Electoral Dysfunction

Andrew – formerly known as Prince – was arrested whilst Harriet and Ruth were in the middle of answering your questions from the Burner Phone for a half term special whilst Beth is away during political recess on her holidays. So in this episode, they react to the extraordinary news that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested (and later released under investigation) on suspicion of misconduc...

The Prime Minister has just about made it to Friday... but the crises keep coming. So is Downing Street a “boys’ club”? And how did two senior Labour figures with links to convicted paedophiles pass vetting? Beth, Ruth and Harriet lift the lid on the weekend that led to Morgan McSweeney’s sudden resignation, revealing the three options that were on the table. So now he has two women interim chiefs...

Health Secretary Wes Streeting speaks exclusively to Beth as pressure on the Prime Minister to resign continues to rise. Streeting tells Beth that people should “give Keir a chance” after he claimed it “has not been the best week for the government”, and recognises there is a “febrile” atmosphere. It comes after a weekend of briefing around how Wes Streeting is connected to Peter Mandelson over th...

Keir Starmer is fighting for his career amid one of the biggest political scandals of the century. Harriet thinks the prime minister could be brought down after he appointed Peter Mandelson as the US ambassador, despite knowing about his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. So can Starmer find the strength to turn a corner, reset his whole team and admit he was wrong? Or is it too...

Beth joins the Prime Minister on his historic trip to China, where he has met the country's president Xi Jinping. It’s a trip that has sparked debate back in the UK, amid worries over espionage and security. But has it helped reset relations? And what does Starmer really hope to achieve from his visit? Beth, Harriet and Ruth discuss. Plus, Beth brings us all the behind-the-scenes gossip from the t...

Andy Burnham came across as "entitled", according to Harriet Harman, when he went on social media after Keir Starmer blocked him from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election. So what actually happened behind the scenes? This mini episode is your quick guide to the political chaos of the past 48 hours. Why did Mr Burnham try to get back into parliament and why did Labour’s leadership move to...

Should social media be banned for under 16s? After a dramatic vote in the House of Lords, Beth, Harriet and Ruth dig into what a ban would really mean and what impact it will have on young people, and they hear from some of them. And on the world stage, Donald Trump’s threats over Greenland and tariffs have rattled allies and forced an uncomfortable reckoning about the strength of the transatlanti...

Robert Jenrick joins Reform and becomes the party’s second big name defection from the Tories in days – after former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi jumped ship earlier in the week. So is this a big blow to Kemi Badenoch? Beth, Ruth and Harriet think she’s come out of it all pretty well after dramatically sacking her former leadership rival before he could jump ship. How much will the Tories miss Jenrick...

“We feel bullied” - former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt joins Beth, Harriet, and Ruth on this week’s Electoral Dysfunction, as Denmark finds itself at the centre of a growing international crisis over Greenland. Thorning-Schmidt describes how it feels for a small nation to be pressured by a far more powerful ally. As Donald Trump revives his threats over Greenland, the trio examine...

This is the second episode of our two-part New Year special. As Britain approaches 10 years since the Brexit referendum, Beth Rigby sits down with former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to ask what really went wrong, and why the consequences have been far worse than predicted. From the failures of the Remain campaign to the rise of grievance politics, Clegg argues Brexit was an elite-driven proje...

This is the first episode of our two-part New Year special. Ten years on from the referendum that rewired British politics, Beth, Ruth and Harriet are joined by one of the architects of Brexit, Michael Gove, to rewind through some of the biggest moments. From David Cameron's surprise 2015 decision to take a gamble and call the referendum, to the brutal tribalism of a campaign that forced the count...

Put down the eggnog and stop the washing up because it’s a Merry Christmas from Electoral Dysfunction as Beth, Harriet and Ruth answer your questions. They’re joined by special guests including the Dish podcast’s Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, as well as History Hit’s Dan Snow. From how to make the perfect Christmas sprouts, to which Prime Minister has had the worst Christmas - and a question...

Do we have a cultural problem when it comes to teaching boys about sexual violence? The Labour government certainly thinks so with its new strategy. Home Office minister and former podcaster Jess Phillips tells Beth in this episode why the strategy has taken so long and how she's changing the focus towards prevention. But will their new approach work? Can we just rely on teachers to step in and ke...

Westminster is restless, and the team are digging into why. Beth, Ruth and Harriet discuss the growing unease inside Labour, as somebody new joins the cabinet table.  We also go over the damning findings of Baroness Amos's interim report into maternity care in England, featuring deeply personal accounts from women affected by systemic failings, including for...

The chancellor is being accused of "lying" over what she knew and when ahead of her budget – so did Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer actually mislead the public?  Beth walks us through a detailed timeline of the OBR forecasts, the so-called "black hole", and why journalists now feel they were given only half the story. Ruth and Harriet weigh in on political honesty, the dangers of...

With all the speculation, it was always going to be a big one, but Rachel Reeves's second budget turned into a political earthquake before she even stood up at the dispatch box. In this bumper budget special, Beth, Ruth and Harriet unpick what happened on one of the most dramatic days in the fiscal calendar. With the unprecedented leak of the Office for Budget Responsibility's assessment...

The home secretary is going hard on immigration and she's taking a lot of people with her, not least Kemi Badenoch  and  the Reform party. Shabana Mahmood is using her identity – as a British Asian Muslim – to prove why she understands the migration problem in the country better than most. So how extreme are her new policies, modelled on the Danish system? Can she persuade the&...

UPDATE: We talked again on this episode about speculation that Rachel Reeves was going to raise income tax rates in the budget. Since we recorded, Beth's been told that those plans have been ditched. Read her analysis here and we'll discuss what's going on next time. ON THIS EPISODE: Wes Streeting had to say he's more Joe Marler than Jonathan Ross after Number 10 started briefing he was plotting t...

Who is to blame for two more inmates being wrongly freed from prison? The Conservatives attempted a mic drop moment with David Lammy this week by trying to get the Justice Secretary to admit to it live in the House of Commons.  So why did Lammy avoid the question five times? And when 262 prisoners were released by mistake in the year to March – how is this happening every week?  At the v...

Sophy Ridge and Wilf Frost bring you the Cheat Sheet to the day’s news in 10 minutes.  On this first episode, they look at the Huntington mass stabbing and hear from an eye witness. Sophy’s spoken to the sole survivor of the Air India crash which killed 241 people back in June. And Wilf’s heard from the US ambassador to the UK Warren Stephens, who wants the UK to keep drilling for oil and gas...

Harriet responds to your messages about the Green Party after she went viral for her take on leader Zack Polanski. How does its surge in popularity link up with the result of the Caerphilly by-election? And is the party getting more support because it's not entirely focused on climate change?   Plus, rumour has it that the Labour government is planning to raise income tax in next month's budg...

Sir Keir Starmer has backed safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, as a fifth abuse survivor calls on her to quit to restore trust in the grooming gangs inquiry.   Beth, Ruth and Harriet explain why the national inquiry into the sexual exploitation of children by grooming gangs in England and Wales has become so poisonous and why the victims are so unhappy.  Plus, as the government faces g...

Two powerhouse Labour politicians are vying to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader.  With the winner being announced on 25 October, Beth Rigby has been speaking to both candidates about party unity, leadership, leaks, and their political vision in a special Electoral Dysfunction double-header.  Lucy Powell pitches herself as the independent "shop steward" ready to speak truth to power...

There are new questions about who knew what and when about the collapse of a trial of alleged Chinese spies.  Beth, Ruth, and Harriet explain why a row involving names you might not know does have implications for the country – can Beijing be both a friend and a foe?   And while there are questions for government and civil servants – they ask if Kemi Badenoch has made a misstep with...

Fresh from the conference in Manchester, Beth gives Ruth and Harriet the inside track on her 'tetchy' interview with Badenoch - why couldn't she answer a question about Nigel Farage in the same way Keir Starmer did? And just how bad was her conference gaffe compared to ones in the past? Later, with a peace plan brokered by Donald Trump in the Middle East, what effect will it have on protests here?...