The Politics Show

The novelist Ali Smith first came across the work of Simone de Beauvoir in an Inverness bookshop, aged 18 or 19, and was instantly compelled by her “tough, troubling” prose. In this week’s long read, Smith reflects on De Beauvoir’s 1964 memoir A Very Easy Death, a slight, visceral book about her estranged mother’s death. What happens when an existentialist, bound ethically to a thinking life, conf...

Labour’s dominance in the polls draws obvious comparisons with 1997-era New Labour. But is it fair to compare Keir Starmer with Tony Blair – and what should the current Labour leader learn from his predecessor? Anoosh and Freddie tackle a listener’s question. Also – how do we incentivise voter turn out? One listener has a novel idea. Could it work? Submit a question: https://www.newstatesman.com/Y...

The first residents have boarded the Bibby Stockholm barge moored off the coast of Dorset. Anoosh Chakelian visited Portland to meet locals and asylum seekers, and joins Freddie Hayward in the studio to reveal what she discovered. They also discuss why leaving the European Court of Human Rights is no deterrent for people seeking asylum in the UK, and how Brexit may have actually made it harder for...

An internet hoax conceived on a fringe message board grew into an online conspiracy theory so far-reaching that it sparked the January 6 attack on the US capitol. Now Qanon has gone global, what are the consequences for politics and society? Rachel Cunliffe is joined by James Ball, journalist and author of The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World. They discuss the most recent indictmen...

There is one question the environmental journalist and author George Monbiot is asked more than any other: how do you cope? When your job is to report on the climate crisis, where do you find hope? Monbiot’s answer is a very personal one: he goes sea kayaking – alone, often far off the coast, with (if he’s lucky) a pod of dolphins or a flock of shearwaters for company. In this evocative essay from...

Anoosh Chakelian, Freddie Hayward and Ben Walker answer listener questions. There have been multiple attempts to launch credible new political parties in recent years, but very few have taken hold. Why? A listener, quite possibly the youngest fan of the New Statesman Podcast, asks what it would take for a new party to gain ground in Parliament. And Greater Manchester Police face allegations of sex...

Yet another by-election could provide a key opportunity for Anas Sarwar’s Scottish Labour to regain lost seats in Scotland. The former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier has been recalled by her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituents, triggering a by-election. Ben Walker and Freddie Hayward join Anoosh Chakelian on the New Statesman podcast to discuss what the latest polls reveal about voting intention in...

When Labour won Westminster Council from the Conservatives in 2022, they made history. Now in power for the first time ever, the Labour council leadership is faced with the challenge and opportunity of running one of the UK’s richest councils – inheriting what council leader Adam Hug calls “mediocre” and “wasteful” Conservative policies. In this revealing interview, Anoosh Chakelian and Harry Lamb...

The Conservative Private Members Committee, informally known as the 1922 Committee (or the ’22), is the Tory confessional, its trade union and backbenchers’ common room. If that makes it sound chaotic (and it sometimes is) it is also the assassination bureau that felled  Margaret Thatcher , and, more recently, three prime ministers in four years: Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Will...

Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward answer your questions.  After a routing in 2015, the Liberal Democrats have languished as a minor player in the Commons while the SNP have enjoyed the advantages of being the third largest party in parliament. Their positions could reverse at the next election. Our listener asks how politics would change if the Lib Dems became the third largest party.&nbsp...

Keir Starmer has faced criticism for appearing to water down some key environmental policies, particularly in light of Labour's narrow defeat in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. But is that criticism fair? Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward discuss how perceived opposition to the Net Zero agenda and schemes like London's Ulez have impacted the green policies of both Labour and the Con...

Shadowy forces, deep state actors in the pay of nefarious oligarchs... or an important part of the political ecosystem? Rachel Cunliffe meets senior figures from three think tanks from across the political spectrum to find out how think tanks work, how they are funded, and the role they play in creating public policy. Guests: Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) Carys Ro...

When Saudi cinemas reopened in 2018, for the first time in 35 years, they screened the Marvel movie Black Panther. Many saw parallels between the kingdom and the fictional world of Wakanda, as crown prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled ambitious plans for modernisation and an economy that would diversify away from oil, investing in futuristic projects such as Neom, a half-trillion-dollar city. Saud...

In a terrible night of results for Rishi Sunak in rural England, Labour faltered in outer London. Rachel Cunliffe, Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth and Ben Walker analyse the results of the by-elections in Somerton and Frome, Selby and Ainsty, and Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Submit a question: https://www.newstatesman.com/YouAskUs Download the app: iOS: https://apps.a...

Keir Starmer says he’ll keep the two-child cap on benefits. Is this a knee-jerk reaction to public opinion, or an attempt at “fiscal discipline”? The New Statesman Podcast team answer your questions.  The Labour leader has risked the anger of his own MPs by apparently reneging on a previous commitment to reverse limits on child benefit introduced by George Osborne under austerity. Angela Rayn...

Stephen Flynn, Westminster leader of the SNP, speaks to Zoë Grünewald at the New Statesman's Politics Live conference. They discuss the SNP’s ambitions for Scottish independence in the light of Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation, arrest and subsequent release, and how a Labour government under Keir Starmer might relate to the SNP over issues including Brexit in remain-voting Scotland. This episode was...

Since 2018, prime minister Pedro Sánchez has led a surprisingly durable and impactful Spanish government, implementing progressive policies such as improved rights for abortion, transgender people and migrants. His coalition government has repositioned Spain as a European “pivot” state, a bridge between north and south, east and west. Its economy is predicted to grow faster than that of Germany, F...

The Conservatives are on track to lose the next election. Who would lead them in opposition? Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth and Zoë Grünewald answer a listener question on the senior Conservatives who currently look most likely to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader. They also address whether Keir Starmer will survive as leader of the Labour party until the next election, if unhappy Labour MPs...

Keir Starmer has finished announcing Labour’s five missions. Are they enough to get Labour into government?  Vocational education, social mobility, and breaking the “class ceiling” – Labour’s final "mission" was designed to represent the party’s core values. Keir Starmer's mission-based approach is supposed to give us an insight into how a Labour government might lead the country. Anoosh Chak...

In this wide-ranging interview with Rachel Wearmouth, Keir Starmer discusses the “really damaged economy” Labour will inherit if they win the next election – and attacks Rishi Sunak for being “out of touch” with ordinary people. Speaking in front of a live audience at the New Statesman politics live conference on 27 June 2023, Starmer said a Labour government would have to “go at pace” to rebuild...

Anoosh, Freddie and Zoë answer your questions in You Ask Us. Keir Starmer has said that voter reform is not a priority for the Labour party. But in the event of a hung parliament at the next election, he may look to the Liberal Democrats – who have long campaigned for proportional representation – for support. Could this sway his hand to change the electoral system? A new survey revealed Andy Burn...

The UK is experiencing higher inflation than any other G7 country. Ed Conway, Economics editor for Sky News, joins Anoosh, Freddie and Zoë on the New Statesman podcast to explain why Britain appears caught in a "contagious" cycle of economic pain - and why Rishi Sunak and the Bank of England appear unable to break it. Read Ed Conway's cover story for this week's New Statesman magazine, "Broke Brit...

Following Yevgeny Prigozhin's short-lived mutiny in Russia, the  New Statesman 's China and Global Affairs Editor Katie Stallard speaks to the historian Vladislav Zubok about what the failed rebellion means for the future of Vladimir Putin's regime. Zubok is professor of international history at the London School of Economics and the author of multiple books including  Collapse...

In this bonus episode of the  New Statesman  Podcast, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, meets Phil Whitaker , the  New Statesman ’s medical editor and a working GP, at his surgery in Somerset, to have a conversation chaired by Anoosh Chakelian. They clash over Streeting’s plans for GPs and how best to take pressure off hospitals, and discuss what the yardsticks for success...

In this week’s You Ask Us, our polling expert Ben Walker joins the podcast to answer some of your queries. With so many senior MPs standing down at the next election, might there still be a “Portillo moment” when a high-profile Conservative loses their seat, and who will it be?   The team also answer consider which party is better placed to win over rural voters, Labour or the...