The Politics Show

Earlier this month we published a magazine with the cover ‘Being Jewish Now’. At this time of crisis in the Middle East, with divisions over the Gaza war and rising anti-Semitism, we asked a group of writers, thinkers, and activists to reflect on the question of what it means to be Jewish and on the left today.      In this episode of the podcast senior editor Alona Ferber...

A listener writes in to ask what the real threat is from the right of the Tory party, and our associate political editor, Rachel Cunliffe, breaks this down - starting with identifying who the different factions of the Tory right are, and what they want. Download the app: iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com...

Yesterday Wales’s first minister Mark Drakeford announced his resignation, after exactly five years in office. He drew tributes for his tenure at PMQs from both leaders, with Keir Starmer describing him as “a true titan of Welsh politics”. Who will be the next Welsh leader? How will this affect Labour's general election campaign in Wales? And what will Mark Drakeford's lasting legacy be? Anoosh Ch...

Thurrock is suffering major cuts to all its council services since it went effectively bankrupt last December, after hundreds of millions of pounds were put into risky investments that didn’t pay off. One of the services to be gravely affected by the cuts is a place called “Thameside”, an arts complex, described locally as a “mini Barbican”, which houses a theatre, library, archive and museum. Pla...

This discussion was recorded at the Cambridge Literary Festival in November 2023. Anoosh Chakelian was joined by Isabel Hardman, assistant editor at the Spectator and author of Fighting for Life, and Phil Whitaker, GP and medical editor at the New Statesman. They came together to ask, can we fix the NHS? Watch and listen more from the Cambridge Literary Festival: https://www.cambridgeliteraryfesti...

This week it seems that the government have been doing anything and everything to tackle the high migration numbers, that means cracking down on both illegal and legal routes to entering the UK. First new visa requirements were announced, stating that applicants would need to earn £38,700 to be eligible (higher than the average UK salary) and that this would also apply to UK citizens who intended...

Boris Johnson appeared "diminished" at the Covid inquiry - and still couldn't quite apologise properly. Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor for the New Statesman, was in the room as the former prime minister gave evidence. She joins Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward to analyse two "blockbuster" days, figure out if we've learned anything new, and look ahead to next week when Rishi Sunak...

Is democracy slipping away from us? How protected are we by our constitution? And do governments have the power to swiftly change this? In June, in front of a live audience, Armando and Anoosh were joined by Simon Woolley, founder and director of Operation Black Vote and Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, and Graham Smith, CEO of the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic.   This episod...

Housing in the UK has become increasingly unaffordable during the last two decades, buying a home is an unattainable prospect for many in the country, and the challenges facing renters are now reaching a tipping point. And the rentier economy is not only freezing out housing tenants. Small, and sometimes large, businesses are also being priced out of these spaces, which is having a significant eff...

Andrew Marr joins the team in the studio this week to answer listener questions. John writes in to ask which often used misleading expressions in political journalism might warrant the use of a 'broadcaster swear jar'. Meanwhile, Xia asks the podcast team which policies they're most optimistic about that might be put in place by a Starmer government. In this episode we also hear from Freddie Haywa...

Andrew Marr, political editor at the New Statesman, speaks to Freddie Hayward, political correspondent, about why the newly published figures on net migration for 2022 have sent shockwaves through the Conservative party. The focus, he says, has shifted from illegal migration - 'stop the boats' - to legal migration, because of these figures. Last week the Office for National Statistics revealed tha...

  Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, nearly a million people aged 50-64 have left the workforce.   Other major economies have seen their employment rates bounce back after the pandemic, and the Financial Times have reported that the UK is the only developed economy where inactivity kept rising after the initial pandemic shock.     In this episode, sponsored by Phoeni...

The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the  New Statesman Podcast  to co-host our fourth series of  Westminster Reimagined . In this episode, which was recorded in the summer of 2023, Armando and Anoosh visit a group of sixth form students who will be voting for the first time in the upcoming general election. They want to know what how politics is tau...

How did the Great Depression’s spectres of fascism, bombing and mass unemployment force politicians to think the unthinkable, and pave the way to post-war Britain? How was Thatcher’s road to victory made possible by a decade of nightmares: of hyperinflation, military coups and communist dictatorship? And why, since the Crash in 2008, have new political threats and divisions forced us to change cou...

"The economy will play a central part of next year's election. Do you know if people are better off than in 2010?" - one listener writes in to ask. The podcast team discuss how this can be measured, and how parties might frame this in the run up to the election. Another listener writes in to ask about the constant churn in the ministerial system. Anoosh Chakelian is joined in the studio by Rachel...

Jeremy Hunt would like this Autumn Statement to be seen as what the government is branding “the biggest tax cut in British history”, but what are the actual costs and implications of the yesterday's budget? Anoosh Chakelian is joined in the studio by Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor, and Freddie Hayward, political correspondent. Download the app: iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-s...

The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the  New Statesman Podcast  to co-host our fourth series of  Westminster Reimagined . Across this season he is joined by co-host Anoosh Chakelian, Britain editor at the New Statesman, to explores parts of British public life he believes to be broken, and is joined by guests from inside and outside Westminster...

Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah – all of whom operate out of Beirut’s southern suburbs – have coordinated their positions in various ways for years in pursuit of what they see as the greater good. John Jenkins, former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq, Syria and Burma, speaks to senior editor Katie Stallard about Iran's interest in the Israel-Hamas conflict and how this will play out acros...

"At the Home Office you have immigration figures, as health secretary there are NHS waiting lists. Is David Cameron likely to improve his reputation because it’s harder to fail as foreign secretary?" - one listener asks. Anoosh Chakelian is joined in the studio by associate political editor Rachel Cunliffe and political correspondent Freddie Hayward to answer listeners questions surrounding David...

The government's Rwanda plan has been put on hold, yet again, after being ruled illegal earlier this week by the Supreme Court. And someone who would have a lot to say about this is the former Home Secretary Suella Braverman who was fired on Monday. Braverman has since published a blistering letter to the Prime Minister attacking his failure to deliver on any of his key promises. Meanwhile, Labour...

Suella Braverman is out of government... and a shock appointment rocks Westminster. Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward record an emergency episode of the New Statesman podcast to discuss the breaking news of Rishi Sunak's dramatic reshuffle following a weekend of protests which the now former Home Secretary had previously branded "hate marches". This episode was recorded at 10.30am on 13 Novembe...

They no longer have a stranglehold on Oxbridge and would lose tax breaks under Labour. So what is elite education really selling? At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool in October, the Independent Schools Council hosted a forlorn drinks reception: not one of the more than 40 MPs showed up. ‘We are not the enemy,’ one private school headmaster complained to a sympathetic  Daily Mail . But...

In the week the Tory peer Michelle Mone has finally admitted involvement in a PPE firm awarded £200m in "VIP" Covid contracts, we discuss the numerous allegations against politicians and ask why Parliament is beset with bad behaviour - and how it's affecting the Tories' reputation. And then we let you in behind the scenes of the New Statesman newsroom, to talk about how journalists source, fact ch...

Amid much pomp and circumstance, this week King Charles III delivered the first King's Speech in over 70 years. In this episode of the podcast Anoosh Chakelian is joined by deputy political editor Rachel Wearmouth, and political correspondent Freddie Hayward, to discuss what Charles announced in his speech, and perhaps more notably - what went unmentioned. Subscribers get ad-free access to all our...

On 2 November 2023, Rishi Sunak closed his global AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park by interviewing the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk. The mood was deferential (the PM towards the tech billionaire). Was Sunak eyeing up a post-politics job in San Francisco,  some wondered , or calculating that Musk’s Twitter might be an effective campaigning tool come 2024? In this week’s audio long read, t...