, where MPs are corralled by fair means or foul into voting with their party’s leadership in Parliament.
But in the modern era have things moved more from threats of punishment to pastoral care? And have the days of the 'little black book' filled with politicians misdeeds ready to be used against them, as made famous by Francis Urquhart, the fictional chief whip in the classic TV show House of Cards, been banished to a bygone era, or do whips still hold sway over their flock?
Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss all that - and also the changes made by Keir Starmer to his whipping operation last week- are Seb Whale, journalist and author of a new book - The Usual Channels - which unpicks the mysterious world of political whips, as well as Lord Mark Harper, the Conservative peer and former Cabinet minister, who served as Chief Whip in the Commons under David Cameron’s premiership.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week is a look under the bonnet of British politics, and shining a light into the dark corners of how Westminster’s finances operates, and seeing if the endless pledges to close loopholes and tighten regulations after every scandal have actually led to a crackdown on illegal lobbying and undue influence on democracy.
Or whether the UK remains vulnerable to illicit wealth, cronyism and financial corruption, despite Keir Starmer’s pledge to clean up politics if he got into power last year.
Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss all that are Lloyd Hatton, the Labour MP for South Dorset, as well as Sue Hawley, executive director at Spotlight on Corruption, Daniel Bruce, Transparency International UK's chief executive, and the investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan, author of the Democracy for Sale website.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
As MPs returned to Westminster after the summer recess, this week we’re looking ahead to a crucial autumn for this government, packed full of potential pitfalls as they hope year two in office is an upgrade from a tricky first 12 months.
But after a clunky internal Downing Street reset and distracting revelations about Angela Rayner’s tax affairs, things have not got off to the best start, with a high-risk Donald Trump visit, party conference season, the ongoing smalls boats crisis and Rachel Reeve’ sophomore Budget to deliver, things don’t get any easier for Keir Starmer and his team in the coming weeks.
Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how Labour navigates its way through all of this are two of the party’s MPs; Antonia Bance, the member for Tipton and Wednesbury, and Jess Asato, the MP for Lowestoft.
Alongside them are Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at the pollsters Savanta, along with Adam Payne, editor of PoliticsHome.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week is the sixth and final episode in our series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts and looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office in some of the big policy areas, and the biggest has been saved until last; the economy.
Fixing the country’s finances was their number one priority when Keir Starmer came into office last year, promising to kickstart economic growth after a decade of stagnation and austerity, followed by post-pandemic inflation and the chaotic fallout from the Liz Truss ‘mini-Budget’.
But after announcing there was a so-called £22billion ‘black hole’ in the country’s finances once she arrived in the Treasury, Rachel Reeves announced £40billion of tax increases in her first Budget as Chancellor, and despite saying it would be a ‘one off’, this year’s sluggish growth figures mean she finds herself in a similarly difficult position as she heads towards her second Budget this autumn.
So joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how well the government has managed the economy after being handed an undoubtedly difficult inheritance, and whether they will chart a path towards economic growth this parliament, is Helen Miller, the new director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the UK’s most-respected economic think tank.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
In the latest episode in a series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this week the focus is on the world of work, from employment rights, public sector pay, and the government’s relationship with trade unions.
Host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, which represents 48 unions with a total of about 5.5 million members, to discuss how well Labour have done so far, having come into office promising an end to the strikes in a number of sectors, repairing the relationship with public services, as well as sweeping changes to workers rights.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
In the fourth episode of a series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts and looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by not one but two brilliant guests to discuss probably the single most important policy area outside of the economy for this government; health.
Labour has long staked its reputation as being the defenders of the NHS and made big promises ahead of last year’s election about fixing a broken system of healthcare in this country, but 12 months on, have they lived up to those pledges?
Later in the episode Siva Anandaciva, director of policy at the King's Fund think tank, discusses the government’s new 10-year plan to reform the health service, and how Wes Streeting is faring as health secretary, but first up in Dame Jennifer Dixon, the chief executive of the Health Foundation charity, to assess Labour’s overall performance on health and social care so far.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
The latest in a series over Parliament’s summer recess, looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this episode features Chris Skidmore, the former Conservative MP, who as Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, signed the UK's Net Zero pledge into law in 2019.
Later asked to chair a review of the government's net-zero strategy, he resigned from the Commons in January last year over the introduction of the government's Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, calling it "the greatest mistake" of Rishi Sunak's premiership, and he now chairs the Climate Action Coalition launched by former US Secretary of State John Kerry.
He spoke to host Alain Tolhurst about how Labour have got on with the country’s climate commitments and its progress on Net Zero, what he makes of GB Energy, whatever happened to the party's promise of £28 billion of green Investment, and where the Tory party finds itself on all of these issues.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
In the second episode of a series over Parliament’s summer recess looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this week's guest on The Rundown is Sarah Owen, Labour MP for Luton North and the chair of the Commons select committee on women and equalities.
Speaking to host Alain Tolhurst, she discusses how this government is doing on its manifesto commitments to tackle racial injustice and gender inequality, improve the lives of the disabled and to protect trans people and other marginalised communities, as well as the role of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
With Parliament now into its summer recess, The Rundown is going to spend the next few weeks assessing how the Labour government is performing after a year in office in a number of key areas, with the help of some top experts and those with experience of having facing the same problems staring back at Keir Starmer and his Cabinet.
Starting this week with the subject of social mobility, and that most key of all questions we ask of those in power; have you made our lives better? And have those barriers to success been removed?
To discuss if Labour are on the right track so far, and her own party’s record in this area, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by someone who has made social mobility the focal point of her political and business career, the former Conservative education secretary Justine Greening.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week marks nine years since Theresa May entered Downing Street, after David Cameron’s resignation the morning after the EU referendum, but while Brexit was the reason she became Prime Minister, ultimately it was the thing that ended her premiership too, after she was unable to get a deal through Parliament.
Consequently most look back on her tenure as a failure, but looking back now while her three years in Number 10 were undoubtedly some of the most chaotic in recent memory, they might also be some of the most consequential, with events and legislation taking place that still impact our politics now, despite the vast stream of history that has thundered through in the years since she left office.
So joining host Alain Tolhurst to take another look at what Theresa May’s time as PM achieved, and what the current Downing Street incumbent Keir Starmer can learn about dealing with a difficult inheritance and global headwinds while also trying to get your own agenda implemented, I’m delighted to be joined by Baroness JoJo Penn, who was her deputy chief of staff.
Alongside her is Seema Kennedy, the former Tory MP who was May’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, and is now executive director of Fair Civil Justice, and also the journalist and author Isabel Hardman, assistant editor of The Spectator, and also appearing in the episode is Paul Harrison, who Theresa May’s press secretary.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
With this week’s state visit to Britain by Emmanuel Macron, we’re looking at the state of UK-Franco relations, and how important a new ‘entente cordiale’ is to Keir Starmer as he deals with political problems both home and abroad.
Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss why the French president is open to a rapprochement after a pretty frosty few years post-Brexit, what both sides have been able to agree on, and what still divides them, are Sir Peter Westmacott, a former UK ambassador to France, as well as Ben Lake, Plaid Cymru MP and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on France.
Alongside them are Francois-Joseph Schichan, director at Flint Global and former career diplomat in the French diplomatic service, Adam Plowright, ex-deputy editor-in-chief for Europe at Agence France Presse and a biographer of Emmanuel Macron, and Matilda Martin, reporter at PoliticsHome.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This weekend marks 12 months since last year’s General Election, when Labour were swept to power with an enormous landslide victory ending 14 long years in opposition, but it seems unlikely they will be hanging the bunting outside Number 10 after a very tough first year in office for Keir Starmer.
To discuss just how bad things have got, and how Labour might solve their problems, PoliticsHome have again partnered with the pollsters Thinks Insight & Strategy, who have taken the nation’s temperature this week, and with host Alain Tolhurst to discuss the results of their voter survey is their CEO Ben Shimshon, along with two Labour MPs elected for the first time last summer, Rachel Blake, the member for Cities of London and Westminster, and Julia Buckley, the MP for Shrewsbury.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week we’re taking a look at what life is like not for politicians themselves, but for their spouses, asking what does a life in the Westminster spotlight do to relationships, what their role is, and the often unfair way they are portrayed in the public eye.
Someone who knows more about this than most is the journalist Sarah Vine, who for many years was married to Michael Gove as he served in the Cabinets of multiple Prime Ministers, giving her a front row seat to the many machinations of the modern Tory party.
She has written a new book called ‘How Not to be a Political Wife’, charting her difficult upbringing to entering the so-called Notting Hill set as David Cameron become Conservative leader, through to her falling out with his wife Samantha, as the couples fell on either side of the Brexit divide, and her surprisingly amicable divorce.
Host Alain Tolhurst and producer Nick went to visit Sarah at her home in West London this week to chat at her kitchen table about unrealistic expectations, what she’d learned from her 20 years as a Westminster wag, what advice she’d give to any soon-to-be political spouse about how to get through it with marriage intact, and what her own political ambitions are now her ex-husband is out of the Commons.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Zack Polanski, Green Party deputy leader, as the podcast takes a look at the forgotten winners of last year’s general election, as despite unprecedented success in winning 1.8 million votes and quadrupling their number of MPs to 4, the Greens finds themselves at something of a crossroads.
They are joined by Sophie Stowers, research manager at the think tank More in Common, and Sophie Church, reporter at our sister title The House magazine, about how the party builds on that success, what can it do to remain part of the national conversation, champion its progressive causes under the banner of eco populism, and Polanski's bid to become their new leader.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
While this week Rachel Reeves set out her plans on how and where Labour is set to spend money for much of the rest of this Parliament, the question now is do they have a plan for how they’re going to deliver on their priorities, and succeed in completing Keir Starmer’s missions for government?
Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss the vexed issue of actually delivering in office what you came in to do is Michelle Clement, lecturer in government studies at the Strand Group at King’s College London, who has just published a new book ‘The Art of Delivery: The Inside Story of How the Blair Government Transformed Britain’s Public Services’ which goes inside the work of Michael Barber, who was put in charge of Tony Blair’s delivery unit in 2001.
Alongside them are Charlotte Pickles, director of the Re:State think tank and a former special adviser to Iain Duncan Smith, Alexander Iosad, director of Government Innovation at Tony Blair Institute, and John McTernan, former Political Secretary to Tony Blair and a government special adviser.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
With Rachel Reeves still finalising her comprehensive spending review next Wednesday, this week we’re looking at how the process works, going inside the battles between the Treasury and Whitehall departments on spending plans for the coming years, with John Glen, conservative MP and a former Treasury minister, Sonia Khan, a special adviser to Philip Hammond during his time as Chancellor, join host Alain Tolhurst alongside Bee Boileau, research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Tom Pope, deputy chief economist at the Institute for Government.
They reflect on how useful spending reviews are for creating economic policy, take a look back at previous reviews and see what can be learned ahead of the Chancellor’s big speech, and what it will say about this government’s priorities over the course of the Parliament, while later in the episode Brandon Lewis, who was a minister in multiple departments under four different prime ministers, describes his experience of the spending review process.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
As disquiet brews within Labour over cuts to welfare, and a perceived failure to pursue a progressive enough agenda, this week host Alain Tolhurst looks inside the governing party as a host of new caucuses and organised campaign groups have sprung up, and asking - who are the new tribes within Labour Who is behind them, what are their aims, and how dangerous could they be to Keir Starmer’s leadership, as he faces his first major rebellion since winning office with a huge majority last year.
On the panel to explain everything from the Labour Growth Group, the coastals and rural MPs, the Co-Operatives, Christian socialists, Blue Labour and a host of others are three of the finest Labour party Kremlinologists in Westminster; Sienna Rogers, deputy editor of our sister publication The House magazine and a former editor of the LabourList website, as well as Morgan Jones, journalist and another former editor of LabourList, along with Stephen Bush, associate editor of The Financial Times.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
With this month marking 15 years since the signing of the historic Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition agreement, and given the fractured five-party politics of 2025, what can be learned from five chaotic days in 2010, that led to five years of surprisingly stable government?
To discuss how it all came together, and what stopped it from falling apart, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by one of the people who helped negotiate the historic deal between the Tories and the Lib Dems, along with two members of the House of Lords, who in their past lives were at the heart of that 2010-2015 government, as well as a professor who quite literally wrote the book on the coalition.
David Laws was the Lib Dem MP for Yeovil from 2001 to 2015, and was part of his party’s team that thrashed out an agreement after the general election gave no party a majority to govern, and Baroness Kate Fall, who began working for David Cameron after he became leader, worked as deputy chief of staff inside Number 10 when he entered Downing Street.
Lord Jonny Oates, a Lib Dem peer, was chief of staff for Nick Clegg during his time as deputy Prime Minister, and finally Robert Hazell, Professor of Government and the Constitution at University College London, and the co-author of the book The Politics of Coalition, joins the panel too.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week the podcast looks at another of those knotty, seemingly intractable issues sat on Labour’s in-tray when they entered government last year; namely social care.
To look at how successive administrations have failed to grasp the nettle and deal with the rising costs of a sector that has ballooned in size to deal with our ageing population, host Alain Tolhurst is joined on the panel by Paulette Hamilton, Labour MP and the acting chair of the health and social care select committee, as well as Joe Robertson, Tory MP for the Isle of Wight who also sits on the select committee.
Alongside them are Lucinda Allen, policy fellow in social care at The Health Foundation, and Will Dalton, national officer for care at the GMB union, to discuss Andrew Dilnot’s infamous unimplemented review, Theresa May’s election-losing dementia tax, and what Keir Starmer’s government is doing to take on the care crisis.
They argue whether the latest review is another exercise in kicking the can down the road, and what impact this week’s immigration white paper will have on the sector’s massive vacancy issues, while later on in the episode Joe Dromey from the Fabian Society talks about the think tank's proposals for dealing with pay and recruitment.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week the podcast takes a look at the government's plans to try and fix the UK’s rental market, with soaring rents, terrifying competition, no fault evictions, poorly maintained properties and huge supply pressures trapping an increasingly large cohort of tenants in a system that means they may never own their own homes.
To discuss the Renters Rights Bill and how it will look to solve some of these issues, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Joe Powell, Labour MP for Kensington and Bayswater, who sits on the housing select committee, as well as Roisin Lanigan, journalist and author, whose debut novel ‘I Want to Go Home But I’m Already There’ has been billed as a “gothic novel for generation rent”.
Alongside them is Tom Darling, director of the Renters' Reform Coalition, a group of 21 housing organisations campaigning for stronger renters' rights , Charlie Trew, head of policy at the charity Shelter, and Chris Norris, director of policy and campaigns at the National Residential Landlords Association.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This week the panel is discussing whether the government can avoid a pensions crisis? As most analysts think the UK’s retirement industry is at a tipping point, needing bold and meaningful - if politically unpopular - reforms, Guy Opperman, the former Tory MP who was the UK’s longest-serving pensions minister from 2017 to 2022, joins host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how ministers can ease the financial burden of the current state pension, while making sure younger workers will still have enough savings to retire comfortably. Alongside them is Lord David Willetts, president of the Resolution Foundation think tank, and Jonathan Cribb, associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and there is a chat with Baroness Ros Altmann, another former pensions minister, about the overall health of the sector, and what the government’s priorities should be.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
With much of England set to go to the polls next week we’re previewing a crucial set of local elections, with more than 1,600 council seats up for grabs, as well as six mayoral contests and a high-profile Parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby.
On the panel is Jonathan Ashworth, chief executive of the think tank Labour Together and a former shadow cabinet minister, Max Wilkinson, Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham and his party’s culture spokesman, as well as Scarlett Maguire, pollster and founder of Merlin Strategies, and Jack Sellers, a former Conservative special adviser who worked for Rishi Sunak in Number 10.
They talk to host Alain Tolhurst about the government’s potential electoral struggles, Reform’s high hopes, whether the Tories will take another pasting, and why nobody is talking up the Lib Dems.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
With the Commons in recess the pod heads down the pub for another episode looking at the UK’s hospitality industry and the struggles it continues to face - with a host of global headwinds and domestic policy contributing to a bleak outlook for the sector in 2025.
Joining host Alain Tolhurst for a pint in The Westminster Arms, a stones throw from Parliament, is Conservative MP Richard Holden, vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Pubs and the Shadow Paymaster General, Morgan Schondelmeier, policy manager on tax and trade at the British Beer and Pub Association, Ellie Hudspith, campaigns manager for CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, Steve Alton, CEO of the British Institute of Innkeeping, and Jonny Garrett, chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers and co-host of the Craft Beer Channel.
They discuss what the government can do to help this crucial part of the economy, that not only contributes £54 billion in tax receipts, £20 billion in exports, and is the third largest employer in the UK - but also plays a vital role in the country’s social fabric - after it was hit by the triple of whammy of rising business rates, a National Insurance hike, and increased staff costs, this month.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
Senior Labour MP Liam Bryne, who chairs the Commons business and trade committee, joins host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how Keir Starmer navigates the post-tariff world, and whether the market turmoil could be an opportunity for Britain.
Later in the episode a panel of experts discuss the small matter of what on earth is happening to the global economy - and what that will mean for the UK - after Donald Trump’s sudden volte face on Wednesday, abandoning almost all of the tariffs he had meted out on so-called ‘Liberation Day’ a week before, but leaving 10% levies on British goods and 25% on steel and the automotive sector.
Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government and a former senior civil servant, Raoul Ruparel, a former adviser to Theresa May on Europe and a special adviser in the Brexit department, Allie Renison, associate director at SEC Newgate and a former policy adviser to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and Clive Jones, Liberal Democrat MP and his party’s spokesperson on trade, try to make sense of what just happened, and explain what might happen next.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
Former Conservative MP and minister Mark Field speaks to host Alain Tolhurst about his new memoir The End Of An Era, which as the title suggests charts both his own time in politics as well as the waning fortunes of his party over the past 25 years.
They discuss his reflections five years on from stepping down from the Commons, what the Tories got right as well as wrong in their time in office, how they might recover once more from last year's disastrous election, why he's voted for the losing candidate in every leadership contest stretching back to Ken Clarke, and the response to writing about his much-publicised affair with Liz Truss, and the incident at the Mansion House dinner in 2019 that led to the premature end of his ministerial career.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
To discuss the fallout from this week’s Spring Statement, after Rachel Reeves confirmed a host of cuts to benefit payments and a squeeze on public spending to offset a downgrade in the country’s growth forecast, John Glen, Tory MP and a former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Helen Barnard, Director of Policy at the Trussell charity, Greg Thwaites, Research Director at the Resolution Foundation think tank, and Chris Curtis, Labour MP and Vice-Chair of the Labour Growth Group, join host Alain Tolhurst. As the question already turns to whether further tax rises will be needed as soon as this year, some Labour backbenchers fume about the optics of the government appearing to balance the books on the backs of some of the poorest in society due to self-imposed fiscal rules, while others have questioned the role of the OBR in guiding the Treasury’s hand every six months.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
Last week Keir Starmer scrapped NHS England as he signalled the government's aim to fundamentally reshape and rewire how the state operates, so the panel is discussing what this means for civil service staff numbers, what impact this will have on the delivery of public services, and how briefings about a so-called ‘project chainsaw’ have gone down in Whitehall. Joining host Alain Tolhurst is Max Blain, who was the official spokesperson for three Prime Ministers, and is now a director at the global advisory firm Portland, as well as Hannah Keenan, associate director at the think tank the Institute for Government, and Suzannah Brecknell, co-editor at our sister publication and Whitehall bible, CivilServiceWorld.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
After winning five MPs last year and continuing to surge in the polls - are the wheels starting to come off for Reform UK after this week's damaging but wholly predictable internal row involving MP Rupert Lowe and party leader Nigel Farage? Gawain Towler, the party's former director of communications and a long-time spokesman for Nigel Farage, as well as Sophie Stowers, research associate at the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, and Harriet Symonds, commissioning editor at The House magazine, join host Alain Tolhurst to discuss if this is just the usual teething problems for an insurgent party, if it might damage their electoral chances this May, and whether this meme is coming true once again.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
As the future of Europe dominates the headlines, Lib Dem defence spokesperson Helen Maguire MP, former Tory ministers James Heappey and Greg Hands, and More in Common’s Luke Tryl join host Adam Payne to discuss a seismic week in world affairs as Prime Minister Keir Starmer tries to bring peace to Ukraine. With the tectonic plates of geopolitics shifting day by day, the Labour government faces major questions like how to deal with Donald Trump, and whether a ’coalition of the willing’ can really protect a peace deal from Russian aggression.
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Presented by Adam Payne, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
With the Prime Minister in Washington this week the Labour MPs Steve Yemm and Chris Evans, as well as Professor Sam Edwards from Loughborough University, and Lord John Alderdice, Liberal Democrat peer, join host Alain Tolhurst to look at the so-called ‘special relationship’. From its history, to why the close bilateral partnership between the UK and America is so enduring, but why it might now be under threat as Keir Starmer tries to deal with the Donald Trump White House. Elsewhere in the episode Katie Perrior, Downing Street director of communications under Theresa May, also talks about what is was like to deal with the first Trump administration.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
This Parliament could finally see further modernisation of the way the Commons operates, with a new committee led by Cabinet minister Lucy Powell setting out plans for meaningful reform in a host of areas, after clamour from new MPs to finally bring how Westminster works into the 21st century. One of the 2024 intake, Labour’s Rachel Blake, joins Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, her party’s spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, as well as Sophie Church, reporter at our sister publication The House magazine, alongside host Alain Tolhurst discuss if Westminster working will finally get dragged into the 21st century.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
One of the most complex, and divisive, issues in modern politics is making a return under this government; ID cards. Advocates describe it as a potential way to improve public services, tackle illegal migration and modernise the state, but it remains intensely controversial, due to significant concerns over privacy, data security and equality. To discuss those issues host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Jake Richards, Labour MP for Rother Valley, Kirsty Innes, director of technology at the think tank Labour Together, Rebecca Vincent, interim director at the campaign group Big Brother Watch, and James Baker, campaigns manager at the Open Rights Group.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
Instead of tapping into the mood at Westminster, this week The Rundown is looking at the political mood of the country as we move further into 2025, teaming up once again teamed up with the guys at Thinks, the global insight and strategy consultancy. Last week they polled more than 2,000 UK adults on how they feel about the first six months of the Labour government, their view of the different opposition parties, and if they regret their vote at last year’s general election. To discuss the findings as well as the results of focus groups conducted with voters in swing seats that backed Labour in 2024, Ben Shimshon, co-founder and CEO at Thinks, joined host Alain Tolhurst along with PolHome editor Adam Payne, and Sienna Rodgers, deputy editor of our sister publication The House magazine.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
For the 150th episode this week former deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine comes on the show for a special interview ahead of the publication of his new memoir 'From Acorns to Oaks' about the second part of his career as an advisor to David Cameron and reflecting further on his time in Margaret Thatcher and John Major’s Cabinets. The Conservative peer, who at 91 is still one of the ‘big beasts’ of British politics, despite leaving parliament in 2001 and retiring to Thenford House in Northamptonshire and its 400 acre estate. The book contrasts his work to restore the woodland at his family’s arboretum with his time trying to pursue urban regeneration and increasing Britain’s regional growth, and he speaks to Alain Tolhurst about his long career championing devolution, what Labour need to do to get the economy moving again, and how his party rebuilds after last year’s devastating defeat.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
Before the election Labour promised to restore confidence in government by cleaning up lobbying, improving transparency and tightening the rules for MPs, but is Keir Starmer's administration really sticking to its word? The Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, Melanie Onn, a member of the Commons standards committee, Gabe Winn, chief executive of the Blakeney Group, a public affairs and communications agency, John Johnston, London Influence reporter at Politico, and Jon Gerlis, head of public relations and policy at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, join Alain Tolhurst to take a look inside the sometimes hidden world of lobbying in Westminster.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
A difficult financial outlook has got even tougher for Rachel Reeves in recent days, so what is happening to the UK economy, and just how difficult will things get for the Chancellor with the next OBR forecast and the spending review looming? To take a deeper look at what is fuelling the current market turmoil, and ask whether things really are as bad as during the Liz Truss era, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Dr Isabel Stockton, senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, as well as the Labour MP and member of the Treasury select committee, Jeevun Sandher, and Cameron Brown, a former Treasury special adviser under the last Conservative government.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
One of the most interesting and consequential politicians of the past few years, Steve Baker was the Conservative MP for Wycombe for 14 years, served as a minister in three departments for three different prime ministers, but is probably best known as the so-called ‘Brexit hardman’, who corralled the ERG group of eurosceptic Tories into numerous rebellions over how Britain left the EU. Now out of the Commons having lost his seat in the Labour landslide last summer, he speaks to Alain Tolhurst about politics in 2025, his anger over the rhetoric around the grooming gangs issue, how his party recovers under Kemi Badenoch and takes on Nigel Farage and Reform, and what life has been like post-Parliament.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
To mark the new year LBC’s political editor Natasha Clark and PoliticsHome editor Adam Payne join host Alain Tolhurst to look ahead to the next 12 months in British politics with a preview of 2025; What will be the big flashpoints as Keir Starmer tries to boost his flagging premiership? Can Kemi Badenoch revive the Tories in the face of threats of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK? Will Westminster continue to have a fractured five-party politics? Or will President Trump 2.0 blow it all out of the water?
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
In a special festive episode the PolHome team looks back at the biggest political moments of 2024 after a historical and tumultuous year, dominated by Labour’s landslide election victory this summer, and the fallout from the first change in government since 2010. Joining Alain Tolhurst to discuss everything from Liz Truss losing her seat to Sue Gray’s defenestration, farmer protests, Donald Trump’s return to power and Ed Davey falling off a paddleboard, returning guest and big-time friend of the pod James Heale from The Spectator, as well as PolHome reporters Zoe Crowther, Tom Scotson, and Matilda Martin.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
Rough sleeping and homelessness are some of the most intractable problems successive governments have failed to solve; but does it need to be this hard, are the solutions already out there, and if so why has no administration managed to grasp the nettle? Lord John Bird, crossbench peer and co-founder of The Big Issue magazine, Andy Preston, former mayor of Middlesbrough and founder of the charity CEO Sleepout UK, and Matthew Torbitt, a campaigner on homelessness who used to advise a number of Labour MPs, join Alain Tolhurst to discuss if Keir Starmer's administration will fare better than those before him.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
What does the continued fracturing of the UK’s political landscape means for our democracy going forward? After a preliminary vote on proportional representation surprised almost everyone in Westminster by passing last week, will this Parliament might finally see some movement on electoral reform? Lisa Smart, Liberal Democrat MP for Hazel Grove and vice chair of the new All Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Elections, Dr Jess Garland, Director of Research and Policy at the Electoral Reform Society, and Robert Ford, Politics Professor at the University of Manchester and author of the Swingometer newsletter, join Alain Tolhurst to discuss whether fragmentation is here to stay.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
So, when is a reset, not a reset? As Sir Keir Starmer outlines various ‘milestones’ he wants to achieve before the next election, a panel of seasoned analysts look at why is there a squeamishness about resets, why parties still end up doing them so often, and whether they can be done effectively. Catherine Haddon, programme director at the Institute for Government, Jo Tanner, a political comms strategist who worked on Boris Johnson’s London mayoral campaigns among many others, and Sir Craig Oliver, former Downing Street director of communications under David Cameron join Alain Tolhurst to discuss what it says about an administration that you need to undertake one in the first place.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
A panel of foreign policy experts joins host Alain Tolhurst to look at global affairs, the dangers the UK faces around the world, how the public feels about them, and what Keir Starmer's government can do to tackle the big security issues. Sophia Gaston, who works at the ASPI think tank, Tobias Ellwood, former defence committee chair, and Chris Hopkins, political research director at pollsters Savanta, discuss whether it’s Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Gaza or China and Taiwan, if foreign policy will end up distracting Labour from their core domestic agenda fixing the country’s public services and growing the economy. Later in the episode former Conservative defence secretary Grant Shapps, and the new chair of the foreign affairs committee, Emily Thornberry, both speak to Alain about those threats, and how the government can help the public feel safer in our increasingly dangerous world.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
With the return of the bill on assisted dying next week we're unapologetically getting into the weeds of Parliamentary procedure for this episode, and looking at whether a Private Members Bill from a backbench MP is really the best way of passing such potentially important legislation. Two doyens of PMBs in UK policy circles; Dr Daniel Gover, Senior Lecturer in British Politics at Queen Mary University in London, and Dr Ruth Fox, director at the Hansard Society, help shine a light on a little understood, but sometimes hugely important, part of our legislative system, while Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage, who has her own backbench bill, explains what it's like going through the process to host Alain Tolhurst. We also hear from two former Conservative MPs; Virginia Crosbie and Dean Russell, who together managed to get a long-awaited bill securing fairer tips for hospitality staff onto the statute book last year, about how they did it.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
After a host of MPs were among the millions of people to quit X, formerly known as Twitter, in recent days over the role of its owner, the billionaire Elon Musk, and the amplification of misinformation and abuse, Josh Simons, Labour MP for Makerfield and member of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, joined Ben Guerin, co-founder of creative agency Topham Guerin, which has worked on several high-profile political communications campaigns, and Alain Tolhurst and Zoe Crowther to look at the role of algorithms in mass communication, the manipulation of social media, and whether politicos should finally wean themselves off Twitter despite Westminster being glued to the bird site for more than a decade.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot
After 14 years in power the Conservatives were unceremoniously booted out of office under a Labour landslide in July's general election, so this week Baroness Kate Fall, who was deputy chief of staff to David Cameron for more than a decade, Fred de Fossard, director of strategy at the Legatum Institute, and a former Conservative special adviser, as well as Henry Hill, deputy editor of the website ConservativeHome, join host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how the party tries to rebuild in opposition, which direction its takes, what can be achieved in opposition, and how it might plot a path back to power.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot
After the most consequential Budget in more than a decade, Labour MP Chris Curtis, vice-chair of the Labour Growth Group, Mel Stride, former Treasury minister and ex-chair of the Treasury Select Committee, join host Alain Tolhurst and two top think tank economists; Isabel Stockton, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and James Smith, Research Director at the Resolution Foundation, to discuss if it will help Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer reach their goal of delivering economic growth back to the UK. There's also an
with Lord Jon Moynihan, Conservative peer and author of the new book ‘Return to Growth’, about whether the Chancellor is on the right track or not.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot
What happens when MPs stop being MPs? With hundreds of Parliamentarians having left the Commons this summer following Labour’s landslide victory, what happens to all those turfed out of their seats? Three former Conservative MPs; Vicky Ford, ex-MP for Chelmsford, James Sunderland, who represented Bracknell, and Matt Warman, the former member for Boston and Skegness, join host Alain Tolhurst to discuss if there is enough support, both financial and pastoral, in helping them move on with their lives, how easy is it to find a new career outside Westminster, and do we have the wrong impression about what life is like for ex-MPs?
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Ewan Cameron for Podot
After a new bill attempting to legalise assisted dying in the UK was introduced to the House of Commons, the Green Party MP Sian Berry, former Lord Chancellor and Labour Peer Lord Falconer, and Nathan Stillwell, assisted dying campaigner at Humanists UK, join host Alain Tolhurst to look at how likely Kim Leadbeater’s private member's bill is to eventually become law, the scope it might cover, how other countries like Canada have introduced and managed the process, and how to assuage the concerns of those worried about coercion, and that passing the law might start a slippery slope towards legalised euthanasia.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
As Labour prepares to mark 100 days in office Lucy Rigby, the party's new MP for Northampton North, Tim Durrant, programme director at the Institute for Government, as well as Emma Dean, managing director at Portland communications, and a former government special adviser, join Alain Tolhurst to look at how these first few months have gone, what Labour have managed to achieve back in power, some of the missteps, the briefings and rows that led to this week’s ‘reset’ in Downing Street and the ousting of Sue Gray, and what the government will do to move things forward, with a Budget and a spending review at the end of this month.
Ben Shimson, co-founder and CEO of Thinks Insight & Strategy, also discusses some exclusive polling for PolHome on how the public have viewed these first 100 days, with the full report available via our Saturday View newsletter
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
In the final of our party conference specials, recorded in front of a live audience in Birmingham, two Conservative politicians - one at the start of their Commons career, and another who had reached the end - discuss with Alain Tolhurst why the atmosphere was so upbeat for a party having suffered such a massive defeat, what direction the new leader should follow to try and win back power, and whether the Tories can be united again.
Lord Graham Brady, the former chair of the 1922 committee, and author of the new book Kingmaker on what really happened behind the scenes of the Conservative party over the last 14 years, was joined by the new MP for South West Devon, Rebecca Smith, as well as the pollster Scarlett Maguire, and editor at PolHome, Adam Payne.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
In the second of our party conference specials, recorded live in front of an audience at Labour’s annual get together in Liverpool, the arts minister Chris Bryant discusses with Alain Tolhurst why there was a less festive atmosphere then might be expected after a monumental landslide victory, what he wants to do to fix the arts in this country, and whether the rows over donations and freebies which overshadowed their first conference in power since 2009 have holed the new Labour administration below the water line, or whether the new government can push through and get on with rebuilding the country.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Ewan Cameron for Podot
In the first of our party conference specials we go inside the Liberal Democrat victory lap in Brighton. Munira Wilson, the party’s education spokesperson, as well as Danny Chambers, their new MP for Winchester, join Alain Tolhurst to discuss what the party can actually achieve after its best election result ever, and how they might hold on to all those extra seats next time round. Also on the panel is Patrick English, director of political analytics at the pollsters YouGov, and PolHome reporter Zoe Crowther, who was down in Brighton covering the conference.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Ewan Cameron for Podot
What makes a good maiden speech, how do you write and deliver one, and what do they say about the MP that makes it? To talk about getting through that tricky first innings in the Commons two more members of the 2024 intake who have already taken their maiden voyage; Jeevun Sandher, the Labour MP for Loughborough, and Julia Buckley, the Labour member for Shrewsbury, join Alain Tolhurst for this week's episode, and alongside them is Paul Richards, author of the new book, How to Write a Parliamentary Speech, as well as Rob Hutton, journalist and parliamentary sketchwriter.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray identified before the election all of the most pressing issues for a new government's bulging in-tray in her infamous ‘s list’, so this week two more members of the 2024 intake of MPs; *Lewis Cocking, the new Tory member for Broxbourne, and a former leader of the local council, and Tim Roca, Labour MP for Macclesfield, who has worked in the university sector, as well as local government, along with Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and government advisor, whose book Screwed lays out the collapse of the prison service, join Alain Tolhurst to look at just how bad things are in several of those areas.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
Continuing our series introducing the political class of 2024 by profiling new MPs, this week we have Caroline Voaden, who last month was elected as the new Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon. A former journalist and MEP, she speaks to Alain Tolhurst about how she got involved in politics, winning her the seat for the Lib Dems as they swept the so-called ‘blue wall’, Ed Davey’s campaign antics, what’s it like in those first few weeks in Parliament, and what she hopes to achieve in her time on the green benches.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
Continuing our series introducing the political class of 2024 by profiling new MPs to look out for, this week we have Joe Robertson, the Conservative MP for the new Isle of Wight East seat. In a historically bad night for his party Joe was one of 26 new Tories to enter the Commons, so he discusses with Alain Tolhurst what it was like winning his seat as so many others lost theirs, how the party is rebuilding in opposition, how he’s found the first few weeks as a parliamentarian and what he hopes to achieve from the green benches, and surprisingly a chat about miniature oil rigs and Sylvanian families - all will become clear…
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
Terry Jermy, the new Labour MP for South West Norfolk, who in a night of massive shocks on election night, delivered probably the biggest by unseating the former Prime Minister Liz Truss. One of the final constituencies to be called, Truss - who had a majority of more than 26,000 - was ousted by 38-year-old Jermy from the seat she had held since 2010. He reveals to Alain Tolhurst the inside story of how he did it, what it’s like to be the man who defeated Liz Truss, how he’s finding life in the Commons so far, and what he plans to do now he’s in Parliament.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
After widespread unrest took over the country after the tragic stabbings in Southport last week, Alain Tolhurst looks at what is behind the current riots, how to stop them from happening again, and what can be done to put communities divided by extremism and racism back together again. Joining him
Chris Webb, Labour MP for Blackpool South, one of the areas marred by violence, Sunder Katwala, director of think tank British Future, Prof Matthew Feldman, a specialist on right-wing extremism at the University of York, and Claudia Wallner, research fellow and associate in RUSI’s Terrorism and Conflict research group.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
As the race to replace Rishi Sunak hots up, Alain Tolhurst speaks to guests representing each of the six candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring to be the next Tory leader. First up are the MPs Saqib Bhatti, who is backing the former Home Secretary Priti Patel, and Mark Garnier, one of those supporting Mel Stride’s leadership bid, as well as Simon Fell, the former Barrow MP, and James Cleverly supporter. Then later we hear from Andrew Bowie, who is supporting favourite Kemi Badenoch, former Cabinet minister Mark Spencer, a supporter of Robert Jenrick, and Damian Green, the former deputy Prime Minister, who is backing Tom Tugendhat.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
After Keir Starmer hosted the European Political Summit last week guests Jill Rutter, senior research fellow at the think tank UK In A Changing Europe, and Raoul Ruparel, former special adviser to Theresa May on Europe and Spad at the Department for Exiting the European Union, join Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne from PoliticsHome to discuss Labour’s attempts to reset relations with the European Union now they’re in government, what their strategic aims are, what practically might be achievable, and whether closer ties with our continental neighbours is desirable politically.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
After the first King’s Speech under a Labour government for 15 years, a host of policy experts joins Alain Tolhurst to look at what the first 100 days of a Keir Starmer administration will look like, after the new Prime Minister said his plan for government would "take the brakes off Britain" and put the country on the "path of national renewal". Joining the pod are Harry Quilter-Pinner, interim exec director at think tank IPPR, Ryan Wain, executive director for politics at the Tony Blair Institute, Laura McInerney, education journalist and co-founder of the app Teacher Tapp, Ben Zaranko, senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Freddie Poser, executive director at housing campaign group PricedOut.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
After last week’s extraordinary election result, this week has seen hundreds of new MPs and their staff descend on Westminster, but what’s it like entering Parliament for the first time? Alain Tolhurst is joined by Dan Tomlinson, elected last week as the new MP for Chipping Barnet, along with one of his Labour colleagues Sarah Owen, her senior parliamentary researcher Jenny Symmons, who is also head of the GMB trade union committee branch in Westminster, and Ellie Varley, head of communications for former Tory MP Dehenna Davison. Later on in part two Alice Lilly from the Institute for Government explains the training they put on for new MPs and ministers.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
In a General Election special recorded just as the final results rolled in on Friday morning, the PoliticsHome team of Alain Tolhurst, Caitlin Doherty and Tom Scotson dissects a historic victory for the Labour party, after an extraordinary night saw Keir Starmer swept to power on an enormous majority, and the 14 years of Tory government ebbed away as Rishi Sunak exited Downing Street after the Conservatives suffered their worst defeat in their history. We also hear for the final time from our Election Diaries project as voters in swing seats react to the result, but the episode starts by pulling back the curtain of what it’s like covering a general election, with an election night diary of audio recorded throughout the evening and into the early hours in the newsroom featuring colleagues Adam Payne and Zoe Crowther, as well as friend of the pod Henry Hill from ConservativeHome, about how the sausage is made as we cover a historic night.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, and produced by Lulu Goad for Podot
As the election race enters the final stretch PolHome’s editor Adam Payne and political and digital consultant Laura Dunn join host Alain Tolhurst to look at the final leaders’ debate, after Rishi Sunak came out swinging Wednesday night, what we can expect from the last week of campaigning before polling day, the latest on gambling-gate, as well as speaking to reporter Caitlin Doherty on the campaign trail in Devon. Later Alex Thomas from the Institute for Government, Sienna Rogers from The House magazine, and Baroness Kate Fall, David Cameron’s former deputy chief of staff, look at what Keir Starmer can expect in the first few hours and days of a potential Labour government, and we’ll have the latest in our Election Diaries project in partnership with ThinksInsight hearing from voters in key swing seats.
To read Caitlin's story on the campaigns in Devon sign up for our Saturday newsletter here
For Tom's story on the battle in Dover and Deal click here
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, and produced by Lulu Goad for Podot
With two weeks of the campaign to go Scarlett Maguire, director at pollsters JL Partners, Andrew Roe-Crines, Senior Lecturer in British Politics at Liverpool University, and Philip Catney, senior politics lecturer at Keele University, look at what a crushing new series of polls means for Rishi Sunak, and the role Reform UK are playing in a potential Tory wipeout. Dr Hannah Bunting, lecturer in Quantitative British Politics at Exeter University comes on to discuss with PolHome reporter Zoe Crowther what role tactical voting could play on July 4, William Kedjanyi, Head of Political Content at Star Sports bookmakers, talks about the rise of political betting, while Dr Phil Burton-Cartledge, author of the book The Party's Over: The Rise and Fall of the Conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak, and Henry Hill, acting editor of the website ConservativeHome, look at what the Conservative party might look like after a crushing defeat, and voters in key swing seats reveal what they make of it all thanks to our Election Diaries project, in partnership with ThinksInsight.
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Presented by Alain Tolhurst, and produced by Lulu Goad for Podot
As attention switches to party manifestos this week three people first-hand experience of writing them; Rachel Wolf, who co-wrote the Tory 2019 manifesto, Marc Stears, part of the team who wrote Labour’s 2015 manifesto, and Lord Richard Newby, who wrote the Lib Dems’ in 2017 and chaired this year’s one too, talk about how the documents come together, as well as their impact on campaigns. Also on is PolHome editor Adam Payne and former Conservative special advisor Fred de Fossard to discuss if three weeks out the Tories might have already given up on winning, Lucia Hodgson, partner at strategy firm Charlesbye, comes on to discuss some exclusive new polling, Dr Jess Garland from the Electoral Reform Society talks about the looming deadline to register to vote in this election, PolHome reporters Tom Scotson and Zoe Crowther dial in from the campaign trail, and we have the second set of clips from our Election Diaries project in partnership with ThinksInsight.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, and produced by Lulu Goad, Ewan Cameron and Nick Hilton for Podot.
The second week of the election campaign has been dominated by Nigel Farage’s decision to stand to be an MP and the fallout from the first leaders debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. Alain Tolhurst is joined by elections experts Rob Ford and Paula Surridge along with PolHome editor Adam Payne to talk about this week’s polling, then PolHome reporters Tom Scotson and Caitlin Doherty dial in from the campaign trail, while Paul Harrison, former Downing Street press secretary, and Andrew Fisher, director of policy for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, discuss how the two main party campaigns are going, and then we hear from the voters and what they made of the debate, as part of our Election Diaries project in partnership with Thinks Insight.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, and produced by Lulu Goad and Nick Hilton for Podot.
PoliticsHome editor Adam Payne and reporter Nadine Batchelor-Hunt take stock of the first week of the general election campaign, plus broadcaster and former MP Gyles Brandreth and journalist Seb Whale join Alain Tolhurst to discuss their books on the secrets of the Whips' Office.
Sign up to The House's new Friday newsletter from Sienna Rogers rounding up the best of the week’s election campaigns here.
Gyles Brandreth’s republished memoir Breaking the Code is available here.
Pre-order Seb Whale’s new book The Unusual Channels here.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Conservative MPs Stephen Hammond and Henry Smith, both of whom have decided not to run for their seats again at the general election, reflect on why they have called it quits on the Commons, and offer some advice for candidates vying to replace them.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Michael Crick, who runs the @tomorrowsMPs Twitter and three prospective parliamentary candidates – Khobi Patterson-Vallis, Conservative candidate for Brighton; Josh Babarinde, Lib Dem candidate for Eastbourne; and Roz Savage, Lib Dems candidate for South Cotswolds, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss the secretive process behind who gets to be an MP, and why anyone would want to take on the job.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Conservative MP Mark Garnier, director of research at Labour Together Christabel Cooper, and professor of politics at Queen Mary University Tim Bale join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to assess the fallout from the local elections which saw huge losses for the Tories across England including the West Midlands mayoralty and a host of bellwether councils. Plus this week’s surprise defection from the Tories to Labour by the MP Natalie Elphicke.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Alex Thomas, programme director at the Institute for Government, Dr Michelle Clement, researcher in residence at Number 10, and Hugh Bennett, a former Downing Street special adviser, join Alain Tolhurst from PoliticsHome to talk about the problem at the centre of our politics, with Prime Ministers unable to deliver on their ambitions, and whether the three most powerful departments; Number 10, the Cabinet Office and the Treasury, are wrongly configured.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Conservative MP Robert Buckland and director of the Hansard Society Dr Ruth Fox join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty to discuss the passage of the government’s Safety of Rwanda Bill into law after a tortuous journey through parliament, and whether it will ultimately achieve Rishi Sunak’s pledge to ‘stop the boats’.
Former prime minister Liz Truss speaks to PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss her new book, Ten Years to Save the West, and reflect on her tumultuous 49 days in Downing Street in 2022, what her second act would be, and whether she'd do it all over again given the chance.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Katy Balls, political editor of The Spectator, Henry Hill, acting editor of ConservativeHome, Paul Scully, Tory MP for Sutton and Cheam, and Gavin Rice, director at Onward’s Future of Conservatism project, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to consider the future of the Conservative Party as it heads for likely defeat at this year’s general election, and who will shape the direction of the party in opposition.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Authors of Why Vote? How to make your voice heard in a world of broken politics Jo Phillips and David Seymour join PoliticsHome's Caitlin Doherty and Alain Tolhurst to discuss why apathy is the enemy of democracy, why we should all fight against it by casting our vote at every election, and how to encourage young people to get out to the polling booth.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Labour MP and chair of the Commons Petitions Committee Cat Smith and CEO of pollsters Thinks Insight & Strategy Ben Shimshon join PoliticsHome's Adam Payne and Alain Tolhurst a major new Mood of the Nation survey, featuring excerpts from an accompanying focus group of 2019 Tory voters.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
At a special event in the House of Lords this week, PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst meets three ethics regulators to look at the role of Standards in Parliament, The Civil Service, and Public Life. Featuring First Civil Service Commissioner Baroness Gisela Stuart, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg, and recently-appointed Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life Doug Chalmers.
Barry Gardiner, Labour MP and longtime campaigner for leaseholder victims, Nazek Ramadan, director of Migrant Voice, and Alice Hardy, a lawyer for Bindmans, who work on behalf of the TOEIC overseas students, falsely accused of cheating on their English language tests, as well as Blanche Zaph from the Loan Charge Action Group, which campaigns on behalf of those pursued by HMRC over a tax arrangement, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss more hidden injustices after renewed interest in the Post Office Horizon scandal.
To celebrate the launch of this year’s Women in Westminster 100 list three of the nominees; Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson, Conservative MP Theo Clarke and founder of campaign group Pregnant then Screwed, Joeli Brearley join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst and Laura Silver to talk about the barriers faced by women in public life, and how they have fought to keep women’s issues on the political agenda.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Director JL Partners pollsters Scarlett Maguire, and Group Executive Vice President at energy solutions provider Grundfos Bent Jensen join PoliticsHome's Nadine Batchelor-Hunt and Alain Tolhurst to discuss the public’s desire for help with home energy efficiency measures to cut utility bills and tackle fuel poverty.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, whose sister Jo Cox was murdered in 2016 while serving as the MP, and Conservative MP and vice chair of the cross-party group on hate crime Elliot Colburn join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss safety risks faced by of our politicians as abuse, intimidation and harassment Parliamentarians face both online and in the real world remains high.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst heads to The Sanctuary House pub in Westminster with Labour MP and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on pubs Charlotte Nichols, Camra's Ellie Hudspith, UK Hospitality's Tony Sophoclides and British Beer and Pub Association's Emma McClarkin to explore a bruising 12 months for the hospitality sector.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Labour MP and chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee Clive Betts, and leader of Milton Keynes Council Pete Marland, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty to discuss the crisis in local government finance after a number of authorities filed for bankruptcy last year, with dozens more town halls warning about damaging budget shortfalls this year as spiralling costs for social care put other services at risk.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Tory MP Alicia Kearns and interim CEO of anti-LGBT abuse charity Galop Amy Roch join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Zoe Crowther to discuss the government's ailing promise to legislate against the controversial practise of conversion therapy.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Labour MP and former shadow sports minister Clive Efford and director of advocacy at campaign group Fair Game Mike Baker join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst and Tom Scotson to explore government plans for an independent regulator and football governance as the future of clubs at the heart of communities face financial pressures.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Ben Habib, co-deputy leader of Reform UK, and Christabel Cooper, director of research at think tank Labour Together, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne to discuss the surge in support for the right-wing party Reform and the impact it could have on the outcome of this year’s general election.
Alistair Carmichael, former Cabinet minister and Liberal Democrat MP, Dr Jess Garland, director of policy and research at the Electoral Reform Society, and Naomi Smith, CEO at the campaign group Best for Britain, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to take a look at the state of democracy in the UK, from the campaigns to alter our voting system, to controversial new rules on voter ID and changes on how much parties can spend.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Natasha Clark, LBC’s political editor, and Zoë Grünewald, political correspondent at the Independent, join PoliticsHome's Adam Payne and Alain Tolhurst to look ahead at what 2024 in politics could hold – not least a general election.
The Spectator’s political correspondent James Heale joins PoliticsHome to relive another dramatic year in politics, featuring the SNP camper van, Rishi Sunak’s row with Greece over the Elgin Marbles, Keir Starmer getting glittered, Nadine Dorries' revenge, and David Cameron’s second act.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Paul Scully, Conservative MP and former minister, Laura Dunn, political and digital consultant who advises senior Tories, and Ben Riley-Smith, Telegraph political editor and author of The Right to Rule, a book looking at the past 13 years of the Conservatives in power, join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to look at what Rishi Sunak could do in 2024 to keep his party in power.
Sir Graham Brady, current and longest-serving chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, and Lord Philip Norton, Tory peer and author of The 1922 Committee: Power Behind the Scenes, talk to PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst about the history, role and continued function of the group that serves as confessional for MPs, and also court of opinion on Tory leaders, as it marks its centenary year.
David Gauke, former Justice Secretary, Victoria Gethin, head of family law at Stephensons, Rob Preece from the Howard League for Penal Reform, and Richard Atkinson, vice president of the Law Society, join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss the crisis in the UK’s justice system, with huge backlogs in crown and civil courts, a chronic lack of lawyers and judges, along with overcrowded and under-staffed prisons.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Conservative former housing minister Brandon Lewis, chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter Polly Neate, journalist and commentator John Oxley, and senior researcher at the Centre for London Millie Mitchell, join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss whether a bold new offer on house building could help turn the Tory fortunes around, and how important the housing crisis will be at the upcoming election.
Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, Tory MP Stephen Hammond, Resolution Foundation's Cara Pacitti and Institute for Fiscal Studies' Ben Zaranko join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurstto discuss Jeremy Hunt's plans to kickstart the economy and whether the Chancellor is dealing in "fiscal fiction".
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Lord Ed Vaizey, former culture minister and leading Cameroon, Baroness Kate Fall, David Cameron’s deputy chief of staff in Downing Street, and Professor Meg Russell from UCL’s Constitution Unit join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss the former PM’s shock return to Cabinet this week, and what it says about the direction of the Tories under Rishi Sunak.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Neal Lawson, director of centre-left campaign organisation Compass, Abdi Duale, a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, and Morgan Jones, reporter for the website Labour List, join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss Keir Starmer’s re-shaping of the Labour party, the squeezing of the left and Labour’s policy direction as it heads into an election campaign 20 points clear of the Conservatives.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Health minister during Covid-19 Lord Bethell, Institute for Government's Cath Haddon, openDemocracy reporter Ruby Lott-Lavigna, and chair of the health select committee Steve Brine join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss a week of explosive hearings at the Covid inquiry.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
AI minister Viscount Camrose, Ada Lovelace Institute's Renate Samson and TechUK's Antony Walker join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Zoe Crowther to discuss Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's big AI speech and next week’s Bletchley Park global AI safety summit.
Tommy Sheppard, SNP MP and chair of the Humanists APPG, Jess Sargeant, associate director at the Institute for Government, and broadcaster Edward Stourton, presenter of Sunday, BBC Radio 4’s long-running religious affairs programme, join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss whether the 26 Anglican Bishops in the House of Lords still perform a useful function, or are an anachronism who should not be helping make laws in a 21st century democracy.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Shadow attorney general and Labour MP Emily Thornberry and Labour leader of Manchester council Bev Craig join PoliticsHome's Adam Payne and The House's Tali Fraser at Labour party conference in Liverpool where the party set out its pledges for government if they're put into power at the next general election.
Presented by Adam Payne, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Conservative party chair Greg Hands and Tory MP Sara Britcliffe join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst live at Conservative party conference in Manchester to discuss how Tories can take on the final year before the next election, and what they've been hearing from voters on the doorstep.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Tory MP Marcus Fysh, who chairs the APPG on central bank digital currencies, and Silkie Carlo, director of the campaign group Big Brother Watch, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Tom Scotson to look at how access to cash and a new type of money have fuelled privacy concerns and fed into the wider culture wars.
Conservative MP and chair of the justice select committee Sir Bob Neill, Lib Dem peer and justice reform campaigner Baroness Lorely Burt and deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust Mark Day discuss the “unique injustice” of now discredited Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences which imprison offenders for an indeterminate amount of time, with PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Chair of the education select committee and Conservative MP Robin Walker, general secretary of teaching union the NASUWT Dr Patrick Roach and co-founder of teacher survey app Teacher Tapp Laura McInerney join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss the impact of a revolving door of education secretaries, and questions about performance of the Department for Education.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Conservative MP Matt Warman joins PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty to discuss a tricky first week back in Parliament after summer recess for Rishi Sunak with the RAAC crisis and and a ruthless Keir Starmer reshuffle.
Labour MP for Brent Central Dawn Butler. a former minister under Gordon Brown, talks to PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst about making history as the first black woman to speak from the House of Commons despatch box, how to fix the Met police, and her new book ‘A Purposeful Life; What I’ve Learned About Breaking Barriers and Inspiring Change’.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Jeremy Corbyn’s former director of strategic communications James Schneider talks about how Labour’s hope in 2017 turned to despair in 2019, and tells PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst why he’s sceptical that Keir Starmer will be more radical in office than he is now, and that his strategy can win one, but not a second, term in office.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Former Labour MP Luciana Berger explains why she sensationally quit the party over anti-semitism in 2019, what made her return earlier this year under Keir Starmer’s leadership, and discusses with PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst how even now there is “limited understanding” of the scale of abuse politicians face.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Labour MP, former minister and chair of the Committee on Standards Chris Bryant, speaks to PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst about why the House of Commons has become such a disreputable place, and his plan to fix it.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Former public health minister Lord Bethell discusses how he joined the upper chamber through the little-known hereditary peer by-election system, his previous life running the Ministry of Sound nightclub, and his crusade to improve the nation’s wellbeing.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, edited by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Daisy Powell Chandler, elections strategist and consult at Public First, and Cameron Smith from the Conservative Environment Network join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty to discuss the fallout on climate and net zero policy after the ULEZ row in the Uxbridge by-election.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Labour frontbencher Abena Oppong-Asare, research director at the Resolution Foundation James Smith and deputy director at centre right think tank Onward Adam Hawksbee join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss the 'mortgage time bomb' ticking under the British economy.
Former government special adviser Salma Shah and Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester Robert Ford join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to look ahead to next week’s triple by-election, and what it means for the political parties fortunes as we head into Parliament’s summer break.
Former Cabinet minister Stephen Crabb and ex-trade minister Mark Garnier join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne to take stock of where the Conservative Party is a year on from Boris Johnson’s resignation as prime minister, and why Rishi Sunak still can't seem to keep a lid on the chaos.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Justine Greening, former Conservative Cabinet minister, Tory MP for Don Valley Nick Fletcher, and Oxford University academic and expert on class in Parliament Albert Ward, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss the ‘class ceiling’ in Parliament and how social mobility in politics can be improved.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Barry Gardiner, Labour MP and member of the newly-created Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, Pete Chalkley, director of think tank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, and Luke Murphy, head of the Environmental Justice Commission at the Institute for Public Policy Research, join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss how well the government is getting on with its target of hitting net zero by 2050, as well as Labour’s updated energy plans.
Conservative MP for Stroud Siobhan Baillie, and founder of the liberal conservative think tank Bright Blue Ryan Shorthouse, join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty to discuss how the Tories can finally move on from the tumultuous Boris Johnson era as they desperately try to cling to power.
Civil servants’ union FDA Assistant General Secretary Amy Leversidge, Institute for Government and former Department for Education senior advisor Sam Freedman and Civil Service World deputy editor Beckie Smith join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss the latest flare-up of the government’s ongoing war with its own officials in the civil service.
Veteran political journalist Michael Crick, who runs the @tomorrowsmps twitter account, Luke Akehurst, a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, and Jackson Ng, a former Conservative parliamentary candidate in 2015 and 2017, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss the secretive process political parties use to select their candidates who will run to be MPs at the next general election.
Seven months on from Liz Truss’s exit from Downing Street, Tory MP Ranil Jayawardena, who served as Environment Secretary in her Cabinet, Rohan Watt, who wrote her manifesto and worked in her No 10 policy unit, and Dr Catherine Haddon, programme director at the Institute for Government think tank, join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss the former Prime Minister’s complicated legacy, and what her role is now.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Bob Seely, Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight, John Myers, co-founder of the London YIMBY housing campaign, Dan Tomlinson, Labour’s parliamentary candidate in Chipping Barnet, PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst discuss the housebuilding crisis that looks set to define debate in the next election.
Conservative MP James Sunderland and deputy editor of ConservativeHome, Henry Hill, join Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty from PoliticsHome to discuss the fallout from the local elections where the Tories lost over 1,000 councillors and whether Rishi Sunak can turn his party’s fortunes around before next year’s general election.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Marking King Charles's coronation, PoliticsHome explores the relationship between two palaces: Buckingham and Westminster. Downing Street researcher in residence Dr Michelle Clement, History of Parliament research project’s Dr Robin Eagles, UCL Constitution Unit’s Bob Morris, and Kris Hopkins, a former Tory MP who served as Vice Chamberlain of Her Majesty’s Household in the government whips office join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Conservative MP for Mansfield Ben Bradley, director of pollsters JL Partners Scarlett Maguire, and former political communications adviser Laura Dunn join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to review how Rishi Sunak is getting on with his five pledges for government as he marks six months in the job as Prime Minister.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Health and social care select committee chair and Conservative MP Steve Brine, and Liberal Democrats health spokesperson and deputy leader Daisy Cooper join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss the ongoing impact of NHS strikes and how the government must tackle funding woes.
To discuss the ongoing failure to fix the crumbling Palace of Westminster, Alain Tolhurst from PoliticsHome is joined by Dr Alexandra Meakin, a politics lecturer at the University of Leeds and an expert on the Parliamentary restoration programme, Dr Ruth Fox, director of the research group the Hansard Society, and the Labour MP Mark Tami, a former spokesperson for the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Citizens Advice head of policy Morgan Wild, Which? head of strategic insight Katie Alpin and Cornwall Insight senior consultant Kate Mulvany join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss the latest looming energy bill crisis and how it will impact people as the government's support changes.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Scotland has a new first minister, and it could be seismic for UK politics overall. Labour MP Ian Murray, shadow Scottish secretary, renowned pollster Sir John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, and the former SNP MP Stephen Gethins join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss what the election of new SNP leader Humza Yousaf means for Scottish independence and the fortunes of the other major parties north of the border.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Discussing Boris Johnson’s evidence on what he knew about lockdown parties, presented to the Privileges Committee this week, Tory peer and a former deputy mayor under Johnson, Lord Stephen Greenhalgh and the Conservative MP for Buckingham Greg Smith, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Nadine Batchelor-Hunt.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Economic experts including Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies Ben Zaranko, Tory MP and chair of the Treasury Select Committee Harriet Baldwin, Conservative Growth Group MP Kevin Foster and Labour's shadow international trade secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst for a deep dive into Jeremy Hunt's Spring Budget, and whether it can create the growth he promises.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Claire Hanna, SDLP MP for Belfast South, and Labour peer Baroness Angela Smith, Shadow Leader in the House of Lords and a party spokesperson on Northern Ireland, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne to discuss whether Rishi Sunak’s reform of the Northern Ireland protocol will be enough to break the deadlock and get the power-sharing executive back up and running at Stormont.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Conservative MP Mark Logan, vice-chair of the All-Party-Parliamentary-Group on China, and Chris Cash, director of the China Research Group, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Zoe Crowther to discuss the UK’s relationship with China, and whether the government is getting its policy right towards Beijing on TikTok, investment and foreign policy.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality, Labour MP Charlotte Nichols and Ellie Hudspith from CAMRA join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst at The Feathers pub in Westminster to discuss how to save pubs from the “perfect storm” facing the industry post-Covid, and what support they need from the Treasury in next month’s Budget to stop more calling last orders.
Nicky Morgan, Conservative former culture secretary and peer, and Labour’s Lord Wilf Stevenson, a shadow spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport and Dr Michael Veale, Associate Professor of Digital Rights and Regulation at University College London, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss the government’s ongoing attempts to use the Online Safety Bill to take on big tech companies and safeguard people on the internet.
After a string of high-profile scandals over bullying, harassment and corruption in Westminster, Alain Tolhurst from PoliticsHome is joined by Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior civil servants, as well as Fleur Anderson, Labour MP and their Shadow Paymaster General, and Jon Gerlis from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, to discuss what needs to be done to clean up Parliament and rebuild trust in politics.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Ewan Cameron for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Conservative MP Theresa Villiers, Head of Political and Social Research at polling firm Opinium Adam Drummond and Unite union national lead officer Onay Kasab join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst as the country faces the biggest day of co-ordinated strike action in a decade and Rishi Sunak marks his first 100 days as Prime Minister.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Ewan Cameron for Podot, Edited by Laura Silver
Labour peer and Shadow Cabinet minister Baroness Jenny Chapman and Sir Jonathan Jones KC, the government’s former top lawyer, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne to discuss the implications of the government’s controversial plans to scrap thousands of EU laws by the end of 2023.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced for Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Prospect union general secretary Mike Clancy, GMB union national secretary Andy Prendergast and Conservative MP Vicky Ford join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss the deep strike deadlock between government and unions, as nurses stage their second wave of walkouts, the ambulance service announce six more strikes, and 100,000 civil servants prepare for a major day of action on 1 February, all over over pay and conditions.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Andrea Leadsom, a former Cabinet minister and government adviser on early years, and Next Gen Tories co-founder Matthew McPherson join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty to discuss how reforming expensive childcare is shaping up to be a major political bargaining chip and could be the key to the Tories winning back younger voters at the next election.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Will last year's political chaos finally let up? Unlikely. PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne are joined by The Sun's Natasha Clarke to discuss the hurdles that could lead to Rishi Sunak's undoing, including Labour's tenacious poll lead, the small boast crisis, soaring cost of living, bickering backbenchers and the ever-present ghost of Boris Johnson.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
PoliticsHome looks back through a wild year in British politics, from a suitcase of booze in Downing Street and porn in the Commons, to three prime ministers after the fall of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss opened the famous No.10 door for Rishi Sunak.
James Heale, diary editor of The Spectator and co-author of Out of the Blue: The Inside Story of the Unexpected Rise and Rapid Fall of Liz Truss, joins PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst, Laura Silver and Eleanor Langford.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
2022 brought us three prime ministers in as many months in a chaotic year for the Conservative party. Joining PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to reflect on the revolving door in Downing Street is Financial Times Whitehall editor Sebastian Payne – author of The Fall of Boris Johnson, The Sun’s political editor Harry Cole – co-author of Out of the Blue: The Inside Story of the Unexpected Rise and Rapid Fall of Liz Truss and The Guardian’s city editor Anna Isaac who broke the story of Rishi Sunak’s wife’s non-dom status.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland joins PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst and Eleanor Langford to discuss Rishi Sunak’s new plan to tackle the asylum seeker backlog, a host of festive strike action, and whether the Conservatives can heal recent damage.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and The House editor Rosa Prince join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss what politicians leaving parliament can expect in the real world, and why there's "nothing quite as ex as an ex-MP," according to Cable, after a number of high profile MPs have confirmed they won't stand at the next election.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Conservative MP and former immigration minister Kevin Foster, Labour’s shadow local government minister Sarah Owen, and Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies think tank and Conservative Party’s 2019 election manifesto co-author, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss the latest rows over Levelling Up, housing and private schools.
Former Cabinet minister David Gauke and Professor Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty to discuss the Brexit row that's bubbled back to the surface and forced new prime minister Rishi Sunak to defend the government's approach to leaving the EU to a Tory party that remains massively divided on the issue.
Labour MP Angela Eagle, the Institute for Government's Olly Bartrum and Onward's Adam Hawksbee join PoliticsHome's Adam Payne to discuss Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement, what it will mean for already struggling households, and how it could impact the Conservatives' chances at the next General Election.
Presented by Adam Payne, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Former Cabinet minister Chloe Smith joins Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne from PoliticsHome to discuss the fallout from Gavin Williamson’s resignation from government over bullying allegations, what is says about new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s political judgement, and a look ahead to next week’s Autumn Statement.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Labour’s shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock, Tory MP and member of the Home Affairs select committee Tim Loughton, and Lucy Moreton, national officer for the Immigration Services Union join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst to discuss Home Secretary Suella Braverman's handling of the crisis at Manston asylum centre, and how the Home Office is talking issues around illegal migration.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Ewan Cameron for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Stephen Crabb, a Conservative former cabinet minister joins PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst, Eleanor Langford and Adam Payne to discuss the UK’s third PM this year. Crabb believes “the right outcome has been achieved” with Sunak's appointment and was relieved when Boris Johnson ruled himself out of the leadership race, after telling the former Prime Minister that “the Conservative Party is not going to wear it” if he returned to No.10 after months of scandal. But the chaos of Liz Truss has left Sunak and the Tories with "a political mountain to climb” as he seeks to unify his party at its most fractious.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Former Downing Street special adviser Jack Sellers and the Institute for Government’s Dr Catherine Haddon join PoliticsHome Political Editor Adam Payne to discuss what happens after the resignation of Liz Truss. How did we get here? And who replaces her?
Presented by Adam Payne, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver and Alan White.
Former Conservative London Mayoral Candidate Shaun Bailey, Co-founder of Conservatives Against Racism For Equality and Black Equity Organisation Trustee Siobhan Aarons, and Co-Chair of Hackney’s Young Futures Commission, Founding member of the Baobab Foundation and Member of the 1987 Caucus Jermain Jackman join PoliticsHome's Seun Matiluko to discuss what it’s like to be Black in today’s Britain for a special Black History Month episode.
Presented by Seun Matiluko, produced by Ewan Cameron for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Lord Frost, Theresa Villiers and Alicia Kearns join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst at Conservative party conference in Birmingham discuss a "damaging" few days for the new prime minster, that saw a breakdown in cabinet discipline, a late-night u-turn over tax and questions over whether she can turn the party's fortunes around ahead of the next election.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Kyle and Shadow Minister for climate change Kerry McCarthy join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty at Labour Party Conference in Liverpool where leader Keir Starmer made a confident pitch to put Labour into power. The MPs also discuss their karaoke favourites for the after-party, and recall how Ed Balls would skip other people's songs to jump the queue.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver.
Can the new prime minister cut taxes and spend big to curb soaring energy bills and get people through the cost of living crisis this winter? Conservative MP and chair of the treasury select committee Mel Stride and leading economist Paul Johnson from the Institute of Fiscal Studies join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst to discuss how Liz Truss might seek to square this seemingly impossible circle as Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng prepares to lay out his first big spending plans.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
🗳 How is it decided who appears on your ballot paper come election time? Journalists, plus former and prospective parliamentary candidates explain how different political parties go about selecting candidates to be their MP representatives — and what works, and doesn’t work, about the process.
Written by Eleanor Langford, presented by Alain Tolhurst, edited by Laura Silver, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Explore one of Parliament’s – if not one of the country’s – most incredible buildings: Westminster Hall. Historians describe the incredible and brutal secrets held within its walls from 1,000 years of British politics, where major figures from Charles I to Barack Obama have made history. MPs describe how it is still used by politicians for their work today.
Hosted by Alain Tolhurst, written by Adam Payne, edited by Laura Silver, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Every year MPs and their staff receive thousands of requests for help from the people they are elected to represent – ranging from everyday problems about bin collections and parking spaces, to highly sensitive pleas about immigration, medical care and crime. Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron and dedicated caseworkers speak to PoliticsHome about the vital work their staff in offices across the length and breadth of the country do.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, written by John Johnston, edited by Laura Silver, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot
📖 PoliticsHome explores how everything politicians say in Parliament is recorded for posterity in something known as Hansard.
✍ We ask historians, MPs and Hansard staff what it's like live transcribing history.
How Westminster Works is a new series from PoliticsHome that takes a deep dive into the history, quirks and peculiar practices of UK politics.
Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot, edited by Laura Silver
Supporters of the two Tory party leadership contenders, MPs Richard Holden and Alec Shelbrooke, join Alain Tolhurst and Caitlin Doherty from PoliticsHome to talk about radical energy plans, blue-on-blue attacks and the upcoming hustings facing Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
As the Tory party leadership contest comes down to the final two candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, supporters of the rivals Simon Hart and Greg Smith join Alain Tolhurst and Eleanor Langford from PoliticsHome to look ahead to where the second stage of the race to replace Boris Johnson will be won and lost, as the pair set out their competing views on taxation in an attempt to win over Tory party members.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst and Eleanor Langford. The editor is Laura Silver. Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Conservative Party leadership underdog Rehman Chishti joins PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne to explain why has no regrets about launching his short-lived bid to be the next Prime Minister and hopes his campaign will be remembered for self-belief and conviction above all else. We also discuss the volatile first week of the Tory leadership race, and how it looks to shape up as it enters crunch stage for the remaining contenders next week.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne. The editor is Laura Silver. Produced by Ewan Cameron and Nick Hilton for Podot.
In a special emergency episode of the podcast PoliticsHome reporters Eleanor Langford, Adam Payne and Alain Tolhurst discuss the dramatic resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The team have been at the heart of the action in Westminster, and give firsthand accounts of the mood inside SWI in what has been a historic week in British politics. And, with Johnson on his way out, they ask: what's next? Can government function without ministers still in place? How long will Johnson be allowed to remain in position? And, who are all the latest runners and riders for the leadership?
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst. The editor is Laura Silver. Produced by Ewan Cameron and Nick Hilton for Podot.
BPAS' Katherine O'Brien and Baroness Hayter join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne to discuss the reverberations of the US Supreme Court's overturning of Roe Vs Wade, meaning abortion is now banned or severely restricted in a number of American states. The historic roll-back of women's rights exposes the fragility of UK abortion law, and the long term campaign by MPs to rewrite the law in order to decriminalise the procedure.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Transport select committee chair Huw Merriman joins PoliticsHome reporters Alain Tolhurst, Eleanor Langford and Noa Hoffman to discuss this week’s national rail strikes, public sector pay, RMT union boss Mick Lynch’s cult hero status and what impact a double by-election defeat may have on Boris Johnson’s leadership.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst, Eleanor Langford and Noa Hoffman. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Labour shadow minister Stephanie Peacock and Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne to look ahead to the double by-election next Thursday and reflect on another hectic week in Westminster.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot.
Former government anti-corruption chief, John Penrose, who dramatically resigned over partygate this week, and Onward director Will Tanner join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Eleanor Langford to assess the aftermath of Boris Johnson's wounding confidence vote and what Downing Street is doing to win back the trust of rebel MPs.
Chair of the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs Jake Berry critiques Rishi Sunak's plan to tackle the cost of living crisis and challenges Boris Johnson to "rip up the civil service rule book" and save the “Levelling Up” agenda.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey joins PoliticsHome to discuss the fallout from Sue Gray’s final report into the partygate saga, Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax U-turn, and his party’s own plans to take advantage of Boris Johnson’s woes at the polls and force the Tories out of government.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst and Eleanor Langford. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Labour’s Justin Madders and the Institute for Government's Alex Thomas join PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst and Suzannah Brecknell, co-editor of PoliticsHome's sister publication Civil Service World to pick through the government’s plans to shake up Whitehall with 91,000 job cuts and put an end to working from home.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith and Irish Times columnist Finn McRedmond unpack a seismic week in Northern Irish politics, which looks likely to amp up further as the UK threatens to rip up the contentious protocol.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst and Adam Payne. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Elections analyst Lord Robert Hayward joins PoliticsHome's Eleanor Langford and Adam Payne to unpack what you should watch for as the local election results unfold. Voters headed to the polls on Thursday to cast their votes for over 6,800 council seats across England, Wales and Scotland. These elections have been tipped as both a referendum on Boris Johnson’s leadership and a key political test for Labour leader Keir Starmer.
The Rundown is presented by Eleanor Langford and Adam Payne. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Caroline Nokes – Conservative MP and chair of the women and equalities committee, and Abena Oppong-Asare – Labour MP and chair of the Labour Women's Network, join PoliticsHome reporters Eleanor Langford and Noa Hoffman to discuss the continued issue of misogyny in parliament, as Westminster once again reckons with scandal over sexism after an MP was accused of watching porn in parliament.
Conservative MP Stephen Hammond and the Institute for Government's Dr Alice Lilly join PoliticsHome's Adam Payne and Noa Hoffman to discuss the government's dramatic privileges committee U-turn and the latest threat to Boris Johnson's leadership.
Labour leader Keir Starmer issues a strongly-worded attack on the Prime Minister's character in an interview with Political Editor Adam Payne. Starmer insists that he has “nothing in common” with Boris Johnson as he questions the Prime Minister’s integrity and ability to lead the country at a time of crisis.
He addresses the row over LGBT+ rights playing out across Westminster, accusing the government of “weaponising” vulnerable people for their own political gains. Starmer also issues pointed remarks about Labour’s previous leadership and insists that the party has made significant progress “given what I inherited as leader of a party”.
Starmer's timely interview coincides with a fresh crop of scandal in Downing Street after Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak received fines from police over 'partygate' events. Payne discusses what this means for Johnson and Sunak's future in Downing Street with political reporters Eleanor Langford and John Johnston, and what they've been hearing in Westminster since the news dropped.
The Rundown is presented by Eleanor Langford with Adam Payne and John Johnston. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Leading pollsters Sir John Curtice and Chris Curtice join PoliticsHome's Eleanor Langford and Adam Payne to offer insight into how the public is feeling about the government as 'partygate' rages on and the grip of the cost-of-living crisis tightens.
"Once someone gets a reputation for not telling the truth, it is very difficult to recover," Curtice, a Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde and Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Social Research, said, addressing suggestions that if Johnson is fined by police over parties, that he could have lied to parliament.
"If, and I stress if, the met do decide that the PM has broken the law, and if people think he hasn’t been telling the truth, then the Ukraine crisis potentially will put a higher premium on having a prime minister who is ethical and acts with due probity than would otherwise be the case," he added.
This week has also been tough for Rishi Sunak, who having raised taxes, is facing scrutiny over his wife's tax affairs. Akshata Murthy's non-dom status means that she does not pay UK tax on millions of pounds worth of international earnings.
"The optics of it are just so bad," Curtis, head of political polling at Opinium said. "The idea that you’re raising taxes at a time when arguably your wife is not paying as much as she otherwise would be, I think is going to look bad and I think that’s going to upset a lot of people."
The Rundown is presented by Eleanor Langford with Adam Payne. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
Emily Thornberry, Labour's shadow attorney general, joins PoliticsHome's Eleanor Langford and Adam Payne on this week's episode of The Rundown, and asks "where is Boris Johnson's lawyer?" after Downing Street spent days wrangling over whether 'partygate' fine recipients broke the law.
This week's episode drops as key changes likely to exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis come into effect – namely the rise in National Insurance contributions, and new, much higher energy costs.
Thornberry told PoliticsHome she's already hearing fear on the doorstep about bills rising, with one constituent talking her through her latest water charges, worried about how she would pay it.
Thornberry explained why she voted this week to allow at-home access to early medical abortion, and how she held her own personal "unofficial whipping operation" shouting "pro-choice this way!" after MPs were given a free vote on the issue.
Plus she tells us which former Cabinet minister used to ask her which was the right way to vote on women's rights.
Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, the Institute for Fiscal Studies' Paul Johnson and Conservative chair of the treasury select committee Mel Stride join PoliticsHome's Alain Tolhurst and Noa Hoffman to discuss how Rishi Sunak's Spring Statement has landed.
Reeves said “it's all a bit of a game” for her opposite number, after Sunak announced an income tax cut by the end of this Parliament and that "he's thinking of the next election, and he's thinking of the next leadership election in his party”.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst, with Adam Payne and Eleanor Langford. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
On this week's episode of The Rundown – Alain Tolhurst, Adam Payne and Eleanor Langford discuss the upcoming Spring Statement, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release from prison in Iran after six years, and Boris Johnson's energy-emergency trip to the middle east.
We're joined by Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden to discuss what more Rishi Sunak needs to do to help those struggling with the cost of living when he delivers his speech to the Commons on Wednesday.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst, with Adam Payne and Eleanor Langford. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
On this week's episode of The Rundown from PoliticsHome, Alain Tolhurst is joined by PoliticsHome's Political Editor Kate Proctor and Political Reporter Eleanor Langford to discuss the Home Office's chaotic response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis. Then, Alain is joined by former justice secretary Robert Buckland to discuss whether the UK is pulling its weight when it comes to welcoming those fleeing the Russian invasion. The PoliticsHome reporters also talk John Bercow's parliamentary legacy and how Westminster celebrated international women's day.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst, with Kate Proctor and Eleanor Langford. The script editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Leon Radschinkski-Gorman for Podot.
On this week's episode of The Rundown from PoliticsHome, Alain Tolhurst is joined by PoliticsHome's Political Editor Kate Proctor and Political Reporter Eleanor Langford to discuss how Westminster is responding to the myriad issues raised by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Then, Alain is joined by former Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green to look at whether the UK could, and should, be doing more for Ukrainian refugees. Finally, there's a look ahead to next week's fast-tracked consideration of the Economic Crime Bill, and the new powers that could facilitate the deployment of sanctions against Britain's Russian oligarchs.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst, with Kate Proctor and Eleanor Langford. The editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
To celebrate the launch of Women in Westminster: The 100, we brought together leading women to discuss the women who inspired them to go into politics.
Editor of The House magazine Rosa Prince was joined by Caroline Nokes MP, Chair of the Women & Equalities Committee, Charlotte Nichols MP, the Shadow Women & Equalities Minister, and Fiona Cannon OBE from Lloyds Banking Group to discuss some of the pioneering women who shaped the political landscape.
This podcast was executive produced by James Millar, Alex Hancock and Daniel Bond. The producer and editor was Nick Hilton for Podot pods.
The long-awaited ‘Russia report’ has finally landed — but after all the hype is it a damp squib? Why did the Intelligence and Security Committee’s inquiry take so long to make its way into the public domain? What, if anything, does it tell us about the 2016 Brexit vote and 2014’s Scottish referendum? Do the UK’s intelligence agencies need to up their game to combat the threat from Moscow? And is the Government taking any of it on board?
PolHome’s Matt Honeycombe-Foster talks to our chief reporter Alain Tolhurst and The House magazine’s policy editor Georgina Bailey about the probe — and digest its findings so you don’t have to.
In this one-off policy special, we speak to Home Office minister Kevin Foster about the UK’s big post-Brexit immigration shake-up. It’s the biggest change to the system in a generation — but what will it mean for the UK’s social care workforce, and will the new set-up be ready in time? || This episode is supported by Leidos, and we speak to Leidos UK’s chief technology officer Simon Daykin about the practical challenges of new technology at the border. https://www.politicshome.com/members/profile/leidos
In a mini-podcast on the back of the Summer Economic Statement, PolHome chief reporter Alain Tolhurst grabs some time with Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay. He asks what message Chancellor Rishi Sunak wants to send to Brits, whether there’s more help to come — and how the government plans to pay for it all.
Dominic Cummings has promised that a “hard rain” is about to fall on the civil service in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. But what exactly does Number 10 have planned for Whitehall? PolHome’s Matt Honeycombe-Foster speaks to three people who know their stuff: Cath Haddon of the Institute for Government, Richard Johnstone of Civil Service World and Dave Penman, boss of the FDA trade union. Find out what all the fuss is about as Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill calls it quits — and what the appointment of Brexit negotiator David Frost to a top national security job really means.
Boris Johnson’s top adviser Dominic Cummings finds himself at the centre of another political storm - and our reporter John Johnston is on hand for snap analysis of his emotional Rose Garden statement on that controversial lockdown journey to Durham with his family. Then Matt talks to Labour shadow minister Wes Streeting, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey - and conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie to weigh up the political impact of Johnson’s decision to stand by his man.
On this week’s PolHome podcast, chief reporter Alain Tolhurst gives us his snap verdict on Boris Johnson’s big lockdown speech; Georgina Bailey of the House magazine chats to Baroness Angela Smith about the new virtual upper chamber and Keir Starmer’s performance in the top job; PLUS PolHome acting editor Matt Honeycombe-Foster talks to Ben Page, chief executive of IPSOS to find out what the public really thinks about the Government’s handling of the crisis. If you’ve got a question for our next episode, you can send us a voicemail at this link: https://anchor.fm/polhome/message
There were signs this week that Britain may have passed the coronavirus peak, Boris Johnson himself continues to recover at Chequers and PMQs, it turns out, works quite quite well via videolink.
Matt talks to The House magazine’s Georgina Bailey about the massive operation to get a virtual Commons up and running in record time, before Matt Lesh of the Adam Smith Institute and Ian Mulheirn of the Institute for Global Change fill us on the big dilemma facing ministers over the continued coronavirus shutdown.
THEN: PoliticsHome editor Kevin Schofield fields his final round of listeners' questions before heading for pastures new - and a star-studded line-up of PolHome veterans, lobby hacks and more look back on his 25 years at the top.
In the first full PoliticsHome podcast under the coronavirus lockdown, Matt Honeycombe-Foster speaks to a range of guests about the impact of the sweeping crisis on UK politics, the economy and families.
PolHome editor Kevin Schofield has the latest on the big row over testing, protective equipment and ventilators as the government faces mounting criticism of the speed of the rollout of crucial interventions.
Then we chat to Conservative MP Rob Halfon about growing calls for a virtual Parliament to keep democracy running in a time of crisis, before the Resolution Foundation's Mike Brewer, Clare McNeil from the IPPR and Labour MP Alison McGovern from the Treasury select committee talk us through the likely economic toll of the Covid-19 shutdown and explain who needs more help.
If that wasn't enough, Kevin and Alison give their take on the Labour leadership contest, which has finally come to an end. Can the new Keir, err person, in charge rise to the challenge?
We are living in extraordinary times, and the coronavirus outbreak has dramatically changed the lives of most people in this country in a very short space of time. We’ve decided to start using the podcast to try to help you, our listeners, make sense of what’s going on - as well as shining a light on some of the other big stories that risk getting lost.
So, starting from our next week, we want to open up our contacts books to you and ask experts, policy makers, MPs YOUR questions about the response. Get them in to us at news@politicshome.com. We’re also on Twitter as @PolHomeEditor and @matt_hfoster
This week’s special episode, though, focuses on a big story that might get swamped by the unfolding coronavirus crisis.
The long-awaited independent report into the Windrush scandal, which dominated the headlines in 2018 and continues to define the Home Office, has been published this week - and its findings are damning. Join us as we dig into this landmark report’s findings and recommendations with Labour MP David Lammy and long-standing Windrush campaigner Patrick Vernon.
The coronavirus outbreak is now officially a global pandemic, with markets crashing, cases mounting, and even a health minister being struck down with the respiratory disease. The virus’s spread of course couldn’t help but over-shadow what was expected to be the big UK news story of the week, Rishi Sunak’s first Budget as chancellor. We’ll be digging into the detail of the Government’s response, asking why the UK is going down a different route to some other countries and asking whether it’s really viable for Parliament to stay open. Then: we’ll chew over the rest of the big spending Budget as the Tories tossed all talk of austerity to one side and tried to make good on the election vow to level up Britain.
PoliticsHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined this week by the New Statesman's Britain editor Anoosh Chakelian.
Britain has been gripped by the coronavirus crisis this week, as the Government unveiled its big action plan to try and curb the global threat and Boris Johnson pushes back at claims he’s a part-time prime minister. Amid a problem that only seems to be getting worse, we’ll look at what the Government’s been doing; how bad things might get; and whether the PM is any good in a crisis.
If that wasn’t enough, Home Secretary Priti Patel is under immense pressure this week amid a string of bullying allegations and the resignation of her most senior official, Sir Philip Rutnam. Civil Service World reporter Beckie Smith joins us to unpack the row and discuss whether blazing rows with civil servants is just the new normal.
PLUS: Kevin is grilled on the future of his Twitter account as we take your questions.
Boris Johnson has published the long-awaited opening gambit for talks on Britain’s future relationship with the EU - and Number 10 are trying to make it clear they can take it or leave it on that big ambitious trade deal.
But is the PM really serious about walking away from the talks if there’s no progress by June - even if it means a big upheaval for business? Has he gone back on his promises to Brussels or does the thumping election majority since it was signed change the game? Is there any room for manoeuvre - or is Britain heading back into what we once called no-deal territory in the long-forgotten days of 2019?
PolHome’s Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined once again by top Brexit expert Laura Hutchinson of Dods Monitoring as we map the battle lines in this latest trade war.
PLUS: We get stuck into the latest developments in the very, very long Labour leadership race - and Kevin claims he has to go a ‘lobby briefing’ to avoid revealing his karaoke faves.
We’d been led to believe this week’s reshuffle would be a rather scaled-back affair. But we were back in chaos-land on Thursday lunchtime as the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, dramatically resigned amid a bitter row with Number 10. Why did Javid really quit? Is this a coup for the Prime Minister’s top aide Dominic Cummings? And just who is Rishi Sunak, the man stepping into Javid’s shoes at the Treasury?
Then: We succumb to the drive for clickbait and give our listeners what they want: chat about a Labour leadership data row. We’ll be asking what it means for the party - and chewing over the week’s developments as local party and union nominations close.
PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined this week by Nicola Bartlett, political correspondent for the Daily Mirror.
If you thought politics had started to slip back into a fairly placid place after the drama of the past two years, think again.This week alone we’ve had Number 10 beefing with reporters over access to briefings, a sacked climate adviser accusing Boris Johnson of not understanding what global warming is - and an end to a full two days of non-Brexit chat as the UK and EU set out their battle lines for the tough talks ahead. If that wasn’t enough, former Commons Speaker John Bercow has caused yet another stir as he fends off bullying allegations and makes the case for a place in the House of Lords.
PolHome editor Kevin Schofield and reporter Eleanor Langford join Matt Honeycombe-Foster to get stuck into the week's developments before Seb Whale, author of 'Call To Order', THE John Bercow biography, sits down to talk about the latest drama.
You can read Ellie's story on the government missing its own targets on cutting short-haul flights here: https://bit.ly/2vd8m0u
And Seb's book is available for pre-order from Biteback here: https://bit.ly/2utrozB
It sometimes felt like it would never happen but Britain is finally leaving the EU - just 1317 days, two elections and three prime ministers since the UK voted to quit the bloc. But there's still the small issue of our future relationship with Brussels to sort - not to mention the rest of the world, and a whole host of massive decisions still to be made on immigration, fishing, customs and more.
PolHome's Matt Honeycombe-Foster and Anahita Hossein-Pour are joined by Adam Payne, senior political reporter at BusinessInsider to find out what comes next and share our fond Brexit memories. They'll also get stuck into a couple of Tory skirmishes over Huawei and HS2 and ask whether Boris Johnson can keep party grumbling in check.
THEN we turn our gaze to the Labour leadership race as Andy Frain from Dods Monitoring joins us to assess the uphill struggle the party faces to rebuild in Scotland. And we read your emotive comments.
READING LIST: You can keep up with Adam's journalism here: https://www.businessinsider.com/author/adam-payne?r=US&IR=T
And check out Andy's incisive blog on Scottish Labour here: https://medium.com/@andy.frain_33958/1c36f3e8112c
The Labour leadership race is finally getting exciting with two candidates already on the ballot and one more falling by the wayside. The contenders are starting to take digs at each other - and the last Labour government too. PolHome's Kevin Schofield, Matt Honeycombe-Foster and Eleanor Langford will be getting stuck in to the latest and asking if Lisa Nandy could pull off an upset.
Then, we check in on Boris Johnson amid a flurry of activity from the government as it tries to make good on all those manifesto promises - and chart the House of Lords' battle with ministers over the plight of child refugees. We'll talk to Andrew Hyams of the charity Safe Passage, which has worked with Lord Dubs to try to pressure the government on unaccompanied migrant children, about where the campaign goes next.
Westminster lost its collective mind this week over whether or not Big Ben will bong for Brexit. Does the row tell us anything useful about Boris Johnson and Britain's EU exit - or are we all just adjusting to the new reality of slower-paced majority government?
Then we’ll cast an eye over the Labour leadership race and find out who’s up, who’s down and who’s out - and look ahead to the next big battles. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has once again rejected calls for a second Scottish independence referendum. Is that a gift to the SNP? And where exactly are Labour at on indyref2?
PLUS: We answer your vital bonging-related questions. PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined this week by Natasha Clark, digital political editor at The Sun.
If you were hoping to ease yourself into 2020 gently, look away now. The Labour leadership race is well and truly underway - and PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined by Sienna Rodgers, editor of the LabourList website to rate the runners-and-riders and ask whether this is now Sir Keir Starmer's contest to lose. Then, for a bit of light relief, we discuss rising tensions in the Middle East and discuss how Boris Johnson has handled the first big international crisis of his premiership - and whether Jeremy Corbyn can finally be himself on foreign policy.
THEN: You ask us whether we're weirdos as if you don't already know the answer.
Boris Johnson's been putting his newfound majority to use with a packed Queen's Speech and a crucial vote on the EU Withdrawal Bill. So what message is he trying to send to voters? And is he really on the cusp of 'Getting Brexit Done'? Meanwhile Labour's been taking a long hard look at itself after the election defeat, with candidates vying to replace Jeremy Corbyn hurling their hats into the ring. Can the party rebuild or is it on track for a long stint in the wilderness?
PolHome's Matt Honeycombe-Foster is joined by the House magazine's political editor Seb Whale and Natasha Clark, digital political editor of The Sun, to get stuck into the final week before Christmas. Then: Father Christmas delivers a bumper sack of niche questions. You do spoil us.
Boris Johnson's big election gamble has paid off. In a stunning night for the Conservatives, the PM has delivered the party's biggest majority since Margaret Thatcher's second term, wiping out Labour in its former heartlands and giving Johnson the mandate to get his Brexit deal through the Commons with ease.
Politics has seemed stuck for much of the the past three years in the wake of the EU referendum - but this feels like a proper realignment - with massive implications for all the parties that we will be chewing over for months and years to come.
PolHome's sleep-deprived editor Kevin Schofield and chief reporter Alain Tolhurst join Matt Honeycombe-Foster to discuss how the seismic result will change the Tories, Labour, the Lib Dems, and the devolved nations. THEN: We have a good go at answering your questions.
The election campaign briefly took on a sombre and respectful tone in the wake of the London Bridge terror attack this week, but the truce didn't last long as both parties made political points about the events leading up the tragedy. Is it right to weaponise a terror attack? How does Boris Johnson's response compare to Theresa May? And should Jeremy Corbyn have brought foreign policy into the mix?
PLUS: Donald Trump is in town to calm things down. We'll ask whether his trip is a boost for Labour or a chance for the Prime Minister to look like a leader - and then dig into the details of the fight for the Leave-backing marginal seat of Ashfield before taking on a raft of questions.
Joining Matt on the podcast this week are PolHome's ace reporter Anahita Hossein-Pour and our chief reporter Alain Tolhurst.
Sign up for our free, seven-day-a-week Breakfast Briefing here: www.politicshome.com/register
It's been an ugly week on the campaign trail with rows over media bias, racism and candidates being booted out for social media nastiness. Meanwhile a major poll dropped and suggested the Conservatives are on for a dramatically increased majority by eating into Labour's traditional heartlands. Can Labour turn things around? Is Boris Johnson ducking scrutiny? And why is everyone so cross? PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined by the Independent's Ben Kentish to chew over the latest in the battle for Number 10.
PLUS: We'll be chatting to William Kedjayni of Star Sports about how the the campaign is looking on the political betting markets - and whether there's anything left in the campaign that can shake things up.
Boris Johnson has unveiled the Conservatives' slimline manifesto as the party continues to enjoy a comfortable poll lead. But is he at risk of offering too little? Is he making a rod for his own back with a vow not to extend the Brexit transition period? And can the Tories escape the ghost of the disastrous 2017 manifesto reveal?
PolHome's Matt Honeycombe-Foster is joined by Business Insider's senior political reporter Adam Payne and The Sun's digital political editor Natasha Clark to get stuck into the Conservative election pitch - and ask whether the Liberal Democrats' own Remain-heavy campaign has veered off course.
PLUS: PolHome chief reporter Alain Tolhurst heads out on the campaign trail with Ali Milani, the Labour candidate hoping to provide a whopper of a 'Portillo moment' in 2019 - by unseating the Prime Minister himself.
Jeremy Corbyn has finally unveiled Labour's "manifesto of hope", featuring some bold pledges to transform the British state - but will it be enough to turn the polls around and kick off a 2017-style upset? Kevin and Matt are joined this week by LabourList editor Sienna Rodgers to dig into the manifesto and assess the state of the race.
We meanwhile hear from Shadow Equalities Secretary Dawn Butler about how she thinks the document will be received - and why she's confident Labour can still bag a majority.
Then, we look ahead to the Conservatives' own weekend manifesto push and weigh up their crowd-pleasing pledges on law and order - as well as their Twitter-enraging social media rebrand.
PLUS: Our reporter Anahita Hossein-Pour talks to Women's Equality Party leader Mandu Reid about her party's push to get Westminster's bullying and harassment scandal taken seriously.
The gloves are off in this bruising election campaign and PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined by the ace Emily Ashton, senior political correspondent at BuzzFeed News, to try and make sense of the latest. We’ll be looking ahead to the smattering of manifestos set to be published this week, weighing up Boris Johnson's attempt to repair his rift with business, getting stuck into Labour's split over freedom of movement, and taking a close look at the new Brexiteer and Remainer electoral pacts that are causing all manner of upsets. PLUS: We hear from Geri Scott of the Yorkshire Post and Alexandra Rogers from Hull Live, the Bristol Post and the Grimsby Telegraph about how the election campaign is unfolding in their neck of the woods - before Emily reveals a shocking moment from Kevin’s past.
The election campaign has entered its second week with a big row over public spending as the Tories slap a £1.2tn price tag on a Labour government - and Labour accuses Boris Johnson's outfit of peddling 'fake news'. Can the 35-page dossier be trusted? Is Chancellor Sajid Javid under threat from Boris Johnson's team? And what on earth happened to that hard-hitting Conservative Islamophobia probe?
Joining Kevin and Matt to discuss all this and more is Theo Bertram, a former special adviser to Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. He gives us the inside track on how those controversial election attack documents are drawn up, the art of 'opposition research' - and rates Jeremy Corbyn's performance on the campaign trail so far.
PLUS: Our intrepid reporter Anahita Hossein-Pour joins Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson on the party's bright orange battle bus as they mount an audacious bid to unseat top Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg. And we take on your incisive questions about the future of Labour - and reveal an unlikely musical collaboration...
The 2019 election campaign has barely begun and it's already seen high-profile resignations, Cabinet ministers committing major gaffes - and some pretty spicy attacks from Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn.
Is the PM's election gamble backfiring on him? Can he put a torrid week behind him? Are the Tories now in trouble in Wales? Are Jeremy Corbyn's own MPs his biggest problem? And what exactly does Tom Watson's resignation as deputy leader mean for the future of the party?
PoliticsHome editor Kevin Schofield joins news editor Matt Honeycombe-Foster and reporter John Johnston to chew over the first few days of a stormy campaign and do our best to answer your burning questions.
You can sign up to our free Breakfast Briefing e-mail here: www.politicshome.com/register
And send us your questions on Twitter at www.twitter.com/politicshome
And they're off! Yep, MPs have finally fired the starting pistol on an election like no other. So are the two main parties really up for it? Can this really be the election that settles the Brexit question for good? Just why are half of Jeremy Corbyn's MPs opposed to going to the country? And will the Tories be changed forever by the loss of many 'One Nation' moderates?
Then we talk about John Bercow's legacy as Commons Speaker as he makes way for one for one of nine candidates vying for the job. Great reformer? Brexit blocker? PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined by Seb Whale, author of a forthcoming book on Bercow, as we weigh up his decade in the job.
AND: You ask us if politicians will ever stop talking nonsense? No spoilers.
Boris Johnson is mounting a fresh bid to secure a general election after MPs torpedoed his plans to get Brexit done by 31 October. Why did the crunch 'Super Saturday' vote come to nothing? Can the PM take comfort in the fact MPs at least backed his Withdrawal Agreement Bill? And why are both parties so divided about a December election? Joining Matt to discuss all of this and more is Tash Clark, digital political editor of The Sun, plus our very own intrepid reporter John Johnston. PLUS: We take your questions and try not to make any predictions at all.
He's only gone and done it... Yep, Boris Johnson has struck a Brexit deal many thought impossible. In between eating our words, PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster chat to Brexit expert Laura Hutchinson of Dods Monitoring to find out whether the historic EU agreement is really all that new. Then we look ahead to the MASSIVE Commons battle brewing in a special Saturday sitting aimed at approving it - and give PRECISE guesses about how many votes the PM will muster. PLUS: Kevin opens up about his heartbreaking battle with Fruit and Nut addiction and we do our best to answer your questions.
You can sign up for the PoliticsHome Breakfast Briefing here: www.politicshome.com/register
Things aren’t exactly going swimmingly in Boris Johnson's quest to strike a Brexit deal with the European Union - and, if they’re not blaming Brussels, some in SW1 are pointing the finger at the Prime Minister's top adviser Dominic Cummings for ramping up the rhetoric. Is the controversial aide just freelancing? Will the Cabinet put up with it? And is there now any chance of striking an 11th-hour Brexit deal?
Meanwhile, there's been a dramatic shake-up in Jeremy Corbyn's top team. We ask what the staffing changes say about the direction of the party, whether Labour MPs are really gunning for a general election - and take a close look at the tumultuous quest to find candidates for it.
PolHome's Kevin and Matt are joined this week by the ace Sienna Rodgers, editor of the LabourList website, who tweets as @siennamarla.
You can sign up to the FREE 7-day-a-week PoliticsHome Breakfast Briefing here: http://www.politicshome.com/register
Boris Johnson has finally unveiled his plan to scrap the Irish backstop and try and strike a Brexit deal with the EU. But does he really mean it? Are the EU even vaguely interested? And could he sell it to a sceptical House of Commons?
PolHome news editor Matt Honeycombe-Foster is joined by editor Kevin Schofield and chief reporter Alain Tolhurst to try and explain what the latest gambit from Number 10 really means - and whether it has a chance of succeeding.
PLUS: We'll hear from ex-justice secretary David Gauke and Brexiteer Tory MP Mark Francois from the floor of a rather strange-feeling Conservative Party conference.
AND: Feel like you're INSIDE the newsroom as Kevin learns about Rory Stewart's plan to ditch the 'gothic shouting chamber' of Westminster and challenge Sadiq Khan as mayor of London. We also answer NONE of your questions.
Westminster was in an ugly mood this week as MPs unexpectedly returned to the Commons following a major Supreme Court ruling against Boris Johnson's decision to shut down Parliament. What exactly did Britain's highest court find? Should Johnson be going on about the 'Surrender Bill' at a time many MPs face threats to their safety? What were the big bust-ups and pledges at Labour's conference? And can anyone ever be nice to anyone again? Matt Honeycombe-Foster is joined this week by Natasha Clark, digital political editor at The Sun, and Adam Payne, senior political correspondent at Business Insider to try and make sense of it all.
PLUS: PolHome editor Kevin Schofield sits grills Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly on the Tory response to the ruling - and whether they can still call themselves the party of law and order.
You can read Kevin's full interview for The House magazine here: https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/conservative-party/house/house-magazine/106844/james-cleverly-mp-%E2%80%9Cpeople
...while Natasha (https://mobile.twitter.com/NatashaC) and Adam (https://mobile.twitter.com/adampayne26) are both a big deal on Twitter dot com.
A major constitutional battle is raging in the Supreme Court - and it could have huge implications for Boris Johnson's vow to get Britain out of the EU 'do or die' by 31 October. PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined by The Independent's ace political correspondent Ben Kentish (http://twitter.com/BenKentish), who's spent his week following every twist and turn in the UK's highest court. That's taken in everything from bumbling over binders to a hefty challenge to the Tory PM from his one of his own predecessors, Sir John Major. Can the Government win? Will it listen to the court if it doesn't? Just how much progress has been made on that plan to axe the Brexit backstop? And is Boris quite the media-savvy performer we were all led to believe?
THEN: Fresh from Lib Dem conference, our very own Anahita Hossein-Pour tells us why Jo Swinson's troops are in a chirpy mood - before LabourList editor Sienna Rodgers (http://twitter.com/siennamarla) sets the scene for Labour's big annual conference, where more Brexit drama and a fight for a 'Green New Deal' could dominate.
P.S. you're going to Labour conference, why not pop along and see once and for all whether MPs are smarter than hacks at the annual PolHome quiz? Full details here: http://www.dodspartyconference.co.uk/labour-fringe-events
It's an absolutely ram-packed PolHome podcast this week as we talk proroguing Parliament, Number 10 vs the judges, John Bercow's typically humble exit announcement, the resignation of Amber Rudd - and whether the Prime Minister misled the Queen. Just a totally normal seven days, then. PoliticsHome editor Kevin Schofield and news editor Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined by Brexit expert Laura Hutchinson from Dods Monitoring to chat about all of this - and answer your very serious questions.
PLUS: Matt sits down with Marie Le Conte, political journalist and author of new book 'Haven't You Heard?' to discuss why Westminster is such a hotbed of gossip - and why party conferences are really just 'festivals for nerds'.
Marie's book is available to buy here: https://www.blinkpublishing.co.uk/haven-t-you-heard.html
And you can sign up for our FREE seven-day-a-week Breakfast Briefing news email here: http://politicshome.com/register
In a special episode of the PoliticsHome podcast, editor Kevin Schofield sits down with Sir Bernard Ingham, who served as Margaret Thatcher's press secretary throughout her 11-year stint as Prime Minister. Sir Bernard had a front row seat during some of the defining political moments of the past forty years. What was it like to speak for Thatcher during the miner's strike, the Westland affair and the Brighton Bombing? How would she handle Britain's EU exit? What exactly does a press secretary do all day? And how does he rate the current lot in Westminster and Brussels?
After a lifetime of dreaming, scheming and believing in himself, Boris Johnson is now Britain's Prime Minister. But will his can-do attitude be enough to break the Brexit deadlock - and does he even want to? What can we learn about the new PM from his brutal cull of Theresa May's Cabinet? And are the names around the top table a gift to Jeremy Corbyn?
Join PolHome's Kevin Schofield, Matt Honeycombe-Foster and Anastasia Zawierucha for the answers. PLUS: We take on your questions.
Boris Johnson is measuring the curtains for Number 10 - but Tory MPs are already planning to make his life a nightmare. Can they really stop a no-deal Brexit? Why has Philip Hammond emerged as a rebel with a cause? And what on earth is a 'Guakward Squad' when it's at home?
Then we ask why the two Tory candidates won't call Donald Trump racist - and whether Jeremy Corbyn will face a fresh challenge amid ongoing anger in his party over anti-semitism.
PLUS: Your burning questions on WHEN IT WILL ALL END.
PoliticsHome's John Johnston and Matt Honeycombe-Foster get stuck into the big transantlantic bust-up that led to the resignation of Sir Kim Darroch as Britain's top man in Washington. Why was Donald Trump raging? And how has it impacted the Tory leadership race? We also rate Labour's angry response to a hard-hitting documentary on anti-semitism and ask if the media really is ignoring Tory Islamophobia.
Then Matt and The House magazine's policy editor Georgina Bailey are joined by Women in Westminster founder Tara Jane O'Reilly and GMB union rep Jenna Davis - who both work for MPs in Parliament - to chew over the findings of two bombshell reports on Westminster bullying and harassment. Have things really improved since Parliament's #MeToo moment? And do MPs' staffers see shoddy treatment as part and parcel of a life in politics?
PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined by Suzannah Brecknell, editor of Whitehall news mag Civil Service World, to talk about Jeremy Hunt and Jeremy Corbyn's fights with officials. Should mandarins expect a cull if either man becomes PM? Is the Establishment really out to get the Labour leader? Will Team Boris's plan to axe a load of government departments actually work? And why is everyone in politics gunning for Whitehall?
PLUS: We discuss Jeremy Hunt's bid to woo Tory members by floating the return of fox hunting, a demob-happy Philip Hammond's no-deal Brexit blasts - and how a pregnant Labour MP ended up facing a local attempt to boot her out.
PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined this week by Seb Whale, political editor of The House magazine. Seb is fresh off the Eurostar after a trip to Brussels to find out what top EU figures really think about Boris Johnson's 'do or die' Brexit vow and Jeremy Hunt's claim he's the only man they could do business with. And he doesn't exactly have great news for either camp...
Plus, we talk about the major Labour bust-up over the reinstatement of Derby North MP Chris Williamson - and ask whether any of his Parliamentary colleagues are now ready to ditch their party for good over its handling of anti-semitism.
This was the week we found out who Boris Johnson will duke it out with for the Conservative leadership and the keys to Number 10. But who is his closest rival Jeremy Hunt - and has he got what it takes to halt the seemingly unstoppable rise of the Tory favourite? What will the two contenders need to promise the Conservative membership to win their backing? And what's the big split over Brexit?
The Yorkshire Post's ace Westminster correspondent Liz Bates joins PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster to discuss all of this - plus Labour's latest microscopic movements on a second referendum.
PLUS: Feel like you're RIGHT THERE in the House of Commons as you soak up the sound of builders chatting and a GENUINE FLY buzzing around the Lobby room. No extra charge.
And then there were six... as four more Conservative Leadership candidates drop out of the race, Boris Johnson is looking unassailable. Is the famously-gaffe prone Tory now his own biggest rival? Can any of the other candidates get pulses racing? And how much is Johnson stealing from the Trump playbook? Join PolHome's Kevin Schofield, Matt Honeycombe-Foster and Anastasia Zawierucha as we discuss all this and more - plus Rory Stewart's eye-catching plan to kick off a civil war.
PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster are joined by Britain's top political comedian Matt Forde, who sits down with us fresh from hosting the latest behind-closed-doors Tory leadership hustings. He tells us what really went on behind the scenes as the hopefuls battled it out over Brexit and the future of their party. He also weighs in on Donald Trump's controversial state visit and tells us whether the US President has been a blessing or a curse for satirists.
PLUS: The 100% real former Prime Minister Tony Blair gives us his exclusive take on this week's dramatic Change UK split.
The Tory leadership battle is well and truly underway - and while frontrunners Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab are focusing on Brexit, International Development Secretary Rory Stewart is generating a surprising amount of coverage by wandering around the country filming himself. PolHome's Matt Honeycombe-Foster and John Johnston are joined by Sienna Rodgers, editor of LabourList, to rate the runners and riders and ask which future PM might keep Jeremy Corbyn up at night. Plus we discuss Labour's blazing row over a second referendum and whether Boris Johnson could end up behind bars before he gets to Number 10. Just another week, then.
With Theresa May's days in Downing Street looking increasingly numbered, the Prime Minister was rocked by another Cabinet resignation. This time it was Brexiteer Andrea Leadsom, quitting over the PM's last-ditch plan to get MPs behind her EU deal. Can May tough it out or is this her final stand? What exactly are her fed-up MPs planning? And will Boris Johnson seize the Tory crown?
Joining PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster to discuss all this and more is podcast veteran Liz Bates, the Yorkshire Post's Westminster Correspondent. Plus we answer YOUR burning questions on waffles, tidying up and the Peterborough by-election, while Kevin sets out his stall as a gameshow host.
Wake up at the back! There’s some ACTUAL BREXIT NEWS happening. Yep, the embattled Theresa May has finally made clear she's going to press ahead with a fourth vote on her Brexit deal - whether or not she strikes a deal with Labour. So what’s Number 10's big plan for Withdrawal Agreement Bill? Is there a hope in heck of what everyone's calling the WAB actually passing? Or is this all about Tory party management?
The move comes as the Prime Minister faces growing calls from her own party to name her own departure date, while Nigel Farage's Brexit Party surges ahead with European elections looming. Is this the endgame for May? Will a Brexit Party triumph boost the chances of a no-deal? And why is Farage doing so much better than the other new kids on the block, Change UK?
PoliticsHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Honeycombe-Foster chew over another big week with Katy Balls, deputy political editor of The Spectator and a regular columnist for the i newspaper. PLUS we take your questions.
Westminster was rocked this week by a good old-fashioned Cabinet sacking - and, for a change, it had nothing to do with Brexit. Gavin Williamson was brutally dismissed by Theresa May amid a major row over leaks from the top-secret National Security Council. What does the sacking mean for May's government? Was the PM right to boot him out? And can Williamson's career ever recover?
PoliticsHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Foster are joined by the Yorkshire Post's Westminster correspondent Liz Bates to discuss all the fallout from the bombshell sacking. Plus we dig into the decision by voters in Peterborough to kick out their disgraced MP Fiona Onasanya - and the latest Labour row over Jeremy Corbyn's introduction to a controversial book deemed anti-semitic by Jewish groups.
Today's podcast title kindly provided by esteemed freelance hack Ben Gartside.
MPs are back from the Easter recess and it all feels a bit Groundhog Day, with candidates quitting after social media meltdowns, a Tory plot to oust the Prime Minister going nowhere - and Nicola Sturgeon kicking the can down the round on a second independence referendum. Oh, and Brexit talks are still firmly deadlocked.
Join PoliticsHome's Kevin Schofield, Matt Foster and Nick Mairs as we chew over the latest political happenings and try our best to answer your questions.
PLUS: Soak up the atmosphere outside the 1922 committee meeting and hear from chairman Sir Graham Brady after senior members of the backbench Tory group voted NOT to shake up the party's leadership rules.
The ongoing horror show of Brexit is now set to culminate on Hallowe'en, after EU leaders handed Theresa May a 6-month extension.
The Prime Minister took her begging bowl to Brussels and showed the entire EU what taking back control is definitely not supposed to look like.
We discuss the Brexit delay, the go-nowhere talks between the Tories and Labour and the upcoming EU parliament and local elections.
We also answer YOUR listener questions and reveal our weirdest stories of the week.
Theresa May stunned Westminster this week by reaching out to longtime foe Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to break Britain’s Brexit deadlock. Will the talks go anywhere? And just what does the latest Brexit delay she’s requested mean? Corbyn and May then faced a backlash from their own MPs - with the Labour leader’s tussle over a second referendum showing no sign of going away, and Conservative Brexiteers spitting tacks about the PM’s move to sit down with their political enemy. Oh, and Parliament’s roof started collapsing as MPs moved to seize control of Britain’s exit date.
PoliticsHome’s Kevin Schofield and Matt Foster are joined by The House magazine’s political editor Seb Whale to try and understand all the latest drama - and answer a bumper crop of YOUR questions.
Sound the alarm: it's an emergency PoliticsHome podcast as we try and make sense of all the latest Brexit developments. PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Foster are joined by former Number 10 director of legislative affairs Nikki da Costa - now of the Cicero Group - to discuss the fallout from Theresa May's decision to delay Brexit, including a botched Cabinet coup and Parliament's bid to seize control of the entire process. Are MPs in the driving seat? Will Theresa May be forced to name a departure date? And is politics now official 'febrile'? All this and more on your souvenir pod.
Just in case you thought things couldn’t get any more chaotic in Westminster, Theresa May was finally forced to ask the EU for a Brexit delay following a bombshell intervention from Speaker John Bercow. And, in customary style, she managed to unite Brexiteers and Remainers in anger as she blamed them for the hold-up.
Join PoliticsHome’s Kevin Schofield, Anahita Hossein-Pour and Matt Foster as they wade through the rubble, answer your questions and try not to have a collective on-air breakdown after the busiest of busy Brexit weeks.
The Brexit holding pattern was finally knocked off course this week as MPs began a series of crucial votes to work out what happens next.
Theresa May started off on a high when she secured some key concessions from Brussels - but then once again found herself unable to control parliament, her own government, or even speak.
Join our editor Kevin Schofield, chief reporter Emilio Casalicchio and brand new reporter Anahita Hossein-Pour as they take you through what has been one of the maddest of mad weeks in politics.
As Brexit talks with the EU shuddered to an unceremonious halt, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox reassured the nation he would at least be keeping the contents of his pants safe. Meanwhile, Westminster was gripped by a string of grim stories, as the Tories were embroiled in a fresh row about Islamophobia, and Britain's equalities watchdog launched an investigation into Labour's handling of anti-semitism. Meanwhile, the serious national issue of rising crime inevitably morphed into a proxy war for the Tory leadership as Sajid Javid demanded more cash from a reluctant Philip Hammond.
Join PoliticsHome's Kevin Schofield, Matt Foster and Anastasia Zawierucha as they discuss all this and answer YOUR burning questions.
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There's no such thing as a quiet week in 2019 - but this one held some massive changes, as the Prime Minister opened the door to a Brexit delay and Jeremy Corbyn finally threw his weight behind efforts to secure a second EU referendum. If that wasn't enough, Labour MP Chris Williamson was suspended from the party after causing a major storm with his comments on anti-semitism.
Joining PolHome's Kevin Schofield and Matt Foster on the pod this week is the Yorkshire Post's Liz Bates, who broke the Williamson story and has since been accused by critics of forgetting her PolHome roots.
As sure as day follows night, Theresa May suffered a Brexit defeat in the House of Commons this week. But will the latest Brexiteer rebellion make any difference - or were her Eurosceptic troops just flexing their muscles?
As rumours of a Labour split swirl around Westminster, we also mull the prospects of a centrist breakaway and answer the big question of the day: is Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell a hero or a villain over Winston Churchill-gate?
PLUS: We hear what Remain-backing Business Minister Richard Harrington really thinks about his Brexiteer Tory colleagues - and ask why the Prime Minister wants us all to consider eating mould.
You can read the FULL interview with Richard Harrington only in the House magazine, here: http://bit.ly/2DFV9xT
And don't forget to sign up for our free, 7-day-a-week Breakfast Briefing email at http://politicshome/register
Westminster was this week left wondering who might be in line for the best spot in hell, while a few unicorns wandered about and Chris Grayling was banned from entering France.
Meanwhile, Brexit is so far from being in the bag that Theresa May made a desperate dash to Northern Ireland and Brussels, and Jeremy Corbyn felt so sorry for her that he offered a helping hand.
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or wherever else you get your podcasts - and please leave us a review because it helps other people find out about us.
Theresa May could have been forgiven for feeling a bit smug this week as MPs failed in their bid to seize control of the Brexit process. But she's still got plenty on her plate, not least of all convincing her restless Eurosceptic backbenchers that she really did mean it when she promised to push Brussels into tearing up the hated Northern Ireland backstop.
Jeremy Corbyn meanwhile swallowed his pride and sat down for talks with the PM - but it wasn't exactly peace in our time as his own MPs went to war with each other over an audacious Number 10 bid to buy their favour.
PoliticsHome editor Kevin Schofield and Sienna Rodgers, editor of the LabourList website, sit down with PolHome news editor Matt Foster to discuss all this and more.
PLUS: Hear exclusive snippets of the House magazine's big interview with leading Conservative Brexiteer Dominic Raab - and find out why Transport Secretary Chris Grayling reckons he gets such a kicking.
Read the full Raab interview here: https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/foreign-affairs/brexit/house/house-magazine/101536/dominic-raab-%E2%80%9Cwe-have-been-too-grey-and
Politics entered a holding pattern this week as MPs mulled how they could get their favourite Brexit or stop it completely.
Theresa May pretended to listen to them, Jeremy Corbyn tried his best to be present but not involved and Jacob Rees Mogg got his white flag at the ready.
We discuss all this and more, and we ask co-editor of Civil Service World magazine Jess Bowie: Is Whitehall really trying to thwart Brexit? She spoke to new Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill to find out.
It's been another mad one in Westminster as hacks and politicos digested a whopping great defeat for Theresa May's Brexit deal, a Labour push for a general election - and the start of a bold new era of cross-party harmony on Brexit(just kidding).
Join PoliticsHome editor Kevin Schofield, news editor Matt Foster and the New Statesman's Anoosh Chakelian as they mull over all things Brexit and cast their verdict on whether Britain is really ready for the outcome everyone fears: a paintball war with Spain.
It might be a new year but Theresa May is facing the same old problems, as she kicked off 2019 still fighting to save her battered Brexit deal. Her Commons minority was exposed as MPs' attempts to block a no deal scenario won support from colleagues, inflicting two embarrassing defeats on the government in as many days. But just when it seemed like parliamentarians were getting serious about shaping Brexit, the House got into an undignified scrap about process prompted by some freelancing by the Speaker, John Bercow. We discuss all this and more and we reveal our weirdest stories of the week.
This week Westminster was filled with Christmas fear as the government ramped up its terrifying no deal Brexit preparations ahead of the holidays. And Jeremy Corbyn joined in the festive fun with a bonus end of year gaffe that sparked chaos in the House of Commons. We discuss all this and round up the tumultuous year of news that was 2018 with a nail-biting quiz.
This week Westminster descended into fresh chaos as Theresa May fought and won a challenge against her leadership. And Brexit stalled once again as the government cancelled its meaningful vote in the face of almost certain defeat. We talk through all the twists and turns and hear what went down inside Committee Room 14 room when it was revealed that the PM had clung onto her job. And finally we ask which veteran Labour MP has been name-calling in the chamber, why would anyone grab the parliamentary mace and who will be in Number Ten this time next year?
Every story in Westminster was weird this week, with the Government found in contempt by MPs and hoping to spin a 40-strong defeat on Brexit into some kind of deranged victory.
Meanwhile, the chief whip went out on a limb and allowed TV cameras into his office to capture him failing to talk hostile pro-Brexit MPs round to Theresa May's EU deal. Oh, and Ukip continued to disintegrate.
PLUS: In an audio exclusive for the PolHome podcast, we hear ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis tell the House Magazine about that photo with Michel Barnier. We also hear an amusing after-dinner anecdote from former PM Tony Blair.
This week it’s all about Brexit (again!) as we dissect the latest developments around Britain’s biggest political issue. UK in a Changing Europe director, Anand Menon, joins us to explain the economic implications of it all. And we hear from Justice Minister Rory Stewart on why he would be uncomfortable serving under Prime Minister Boris.
Theresa May finally found that last piece of her Brexit jigsaw puzzle - the future trade road-map between Britain and the EU. But the so-called political declaration does not appear to have made anyone in her party any happier.
Can the Prime Minister survive the Commons vote on her deal? Will the DUP bring the Government down beforehand? Where was Jeremy Corbyn when his child poverty amendment was voted on?
All this and more for PoliticsHome editor Kevin Schofield, chief reporter Emilio Casalicchio and the House Magazine political editor Seb Whale to chew over.
PLUS exclusive interviews from the House Magazine with Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer.
Two Cabinet resignations, calls for a vote of no confidence in Theresa May and a 585-page draft Brexit deal that's left Westminster in tailspin. Just another totally normal week in politics for PoliticsHome editor Kevin Schofield, chief reporter Emilio Casalicchio and news editor Matt Foster to chew over. Why exactly did the PM'ss top ministers storm out? Will she be ousted? What now for hopes of leaving the European Union? All this and more PLUS your burning questions and shocking revelations about cheese.
While Parliament was suspended for a brief recess this week, Brexit bargaining continued with time running out for Theresa May to get her deal finalised. Meanwhile, a fresh Brexit scandal was brewing as Leave.EU chief Arron Banks faced allegations of misconduct over his role in the referendum. And across the pond another political storm threatened the horizon as Donald Trump reacted to the US midterm results. We discuss all this and more, as well as revealing our weirdest stories of the week. And we hear from former chief secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne about the time he spent with ex-head of the civil service Sir Jeremy Heywood, who sadly passed away over the weekend.
This week was all about the Budget as Philip Hammond turned on the spending taps, pouring fresh cash into drought-hit departments.
But he couldn’t avoid a bit of splashback, as teachers took umbrage at getting money for “little extras” and Labour accused him of breaking his end-of-austerity pledge.
We unpick the implications of the biggest fiscal event of the year with Helen Thomas, a former adviser to Hammond's predecessor George Osborne.
We also reveal our weirdest stories of the week and, as the nights draw in, offer our recommendations on top political telly.
Theresa May managed to buy herself a bit more time this week as she faced down her critics at the 1922 committee meeting of Conservative MPs. Attendees pouring into the corridor afterwards declared that “unity had broken out” – if only it was that easy to win over EU negotiators. We discuss all that and more with the House Magazine’s Political Editor Seb Whale and the Yorkshire Post’s Westminster Correspondent Arj Singh. We also hear from Tory MPs Amber Rudd and Michael Fabricant, who give their post-match analysis on the Prime Minister’s 1922 performance.
Former New Labour spin supremo turned anti-Brexit campaigner Alastair Campbell speaks to our editor Kevin Schofield ahead of the release of the seventh volume of his infamous diaries: From Crash to Defeat. He reveals why he chose to return to frontline politics to work for Gordon Brown in the run up to the 2010 election. He also makes the case for a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal. And he gives his take on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership ahead of Labour's annual conference in Liverpool.
Podcast listeners might not believe it but MPs are real people too.
In a special episode to welcome them back to parliament, PolHome talks to five about their favourite hobbies.
You will hear...
Thangam Debbonaire (Labour) talk about her love of playing the cello and give an exclusive performance of the Sarabande from Bach's 1st cello suite.
Alex Sobel (Labour) discuss his favourite video games and reveal how many hours he plays per week.
Victoria Prentis (Tory) explain what reeling is and how to do it yourself.
Jamie Stone (Lib Dem) reliving his performance as a panto dame in Jack and the Beanstalk.
And Mark Prisk (Tory) singing the praises of the parliament choir.
We hope you enjoy this special episode. Normal podcasting will resume from next week as MPs return from the summer recess.
In February this year a 35-year-old man died on the doorstep of parliament. But journalists following up on the story found that there were no official figures recording how many homeless people die on our streets. In this special episode of the PoliticsHome podcast I speak to the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Housing minister Nigel Adams about what can be done to end homelessness in Britain. And I talk to the journalists who are compiling their own estimates on the deaths of rough sleepers in Britain.