The Politics Show

Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Freddie Hayward, Rachel Wearmouth and Harry Lambert, who are reporting from the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. They describe a sense of discord and dissent, with Liz Truss’s U-turn on abolishing the top rate of income tax damaging her credibility and emboldening Tory rebels. The team discuss the open speculation by Tory MPs about who might succeed the Pr...

This is a special episode recorded live at the  New Statesman’s  fringe event at this year’s Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Anoosh Chakelian sits down with Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan to discuss what levelling up should look like under Labour, where they stand on electoral reform and why they have very different political styles. Podcast listeners can subscribe to the&nb...

With the cost of debt rising and the pound still falling, just how much damage has the Conservatives’ mini-Budget done to the economy? To unpick what’s going on, Anoosh Chakelian is joined by David Gauke, who was work and pensions secretary and chief secretary to the Treasury under Theresa May, and by the economist and author Duncan Weldon, along with the New Statesman ’s business editor, Will Dun...

Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward are joined by Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change and net zero secretary and former Labour leader, to discuss Keir Starmer’s speech from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. They discuss the pledge to create a publicly owned “Great British energy” company to cut bills and the conference slogan “A fairer, greener future”; how the economic turmoil will af...

Anoosh Chakelian, Freddie Hayward and Rachel Wearmouth report from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. They discuss the remarkably upbeat mood among the party faithful, the headline policy announcements so far, and the alternative vision for the economy set out by the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, as the pound continues to plummet after Liz Truss’s tax-cutting frenzy. Then in You Ask Us,...

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, presented a mini-Budget today (23 September) whose centrepiece was the biggest tax cuts in decades in an attempt to stimulate the economy. Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth, Rachel Cunliffe and Emma Haslett take us through the announcements that shocked the House of Commons.  They discuss how these ideological policies will disproportionately benefit the rich...

The UK has a housing crisis: in the past decade, decent and stable living arrangements have become an impossible dream for many. The  New Statesman ’s senior associate editor Rachel Cunliffe speaks to Hashi Mohamed, author of  A Home of One’s Own , which draws on his own history of housing insecurity and his professional career as a planning barrister, about how we came to this point and...

The newly appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, is facing criticism after he  sacked Tom Scholar , permanent secretary at the Treasury since 2016, and following reports that he plans to scrap caps on banker bonuses.    Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Harry Lambert, Freddie Hayward and Rachel Wearmouth to discuss what’s really behind the sacking of the Treasury's most...

The ceremonies following the death of the Queen continue this week. Freddie Hayward speaks to Anoosh Chakelian about what the mood has been like at the public events, and whether some of the policing has been heavy handed. Then in You Ask Us they answer a listener’s question about whether the events have affected parliament’s ability to scrutinise the new government. If you have a question for You...

A special podcast from the New Statesman to reflect on the death of Elizabeth II and the accession of Charles III.  Andrew Marr, political editor, Megan Gibson, international editor, and Rachel Cunliffe, senior associate editor, join Anoosh Chakelian, Britain editor, to discuss the impact that the Queen had on the country, the reaction to her death from around the world and what it means for...

The Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has announced her plans to help with the energy crisis. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the  New Statesman ’s political editor, Andrew Marr, and deputy political editor, Rachel Wearmouth, to discuss Truss’s first few days in office and how her energy price cap is likely to go down with the public. Then, in You Ask Us, they answer a listener’s question on whether B...

As predicted, Liz Truss has beaten Rishi Sunak in the race to become the next prime minister of the UK. She won the Tory leadership contest by a comfortable majority, securing 81,326 votes (57 per cent) to Sunak’s 60,399 (43 per cent).   Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth, Freddie Hayward and Ben Walker discuss her promises to “deliver” in a muted victory speech, why polls predicted a landsli...

With just days until we find out who Britain’s next prime minister will be, we take a look back at the outgoing Conservative leader: what shaped Boris Johnson? How did he rise to power? What do his three years in office mean for his successor and how the media will cover them? Rachel Cunliffe speaks to Adam Fleming about his BBC podcast series Boris , which examines the life of Johnson from his bi...

As the cost-of-living crisis and rapidly rising energy prices look set to push the UK into recession, how bad is the situation and what could be done about it? The economist and journalist Duncan Weldon speaks to Will Dunn, the New Statesman’s business editor, about just how serious the crisis is, how it compares to the 1970s and why Liz Truss will find that tax cuts just won’t cut it. LISTEN AD-F...

The Conservative leadership contest limps towards its conclusion with Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak attending the final hustings this week. And as the country heads towards a difficult winter, raw sewage is being pumped into Britain’s waterways and the economy goes from bad to worse.   Anoosh Chakelian, Freddie Hayward and Rachel Cunliffe discuss the leadership hopefuls’ latest campaign pledges a...

As the US president Joe Biden starts to turn around his poor polling figures ahead of the midterm elections later this year, are there lessons that the Labour leader Keir Starmer can learn from his Democrat counterpart? The veteran campaigner Matthew McGregor, who worked for Ed Miliband and supported digital campaigns for the Democrats in the US, talks to Rachel Wearmouth about what Labour could l...

UK inflation has risen above 10 per cent for the  first time in 40 years , driving the fastest fall in real pay on record. The defining challenge for the next prime minister will be preventing millions from facing destitution this winter. Rachel Wearmouth and Freddie Hayward are joined by Emma Haslett, the  New Statesman ’s associate business editor, to discuss the  economic downtur...

The Labour leader Keir Starmer has announced that the party wants to tackle the energy bills crisis by freezing the energy price cap, to be chiefly funded by a windfall tax. Has Labour finally shown its economic competence? Rachel Wearmouth is joined by Freddie Hayward and Ben Walker to discuss the plans, whether they’ve come at the right time, and what the Conservative response will likely to be....

Against the backdrop of a predicted massive increase in energy bills and the coming recession, the Tory leadership contest grinds grimly on. There is a palpable feeling that the country is adrift, with Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss focused on personal attacks and appealing to the Tory party membership.   Rachel Cunliffe, Freddie Hayward and Ben Walker discuss the damage the campaigns are doing to...

After more factional strife within Labour, the academic and former Downing Street staffer Patrick Diamond speaks to Anoosh Chakelian about his new book:  Labour's Civil War: How infighting has kept the left from power (and what can be done about it) .   They discuss the party’s history of fighting itself, what lessons can be learned from its time in government, and what Keir Starmer need...

This podcast is sponsored by Rio AI   As the world faces a climate emergency, what power do ordinary people have to try and shape the way big companies behave. One of the biggest areas of investment is our pension funds – but do we have the information or ability to shape how companies invest our money? Philippa Nuttall discusses how to make our pension funds work for the environment with Dav...

The Bank of England has raised interest rates by 0.5 per cent to 1.75 per cent, the highest increase in 27 years, and predicts that the UK will enter a deep recession within months. As the cost-of-living crisis worsens and with strikes planned throughout the summer, Labour remains split over frontbenchers joining picketing workers.   Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth, Freddie Hayward and Rac...

With the Conservative leadership hopefuls offering competing promises of tax cuts, the New Statesman podcast looks at whether either has anything to say about Britain’s cost-of-living crisis. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Wearmouth, deputy political editor, and Emma Haslett from the New Statesman’s business desk to pick through the promises, and ask whether Rishi Sunak’s campaign is looking...

Two years after it was commissioned, the Forde report into infighting in the Labour Party during the years of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has finally been published. Such tensions have never fully gone away. Keir Starmer  sacked Sam Tarry , a shadow transport minister, on July 27 after he joined a rail picket line against the leadership’s instructions. Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth and Fr...

  After Boris Johnson talked of a "deep state" undermining his ability to govern, have we entered an era of conspiracy theories? Jonn Elledge, one of the authors of a new book,  Conspiracy: A History of Boll*cks Theories and How Not To Fall For Them , talks to Rachel Cunliffe about how conspiracy theories are nothing new.   They discuss QAnon, whether a few hundred years of European...