The Politics Show

The youngest winner of the Booker Prize fell silent. Now she's back with a new novel. -- With only her second novel The Inheritance of Loss , Kiran Desai won the 2006 Booker Prize, the leading literary prize in the global Anglosphere, becoming - at the time - the youngest person ever to do so. She was thirty-five. Then: silence. 19 years of it, before another novel emerged - this year. The Lonelin...

Is Welsh Labour dead? Plaid Cymru won a historic victory in the by-election, trouncing Labour who had been dominant for over 100 years. The "middle child" as Plaid's new MS describes them, also beat Reform, who pollsters expected to win the seat. In this episode, Harry Clarke-Ezzidio reports from Caerphilly to analyse the results of the election. He speaks to Rhun ap Iorwerth, Huw Irranca-Davies,...

After 14 attempts, Lindsay Whittle has won the Caerphilly seat in South Wales for Plaid Cymru. Reform came in second with over a third of the vote, and Labour trailed in third with 11%. A devastating loss for the party. Harry Clarke-Ezzidio is joined by Ben Walker in Caerphilly Leisure Centre. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we ans...

Andrew Marr says he thought Labour would fix everything, but: "I was wrong". -- Andrew Marr is stepping down as political editor of the New Statesman. In this, his last regular podcast appearance (he'll be back, don't worry!) he reflects on the last three years in politics - and where we're heading next. He admits committing "the journalistic sin" of optimism when Keir Starmer was elected, and add...

Donald Trump's planned summit with Vladimir Putin is cancelled. Here's why. -- Less than a week after Donald Trump offered to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the proposed summit has already fallen apart. Officially, "there's no need" for the two presidents to meet, since their respective foreign ministers are conducting conversations. But what's really behind the cancellation? And what on earth i...

James Schneider, the former director of strategic communications for Jeremy Corbyn, was involved in the founding of Your Party earlier this year. He has since stepped back from the project. In this episode he joins Anoosh Chakelian to discuss the growing gap on the left of UK politics and who could fill it. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a que...

Andrew had already stepped down as a working royal, after that disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, but he’s now gone a step further and agreed to relinquish the “title or the honours which have been conferred upon” him. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Lloyd and Rachel Cunliffe to discuss what these latest decisions, announced on the eve of the publication of Virginia Roberts Guiffre's posth...

A century on from the her birth, Tanjil Rashid sits down with the Iron Lady's official biographer, Charles Moore. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

For over 30 years, John Gray has written for the New Statesman on everything from Artificial Intelligence to Friedrich Nietzsche. He joins deputy editor Will Lloyd to discuss the state of the nation. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of o...

Andrew Marr joins Rachel Cunliffe to discuss his column in this week's magazine, Tax the old . They also discuss the latest developments in the China spy case. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Host...

"All I've done all my life is deals. The greatest deals just sort of happen…” President Trump announced at a celebratory peace-deal signing attended by dozens of nations in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week. But who were the powers behind Trump? Behind this deal? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Freddie Hayward who has written this week’s cover story The Emperor: How Trump and his British Courtiers s...

Did Keir Starmer's government quash an espionage case to curry favour with China? -- There's fury in Westminster over the case of two alleged China spies which collapsed last month. Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour government of deliberately quashing the prosecution to appease China, blaming National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell. The government denies this, and Keir Starmer has said Powell...

All 20 remaining, living hostages have returned to Israel after 2 years in captivity, following the October the 7th Hamas attacks. The remains of the 28 deceased hostages are yet to be returned. Meanwhile, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza today. To discuss this historic day in the Middle East and how it came to be, Oli Dugmore is joined by Katie...

Is Labour reading from the Reform handbook? And what is the government doing to address rising child poverty? Oli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions. Got a question? Ask us here! LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the...

Almost 10 years ago the Calais 'Jungle' was demolished by the French authorities, structures were burned to the ground and the migrants were forced to flee, once again. Small-boats crossings are on the rise, and for those waiting for their chance, a new 'Jungle' has become home. Oli Dugmore is joined by Miles Ellingham and Jack Jeffrey who reported this week's cover story The truth about the small...

Andrew Marr joins Tom McTague to discuss the ascension of Shabana Mahmood, and the Blairites haunting Keir Starmer's government. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...

You might have missed it, many people did, but this week the Conservatives met for their annual party conference in Manchester. Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Ethan Croft, who's just stepped out of the conference hall listening to Badenoch's speech, and later in the episode by Will Dunn - who's been watching the whole affair on GB News. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE...

Is the Green Party Britain’s only viable left wing party? Amid other proposals, their conference voted to abolish landlords at the weekend. Meanwhile Labour is tweaking the surveying process for house buying, and the Tories say they’ll cut benefits to subsidise first time buyers. Oli Dugmore is joined by Luke O'Reilly and Megan Kenyon. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM TH...

Two years ago, on October the 7th, 2023, Hamas militants committed a series of atrocities in southern Israel. 1,195 people were killed in the attacks. 251 people were taken hostage by Hamas, 47 remain in captivity. Some alive, some dead.  Since then, war has ravaged the Gaza Strip and, in the form of escalating settler violence, spread to the West Bank. Israel has inflicted famine o...

And what do Labour really want from digital ID cards? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

Yesterday morning, on Yom Kippur - the holiest day in the Jewish calendar - worshippers were attacked outside a synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. Two Jewish men were killed, three remain in hospital and the attacker, now known as Jihad Al-Shamie - a British citizen of Syrian descent - was shot dead at the scene by police. It was soon declared a terrorist incident.  In close proximity to the...

Keir Starmer is polling as the UK’s most unpopular Prime Minister in history. But days after his conference speech, some are asking whether a Starmer comeback is on the cards.  What would that look like? Are they delusional?  Tom McTague is joined by Andrew Marr. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every F...

Donald Trump says he has a plan to end the war in Gaza and bring eternal peace to the Middle East. Will Lloyd is joined by Katie Stallard to discuss how Trump is pursuing diplomacy in his second term. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of...

Keir Starmer is on a mission to reclaim British patriotism. The prime minister has just finished his conference speech in Liverpool, addressing a hall full of delegates waving flags from England, Scotland and Wales. In some ways this was an attempt to celebrate Britain, its values, and its triumphs. In other very clear ways it was an attempted attack on Nigel Farage. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by...

The chancellor used her speech to define the Labour party in opposition to Reform and the Conservatives, and Shabana Mahmood the home secretary aimed to redefine patriotism in her speech, in hopes of clawing back voters lost to Farage's party. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has been making headlines on the fringes. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a qu...