Electoral Dysfunction

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?...

Beth’s at the Conservative party conference – talking to the shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins.    She says that Kemi Badenoch has shown resilience and character in her first year as party leader- but it’s taken time to find confidence and her 11 months of ‘listening’ and ‘absorbing’ has come with ‘political knocks’.    She acknowledges that she is sorry about the Tory proposal to leave...

When the Prime Minister said Reform’s migration policy was ‘racist’ - was that a mistake? It dominated the Labour Party conference in Liverpool this week, where Beth asked Keir Starmer about his comments... and pulled him up on Donald Trump’s remarks about Sadiq Khan.    So with the May elections starting to loom in the minds of politicians, how worried are Labour that they are going to lose out t...

Health Secretary Wes Streeting didn't want to get moved to the Home Office in the recent reshuffle - and he planned how to get out of it if the job was offered.  Beth asks also asks him about future strike action by doctors.  He's clear in his warning to members of the BMA: "The NHS is hanging by a thread, don’t pull it."  The interview was recorded at Labour Party conference.    Remember, you can...

Donald Trump gave his two cents on what women should be doing whilst pregnant this week... and Nigel Farage followed suit with his view back here.     So how damaging are their comments? And why do men think they know best about women’s bodies?    Later - is Andy Burnham plotting a move on Downing Street? He claims Labour MPs are asking him to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership of the p...

Starmer and Trump meet at Chequers and the world's eyes are on them. So why did Trump say he doesn't know Peter Mandelson? The UK's former ambassador to Washington who was sacked last week? And what did Trump mean when he said that Putin had "let him down"?   To match the occasion - a special episode of Electoral Dysfunction and Trump100, a Sky News podcast mashup. Beth Rigby, Harriet Harman and R...

Peter Mandelson is sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US - his former cabinet colleague, Harriet, says it's shameful that he didn't resign. It's all after new revelations over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Ruth isn't impressed either and wonders why Keir Starmer was defending him at PMQs. Donald Trump arrives in London for his state visit next week. Given questions about Epstein always ra...

A long list of women all want to be Labour’s next deputy leader - Lucy Powell, Emily Thornberry, Bridget Phillipson, Alison McGovern, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Paula Barker have all thrown their names into the mix.   Beth, Ruth and Harriet look at their prospects and reveal what sort of deputy Keir Starmer would prefer – as well as who the left of Labour would prefer is rooting for. Does the next depu...