Never Mind The Bar Charts

After the special joint edition with the Lib Dem Pod looking at cross-party cooperation , it’s back to the normal format this time – and welcome back to Duncan Brack for one of our historical dives into a former party leader. After having discussed Jo Grimond and David Steel , this time we’re headed into the 19th century with Lord John Russell. He served in government for at least part of every de...

Never Mind The Bar Charts and the most excellent Lib Dem Pod teamed up for another joint show, taking a look this time at lessons in coalitions and cross-party cooperation. We have an excellent panel to discuss it all: Kirsty Williams the brilliant Liberal Democrat Minister of Education in the Welsh Government and member of the Senedd since 1999 Duncan Brack from the Liberal Democrat History Group...

One of the most popular episodes last year was with Rob Ford, discussing Brexitland, the book he’s co-written that takes a look and the long-term social and demographic changes driving British politics. So I’m delighted this time to welcome to the show his co-author, Professor Maria Sobolewska, to discuss further their book and its implications for British politics. Feedback very welcome, and do s...

In this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk with the Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Munira Wilson , about what it's like being an MP, how over-centralisation may be hindering the struggle against coronavirus and how best to communicate with the public. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Interview with...

Welcome to the first episode in 2021 of Never Mind The Bar Charts. As regular listeners may have guessed given the timing, for this year I’m going to revert to monthly shows after last year’s near-weekly shows. Let’s call this then season three, and for the season opener I’m so pleased to have an absolute A-lister when it comes to how politics works in the UK, Professor Meg Russell of the Constitu...

I was joined again by Professor Tim Bale for the last episode in 2020 of Never Mind The Bar Charts. We took a look back at Tim's five lessons for opposition parties and discussed how both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are doing on each of them. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Tim Bale's five lessons for opposition parties . The...

With the very welcome recent progress on electoral reform in Wales , I invited Jess Blair from the Electoral Reform Society Cymru to join me on Never Mind The Bar Charts. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes How electoral reform makes government better . The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill . STV explained (words). STV expla...

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat member of the London Assembly and someone who saw Boris Johnson up close during his eight years as Mayor, joined me for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. We discussed how Boris Johnson behaves as a politician, his strong desire to be liked, his long track record of wasting public money and more. I hope you enjoy the show. Feedback very welcome, and...

I was joined again on Never Mind The Bar Charts by Rob Blackie to talk about the early lessons from the 2020 US Presidential elections for the Liberal Democrats. With Rob as a guest, no surprise that we talked a lot about messaging and political positioning. In particular, how do you win over people who have a different world view? Listen to find out... Feedback very welcome, and do share this pod...

Tom King, author of excellent pamphlet The Generous Society, was my guest for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. We talked about his new pamphlet, the importance of generosity to liberals and what Liberal Democrats can pick up from Joe Biden's electoral victory .  Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Read The Generous Soc...

I recently guested on Michael Bossetta's Social Media and Politics show, talking about... social media and politics. In particular, how the media coverage of election campaigns and their use of technology so often gets it wrong. Hope you enjoy the chat, and if you do, by all means grab the relevant chapter of my book, Bad News: what the headlines don't tell us, which is available for free here . F...

Why did the Liberal Party become so pro-European and how did that carry over into the Liberal Democrats? That was the topic when I welcomed back Duncan Brack to Never Mind The Bar Charts. We roamed over everything from the creation of the Anti-Corn Law League through to the future for pro-Europeanism in the Lib Dems. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may en...

What caused Brexit? Was it inevitable? Why do the right love fighting culture wars even though each culture war gets fought on more liberal territory? Those were just some of the questions covered in a wonderfully wide-ranging discussion with Rob Ford.  Not Rob Ford, the scandal-prone Mayor of Toronto, or Rob Ford, the man who killed Jesse James, or even Rob Ford, the Dundee FC footballer. But Rob...

I headed across the Atlantic in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts to talk about the US elections. For that I was joined by US politics podcaster Karin Robinson of the Democratically: 2020 show. We talked about Biden's chances, nerded out over the US postal service, discussed how the TV debates may go and more. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think...

The Lib Dem Podcast joined up again with Never Mind The Bar Charts for a special show looking at the latest issues facing the Liberal Democrats. John Potter and Tom Morrison joined me to review the leadership contest as well as to discuss the debate about when the Lib Dems should be campaigning to rejoin the EU. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy i...

China's changing foreign policy, tackling populism, the role for the Liberal Democrats: my guest David Howarth and I ranged widely over the political landscape in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The core vote strategy pamphlet David Howarth and I wrote in 2015. My take on the role f...

There was a weird role reversal at the heart of the Liberal Democrat decisions over tuition fees in 2010, as Chris Butler's academic research reveals. So I invited him on Never Mind The Bar Charts to discuss what he has found, the lessons for the Liberal Democrats and the implications more generally about what makes for successful political parties. Show notes Chris Butler's research: When are gov...

After the popularity of the previous discussion with Duncan Brack about lessons for the Liberal Democrats from Jo Grimond’s time as party leader, Duncan returns to discuss another former leader. This time, it’s David Steel. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes British Liberal Leaders edited by Duncan Brack, Robert Ingham and Tony Littl...

Time for an international turn on Never Mind The Bar Charts, with Professor Judith Brett, author of From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia got compulsory voting. It's a great book about how democracy developed in Australia. Not only how voting ended up mandatory but also why so many people eat sausages when voting , the flirtation with round ballot papers and the way British politi...

Following the publication of the research report Where next for the Liberal Democrats? , I invited one of its co-authors, Professor Tim Bale, back on the show to talk about what the report found and the lessons for future Lib Dem strategy. Show notes Where next for the Liberal Democrats? - the report we discuss on the show. Creating a core vote for the Liberal Democrats: my original pamphlet with...

I was delighted to be joined for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts by one of the most important political scientists in Britain, Professor Jane Green. Amongst her many achievements, she’s co-director of the British Election Study, which is to British elections what Wisden is to cricket or Oxford is to dictionaries: that is, an absolutely essential source for anyone wanting to underst...

What makes someone a Liberal Democrat? What should the party's anthem be? Can you order cheese toasties via the internet? And can I avoid embarrassing myself in a quiz about chocolate? Find out the answers to all these and more in my recent appearance on the excellent Politics of Sound podcast with Iain Carnegie. Show notes The Beautiful South music video with the elephant . Subscribe to the Polit...

What impact is digital campaigning having on politics, and is it for the better or the worse? That's what I discuss in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts with Kate Dommett, Senior Lecturer in the Public Understanding of Politics at the University of Sheffield. We started off with her research into how new ways of digital campaigning do - or don't - take root at the political grassroot...

I've tried something a little different for this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts: taking a look at the career of a previous party leader to see the lessons for the current Liberal Democrats. I picked Jo Grimond , who saved the Liberal Party from disastrous election results and had a plan for a realignment on the left of British politics. You might be able to spot some parallels there... No su...

Laura Shields and Dirk Singer, communications consultants, members of Democrats Abroad and authors of an excellent piece “Swimming with the sharks: What progressives can learn from Republicans Against Trump” join me for the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. You may recall an earlier show had Rob Blackie on talking about what the party can learn from how Trump himself communicates. This...