logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2018
36m 47s

"It's going to be a you-know-what-show"

THE TIMES
About this episode

As MPs return to Westminster, Matt Chorley assembles a crack team of former political spin doctors to diagnose the problems in their parties, and their long-term chances of survival.


Katie Perrior, who was Theresa May's No10 director of communications, insists the PM is dead set against a second Brexit referendum: "She thinks it's highly divisive, when you go back on democracy. But will she choose it over getting fired? I don't know, that's politics."


Paul Ovenden, who was a Labour press spokesman until after last year's snap election, voices his despair at the party's failure to get a grip on the antisemitism row. He explains: "The problem is it is not just any political issue for Jeremy Corbyn or the people around him. The foundation of their politics is the idea that the West is a force for bad, a force for disruption of the Middle East and Israel is a big part of that."


Vanessa Pine, a former special adviser to Sir Vince Cable in the coalition government, admits her party has not made the progress it should have done in the last year: "There have been self-inflicted wounds." 


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Labour's Wild Wes
Labour's leadership crisis has deepened, plunging the government into chaos - can Keir Starmer continue? And what kind of Prime Minister would Wes Streeting be? Hugo unpacks the politics of the day with Matthew Syed and Jenni Russell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo ... Show More
29m 21s
May 13
Gyles Brandreth: Whips, Plots & PMs
Hugo speaks to broadcaster, former MP and speechwriter to three prime ministers Gyles Brandreth.They unpack the latest twists in Westminster, life as a government whip amid a Tory civil war, and which prime minister was the funniest behind closed doors. Hosted on Acast. See acast ... Show More
18m 43s
May 12
The Psychodrama Is Back
Keir Starmer insists he's staying on in Downing Street, but an increasing number of his ministers and MPs disagree.What happened to the promise that politics would tread more lightly on our lives? Hugo Rifkind unpacks the politics of the day with Charlotte Ivers, James Marriott a ... Show More
34m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
Labour’s historic by-election wins
<p>The UK's Labour party has pulled off two stunning by-election victories. The FT’s Lucy Fisher is joined by colleagues Miranda Green, Jim Pickard and Stephen Bush to discuss whether Keir Starmer’s party is now on track for a 1997-style landslide, and what the Tories’ dismal res ... Show More
32m 12s
May 2024
‘Crushing the Left’: Why the Labour Party Suspended a Muslim Woman’s Candidacy
In this episode, Owen and Mehdi discuss the UK’s looming July 4th election, the Labour Party’s decision to suspend Faiza Shaheen’s candidacy, and Nigel Farage’s latest attempt to normalize Islamophobia. Mehdi brings up UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s not-so-hopeful start to the c ... Show More
25m 28s
Mar 2024
Theresa Rules Out a May Election
Today we look at the announcement that Theresa May will leave the commons at the next election with two former close colleagues. Ali Donnelly, her former deputy spokesperson tells Adam what it’s like to receive a death stare from her.Former political adviser Cleo Watson says Brex ... Show More
39m 7s
Jun 2024
Is Being a Politician the Worst Job in the World?
<p>On July 4th—while the U.S. celebrates its break from Britain—voters in the United Kingdom will go to the polls and, according to all predictions, oust the current government. The Conservative Party has been in power for fourteen years, presiding over serious economic decline a ... Show More
36m 24s
Jan 2019
The end of no-deal Brexit and Labour's shifting stance
MPs are likely to demand an end to a no-deal Brexit next week, what does this mean for Theresa May's deal and the Brexit debate? The consequences in Westminster will be huge. Plus is the Labour party shifting towards a second referendum? Or is a general election more likely? Pres ... Show More
35m 24s
Feb 2022
The net tightens for Boris Johnson
<p>We ask whether the prime minister can survive the latest scandal engulfing his government. Is the departure of his closest and longstanding aide Munira Mirza the beginning of the end? Or the start of a reset? Chief political correspondent Jim Pickard will discuss with chief po ... Show More
34m 17s
Apr 2024
Tory ‘red wall’ seats under threat
<p>Many ‘red wall’ constituencies across northern England, the Midlands and north Wales switched from Labour to the Conservatives in the 2019 general election partly thanks to then prime minister Boris Johnson’s energetic pledge to revitalise struggling communities outside the so ... Show More
33m 59s
Oct 2023
Rishi Sunak’s ‘questionable radicalism’
<p>Rishi Sunak is pitching himself as the change candidate at the next election with a raft of policy shake-ups - but does the substance match the rhetoric? The FT’s Whitehall editor Lucy Fisher is joined by columnist Robert Shrimsley and political editor George Parker to discuss ... Show More
31m 52s