Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

After two bruising by-election defeats and a Cabinet resignation, is Boris Johnson fighting to hold on to his job? Pollster James Johnson joins the podcast team to crunch the numbers and work out how the tectonic plates of British politics might shift in the weeks and months ahead. And should more powers be given to England’s mayors? That’s what a new IfG report argues, and its author – fresh from...

The Inside Briefing team assemble minutes after Lord Geidt’s explosive resignation letter was published. So just how careless is it of the Prime Minister to lose his second independent adviser on ministerial interests? In a week where government policy has collided with legal opinions and rulings, Jonathan Jones, the former head of the Government Legal Department, joins the podcast to discuss the...

Technically, Boris Johnson is safe for another year. But is he really? Deputy Political Editor of the Spectator Katy Balls joins the IFG to discuss the policy challenges ahead for the Prime Minister, as he attempts to unite his party following a devastating confidence vote. Plus, IFG senior researcher Jess Sargeant has the rundown on the government's proposed changes to the Northern Ireland Protoc...

With 148 votes against him, was Boris Johnson’s vote of confidence victory a Pyrrhic one? The IfG team convene to look at the unfolding civil war in the Conservative Party and Big Dog’s prospects for survival. Does Johnson’s fate really rest in the hands of just 30 waverers? Can his more controversial policies such as privatising Channel 4 survive in a new, “listening” No.10? And what can we expec...

New Zealand is often seen as a poster child for government reform. In this special edition of Inside Briefing Professor Rodney Scott, the chief policy advisor to the New Zealand Public Service Commission, joins Alex Thomas, Emma Norris and Rhys Clyne to discuss the history of government reform in New Zealand, explore similarities and differences with the UK and explain what difference reform has m...

The long wait is over, and the Sue Gray report is out. So, what does it tell us about Boris Johnson’s No10? What have we learnt about the culture in Downing Street during the pandemic? And what questions need to be asked about how the prime minister attempted to handle allegations of rule-breaking under his watch? ITN’s UK news editor Paul Brand, whose run of scoops have led the way in the reporti...

Breaking news special! The podcast team assembled in the studio as the Met confirmed it had finished its partygate inquiry - and would not issue any more Fines to Boris Johnson. So what does this mean and what happens next? Why is everyone so angry about the Northern Ireland Protocol? The UK government and the EU are arguing over its future, and Northern Ireland's political parties are unable to c...

A Queen’s Speech without a Queen, but was it a Queen’s Speech without a theme? The Guardian’s Rafael Behr joins the podcast team to dissect Prince Charles’ big day – and make sense of the whopping list of 38 bills unveiled by the government.   And just what could Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson have been talking about as they strolled awkwardly together through Parliament to hear the Speech? As the...

Election results were landing by the time the IfG podcast team - with guest Anoosh Chakelian of the New Statesman - assembled in the studio. What do the votes all mean for Boris Johnson and who emerged as the night’s big winner? The latest twist in the beergate story broke while the pod was recording - so what will Keir Starmer do next? And with Northern Ireland on the cusp of a historic election...

With less than a week to go until a series of elections across the UK, the FT's Jim Pickard joins the podcast team to discuss what's at stake - and what the results could mean.   The cost of living crisis will no doubt be featuring on the doorstep, so is there more the government could be doing to help?   And as Emmanuel Macron secures a second term as French President, the Institut Montaigne's Ge...

The prime minister avoided another explosive day in Westminster by heading to India, but is the home front becoming ever-more precarious for Boris Johnson? The i paper’s Paul Waugh joins the Inside Briefing team to make sense of the seemingly never-ending partygate row.                                                                                                                                  ...

Boris Johnson’s Fixed Penalty Notice for breaking COVID rules makes him the first sitting Prime Minister who, as far as anyone can remember, has been found to have broken the law while in office. Is this the beginning of the end of the Partygate saga? Or merely the end of the beginning? We discuss what it means for Boris Johnson, his party, the public and for the UK’s system of standards that is s...

Propaganda in warfare is an ancient concept, but has Russia’s information campaign since it invaded Ukraine taken things to a new level? Are Russia’s state-controlled media and troll factories all about domestic support or an attempt to win international support? And how does the West counter fake news and help ensure that people can trust the information they see?  In this special edition of Insi...

Boris Johnson reckons he is now more popular in parts of Kyiv than parts of Kensington, so how worried should the prime minister be as Partygate returns to the frontpages?   With the UK at the heart of the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the podcast team weigh up Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin’s comments at the IfG on UK defence priorities.   And if it wasn’t for...

After Rishi Sunak's spring statement was met with a barrage of bruising headlines, we crunch the numbers and assess what the chancellor announced - and what he didn't say - with guest John Rentoul, the Independent's chief political commentator.   Who authorised an airlift of animals in the midst of the UK's chaotic evacuation from Kabul? That was the subject of an excruciating select committee ses...

Britain’s economy survived omicron relatively unscathed, but soaring inflation and energy price rises exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mean Rishi Sunak has a tough job on his hands to ease the worst cost of living crisis in decades. Ahead of Wednesday’s spring statement, we discuss what options the chancellor has available to him to ease the squeeze. Former Treasury advisor Tim Pitt and...

Russia faces a raft of sanctions amid global disgust at the invasion of Ukraine. We discuss nations severing ties with Vladimir Putin’s regime, and what long term ramifications there might be. Plus, as oligarchs hit the headlines, we discuss Russian money in Britain. Financial Times correspondent Polina Ivanova, King’s Russia Institute director Samuel Greene, and Butler to the World author Oliver...

Despite peace talks taking place, Russia’s assault on Ukraine shows no sign of slowing down. With Boris Johnson jetting to the Gulf in an effort to ease the energy crisis, we discuss the latest from the conflict. Also, in light of Partygate plans to streamline the prime minister’s team have emerged. Will they work? And we take a look at a new IFG report on how Brexit is affecting agricultural supp...

The war in Ukraine shows no sign of easing, and its impact is being felt across UK government. What will it mean for bills if Russian energy imports are cut off? And why is the Home Office making such a mess of the Ukraine refugee crisis? Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies and Sunday Times columnist, joins the pod team to discuss.   And a new IfG report looks back at the las...

The awful scenes of war and violence in Ukraine show no sign of ending. Will an unprecedented barrage of sanctions be enough to shift Vladimir Putin’s strategy? If not, what other options are available to the West? The IfG team are joined by Georgina Wright of Institut Montaigne to discuss where the crisis might go next, assess a notably coordinated EU response, and make sense of a stunning shift...

Russia invades Ukraine and shocks the world, with casualties already reported and citizens fleeing Kyiv. What does Putin want? And can a raft of sanctions introduced by Western governments force him to change his mind? Former chair of the Intelligence and Security committee DOMINIC GRIEVE joins us to discuss the crisis and its ramifications for Europe. “Ukraine’s status as an independent state on...

The Ukraine Crisis is still unresolved. What exactly does Putin want, is he determined to use force to achieve it – and can Britain do anything about it? Plus, Boris Johnson plans to create a new ‘Office of the Prime Minister’. But what exactly is the Cabinet Office, how does this “odds and sods department” work – and is the idea of creating a whole new department wise, Prime Minister?  Ex-Cabinet...

Bronwen Maddox gives the Institute for Government’s annual Director’s Lecture, followed by a response from New Statesman political editor Stephen Bush and a discussion chaired by Sir David Lidington, the former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for the Cabinet Office, and Justice Secretary. In her speech, Bronwen reflects on the Government’s handling of the pandemic, expectations of g...

Will Boris Johnson’s panic reshuffle provide the hard reset he needs? Can reorganising the No.10 backroom dispel the shadows of the Gray Report and the Met investigation into parties at Downing Street? Plus Sir John Major launches stinging criticism of the PM at an IfG event this week. Will it tip the scales for Boris Johnson? And the big question… what’s wrong with British government? Political c...

The Institute for Government is delighted to welcome Sir John Major KG CH to give a keynote speech on the issue of trust and standards in British democracy. The event is chaired by Bronwen Maddox, Director of the Institute for Government. Watch the keynote here. Sir John Major was Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997. He served as MP for Huntingdon from 1979 to 2001. Audio production by Candice McKenz...