It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

10 years on from the vote to leave the European Union, Lena is joined by Stella Creasy MP to discuss the impact of that decision, and what the future holds for our relationship with Europe. Plus: the staff team react to the resignation of Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, and consider what a Burnham premiership could mean for progressives. Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live a...

It’s probably not being dramatic to suggest that the 2026 Makerfield by-election could go down as the most influential Westminster by-election of all time. As Labour’s woes in government continue, sitting 8 points behind Reform in the polls, their candidate Andy Burnham made his intentions clear in intending to run to be the next leader (and Prime Minister). With his commitment to changing the pol...

Perhaps the foremost crisis of the omnicrisis that is seeming to plague British politics these days is the cost of living. With inflation through the roof over the past decade due to a series of seismic economic shocks – some self-inflicted, most unforeseen – and wages stagnant, what do we do? At Compass, we pride ourselves on providing progressive solutions to all issues. But the economy remains...

This month, something happened in British politics that would normally sound completely impossible. A Labour mayor appointed a Green council leader as her deputy. Not after a coalition deal, or an election without a clear winner, or because somebody lost a bet, but because they decided they might be able to govern better together than apart. In this episode, Lena talks to West of England Mayor Hel...

Neal Lawson is joined by Uffe Elbæk, Danish politician, former Minister of Culture, founder of The Alternative political party, and long-time friend of Compass. They discuss Uffe's new book Doubt, Hope, Action which is out now.  Podcast listeners get 10% Off & free UK shipping using code: DHA-COMPASS10 https://5mbooks.com/product/doubt-hope-action Valid til 30 June 2026 Support the show E...

At this pivotal moment for British politics, Compass has been very proud to release ‘ What is the Soft Left? ‘. Our newest publication – which you can read here – dives into the history of the soft left within the Labour Party. It charts the grouping’s course from the 1980s divide to the present day emergence of Mainstream and showcases how the soft left is now moving from kingmaker to royalty wit...

The 2026 Local Elections have been some of the most seismic in British history. Across England the public took their chance to give Labour a kicking, with Reform  winning big and the Greens bringing about their best-ever election night. Add to this Wales, where Labour dropped to the third-largest party for the first time ever, and the SNP’s anticipated plurality in Scotland, and May 8th now look s...

The 2026 Local Elections are set to be the most seismic the country has faced in a generation. Across all of Britain the old order is being thrown out of the window and the brave new world of six-party fragmentation will be laid bare for all to witness. This will, seemingly, come at the expense of the Labour Party, whose time in government hasn’t been all too well recieved as of yet. In Wales, Pla...

On May 7th 2026, the Scottish people go to the polls to elect a new Scottish Parliament. In and amongst what look like seismic losses for the Labour Government across the English local elections and in the Welsh Senedd, Scotland stands out: it had its reckoning with the Labour Party back in 2011. If the polls are to be believed then the SNP look set to retain their place as the biggest party in Ho...

Aneurin Bevan called it “quite the most ambitious adventure in the care of national health that any country has seen”. Nigel Lawson called it “the closest thing the English have to a religion.” And it’s been called by our guest tonight “an expression of what’s best in our society”. We are, of course, talking about the NHS.  After another report about just how much the staff and the patients they t...

The world that Compass has long predicted is now becoming self-evident: Britain no longer lives in its two-party system. The Conservative-Labour duality that has dominated British politics since the 20th Century is no longer a given. Our politics has fragmented. Five parties are now regularly polling in double figures. Reform have led every poll since May 2025, Labour are sitting at half of their...

In this bonus episode, Neal and Lena are joined by the political commentators Megan Kenyan and  Peter Kellner to dissect the result of this week's by-election in Gorton & Denton. Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass communit...

One of Compass’ evergreen campaigns is that for proportional representation. Doing away with the archaic first-past-the-post voting system is something self-evident to the new politics we here at Compass are trying to build. Ensuring cross-party collaboration and the best of all progressive ideas will be key to a democratic system that works in the people’s best interest going forward. But there’s...

‘We’re living through unprecedented times’ seems to be the slogan of the past decade now, which is a grim reality. But, when facing the international space, it’s difficult to argue. The rampant chaos that has been seen through international relations since Brexit and Donald Trump’s first election as US President seems to be reaching an apex. Between the recent incursion into Venezuela, overtures t...

This EMERGENCY episode of It's Bloody Complicated was deemed necessary due to the rapidly moving events of the past weekend. Recorded on Monday 9th February 2026, the day after Morgan McSweeney resigned as the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, and the same day that Tim Allen resigned as the PM's Director of Communications - before the Cabinet gave Starmer full-throated support online...

Even for the most stalwart party member, the meteoric rise of popularity for the Green Party since the 2024 General Election would have caught them off guard. After a record-setting performance at the election – 6.8% vote share and four returned MPs – there were questions of how they could ensure they went from strength-to-strength. As it turned out, this came in the form of a new leadership team....

The elections happening for the Welsh Senedd in 2026 are held at the same time as the English local elections and the vote for the Scottish Parliament – but there’s an argument to be made that they’re by far the most important ones happening on May 7th. Since it was first elected in 1999, Labour have been the story of Wales. They have held a plurality of seats and have formed all Welsh Governments...

The New Year is, understandably, a time for both self-reflection and for figuring out the future. With January comes confronting what you might want to happen in your life. But in politics, what you want to happen and what you think is going to happen can be two very separate things. With some pivotal local elections coming in May, and both the Welsh Senedd and Scottish Parliament facing significa...

The launch of Mainstream, the election of Zack Polanski as Green Party leader, Angela Rayner’s resignation and Peter Mandelson’s sacking – just some of the headline events of another chaotic year in British politics. 2025 may not have had a General Election like last year, but the first full year of a Labour government since 2009 was never going to be dull. At this time of year it’s good to take s...

Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's new political party - now officially named Your Party - had its founding conference at the end of November. In fashion that is seemingly becoming typical with the organisation, the conference wasn't without its difficulties, with arguments over access, disputes over positioning and Sultana ending up boycotting the first day. But the new leftist party are...

The 2025 Budget was set up to be the most important since at least the Truss-Kwarteng mega-failure of 2022. It’s Labour’s first attempt to set a full, multi-year spanning agenda since 2007. In the build-up to it every possible financial lever has been floated as on the table: income tax rises, changes to national insurance and VAT, windfall taxes on banks or the gambling industry, to name a few. W...

Jamie Driscoll was the Mayor of the North of Tyne between 2019-2024 and a true champion of progressive ideas throughout his political career. In 2023, he was denied the ability to run as Labour’s candidate for the North East Mayoral Election by the Labour NEC – an unprecedented decision for an incumbent Mayor and an inherently political decision. This moment has become one of the key indicators of...

In the second instalment in this miniseries, Compass Director Neal Lawson sits down to chat to long-time Compass intellectual contributors - and hosts of their own podcast Culture, Power and Politics - Professor Jeremy Gilbert and Professor Alan Finlayson.  The three discuss the history of factions within the Labour Party, from its inception through the New Labour era and now to the Starmer-McSwee...

Paul Holden's new book, 'The Fraud', has made waves since its publication last month as it lays bare the intrigues, stratagems, and deceits that made Keir Starmer Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. Paul Holden shows how Starmer has been the frontman for a ruthless, right-wing political project headed by Morgan McSweeney, now chief of staff in Number 10 and arguably the m...

Named one of The Guardian and The Telegraph’s Top 50 Comedians of the 21st Century, Nish Kumar has come to stand out from the stand-up crowd. With his politically-charged brand of funny, he has sought out and established his own space in the entertainment scene. As co-host of Pod Save the UK , Nish melds comedy with commentary to bring light and resolution to the ever-growing sense of bleakness in...