Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Another by-election, another win for Andy Burnham - with the Greens defeated in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Delatpoll's Joe Twyman joins the pod team to explore what the PM’s by-election double really tells us about his electoral prospects. It was another bad day for Green leader Zack Polanski, who was already under pressure after a difficult conference in Brighton.    Kemi B...

No lectern. No tie. And quite a few tears. Andy Burnham promised a different kind of speech. But did the prime minister deliver? After watching Burnham's first Labour conference speech as party leader and prime minister, Hannah White is joined in the IfG's pop-up studio in Liverpool by the IfG's Alex Thomas, IfG senior fellow (and former executive director of policy to Keir Starmer) Claire Ainsley...

From meeting Donald Trump in New York to heading to his first Labour conference as prime minister, it's quite some week for Andy Burnham - so what does he need to do to make a success of Labour's Liverpool gathering? LabourList editor Emma Burnell joins the podcast team to review Burnham's Trump test and preview his conference challenge.  Plus: We take a closer look at an issue that saw Keir...

With Westminster been rocked by the news of a record-breaking – and maybe game-changing – £72 million donation to Reform UK, new Lib Dem peer Tim Leunig joins the podcast team to assess how the government might respond, and what comes next for party political donations. Next up on the conference circuit are the Liberal Democrats. So how much pressure is leader Sir Ed Davey under as his party gathe...

Foreign secretary Ed Miliband has announced UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. So what does this change of position say about UK foreign policy under Andy Burnham - and what are the possible consequences for UK domestic policy? The i's Kitty Donaldson joins the podcast team to assess the PM's big move. On the domestic front it was chancellor John Healey’s turn to make h...

The summer recess is over. Parliament is up and running. And the new prime minister gave a mammoth statement in the Commons. There were no new policy announcements, but there was a promise to do things differently. Henry Hill joins the podcast team to make sense of Andy Burnham's first day back in Parliament. Kemi Badenoch has been busy too, with the Conservative leader reshuffling her top team an...

Andy Burnham has clocked up a month mark in Number 10. As the long recess draws to a close and Parliament prepares to return, the Guardian's Kiran Stacey joining the podcast to look back on a summer of speeches, policy announcements, guitar-playing and a lot of social media game.  How has Burnham handled the familiar problem of prison capacity and the headache of early release schemes? Do his...

Every new prime minister arrives in No.10 with a view about what brought down their predecessor as well as a ringside seat to the downfall. So after convincing their colleagues why a change of PM is necessary, what happens when the new PM's belief in his or her skills and talents meet the reality of the biggest job in British politics? How easy it is to learn on the job? What is the right balance...

Becoming prime minister is a job like no other. The arrival of Andy Burnham is the latest in the UK’s recent history of prime ministers coming to the job mid-way through a parliament. Mid-term prime ministers often take over after crisis, political upheaval or the sheer weight of the job have put paid to their predecessor. And mid-term prime ministers come to the job through very different means –...

Our first episode explores the recent history of mid-term changes of prime minister from John Major to Rishi Sunak. Speaking to senior officials and advisers involved, we go behind the scenes of the preparation and leadership contests, the context in which they took over, and find out what kind of experience makes a difference when inheriting the top job in UK politics. Featuring Gus O’Donnell, Ma...

One week on from becoming prime minister, Andy Burnham has now appointed his cabinet, reshuffled ministers, launched a series of machinery of government changes, and set out a range of immediate policy decisions. So what have these early choices revealed about the way Burnham wants to govern? How will his restructured No10 make a difference to the way Burnham leads? What does his reshuffled cabine...

Andy Burnham finally takes over No.10 with promises to focus on the cost of living and to make politics better. Can he succeed? Is he the ruthless leader portended by his clearout of Starmerites, or someone more conciliatory? And how will unexpected new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and surprise Chancellor John Healey work out alongside Shabana Mahmood, who’s staying at the Hom...

Keir Starmer has bowed out of his final PMQs. Andy Burnham is about to become Britain's next prime minister. But after two turbulent years in Downing Street, what went wrong for Starmer? Can Burnham avoid the same mistakes? And will a change of leader be enough to turn Labour's fortunes around? Keir Starmer's former director of communications, Steph Driver, joins the podcast to reflect on the outg...

Reform UK may have dominated the headlines this week, but Westminster's attention is already turning to a far bigger political moment: the arrival of Britain's next prime minister. Mirror political editor Lizzy Buchan joins the podcast team to explore who Andy Burnham might appoint to his cabinet, the priorities that will define his first weeks in office, and whether he can succeed where Keir Star...

The King of the North says he will remain - for some of the time - in his kingdom, but how will Andy Burnham's vision for a devolution circuit breaker - powered by a new Number 10 in Manchester - really work? Former de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington joins the podcast to discuss the would-be PM's big speech. How would No.10 North work alongside the original? Who calls the shots? Who is...

A decade after the UK voted to leave the EU, the IfG's Jill Rutter and UKICE's Anand Menon are joined by the BBC's Adam Fleming - the former Brussels correspondent and Brexitcast presenter who followed every twist and turn of the UK's EU drama - to share their front row experiences of some of the most significant events in recent British and European political history.  From the night of the refer...

Keir Starmer has resigned. Andy Burnham is preparing for power. But what will a mid-parliament change of prime minister mean for the government? How should an incoming prime minister prepare for the biggest job in government? What can an outgoing leader do to ensure a smooth transition? And after seven prime ministers in a decade, could another change at the top finally bring greater stability to...

As Andy Burnham returns to Parliament after winning the Makerfield by election, the Guardian's Rafael Behr joins the podcast team to discuss a huge week for British politics. How should the prime minister - who insists he would compete in any leadership contest - respond? What does this period of volatility mean for how government works? And what would a prime minister Andy Burnham mean for the wa...

There is just a week to go until the people of Makerfield vote in what could turn out to be the most important by election in decades. More in Common's Luke Tryl joins the podcast from Makerfield to discuss the mood on the ground – and how this peculiar by-election, with both local and national consequences, is shaping how voters are thinking. Burnham is, presumably, both campaigning to win the se...

With the murder of 18 year old Henry Nowak sending shockwaves through Westminster and beyond, IfG senior fellow - and former BBC home affairs correspondent - Danny Shaw joins the podcast team to discuss a fraught week for the police and for politics. What questions do the police need to answer? What could an inquiry explore - and what might need to change? And how could the events of this week sha...

With a promise to abolish the position of Cabinet Secretary and scrap the Cabinet Office, Reform UK’s Danny Kruger has launched his party’s plans for reforming the civil service.  IfG senior fellow Henry Hill joins the podcast team to explore the Kruger blueprint for government.  Tony Blair has entered the Labour leadership race! Well, sort of. The former PM's 5000 word essay sets out his vision f...

How has England’s political landscape changed after the May 2026 elections? How will new local leaders go about their new roles? And what does this mean for the delivery of the government’s local government reorganisation (LGR) agenda?   In this special episode of Inside Briefing, Matthew Fright, the Institute for Government’s LGR anorak, has been gathering views across three areas - Surrey, Essex...

With Andy Burnham inching closer to a return to Westminster, Sam White, Keir Starmer's former chief-of-staff, joins the podcast team to explore what happens next - and what the prime minister can do while this drama plays out around him. If Burnham makes it to Number 10, then he will follow a path once trodden by Boris Johnson  in being a mayor turned prime minister. So what skills does the mayora...

With Keir Starmer's premiership on the rocks, Claire Ainsley - a former adviser to Starmer in opposition - joins the podcast team to make sense of an explosive week in Westminster.  Can the PM reassert his authority? How could a leadership contest play out? And what have the bust-ups of the last few days revealed about the failings of Starmer’s premiership - and what can he, or someone else, learn...

Keir Starmer and Labour government have just faced their biggest electoral test since the 2024 general election. Reform are on the rise. The SNP have made big gains. And Plaid Cymru are making history in Wales. The consequences for British politics could be huge. So what happens next? What will results mean for who governs in Holyrood? Is Wales ready for a whole new governing party? What will the...