The Politics Show

The prime minister has described the opposition to Reform UK as “the fight of our times”, but a new poll has also found that Starmer has become the most unpopular PM on record. Meanwhile the spectre of Andy Burnham's leadership bid will not rest. There's a lot for Starmer to prove over the next few days in Liverpool at the Labour Party conference. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by George Eaton and Eth...

Since 2021, billionaire Larry Ellison’s personal foundation has donated or pledged at least £257m to the Tony Blair Institute.  This took the former PM’s think tank to a whole new level: it now has over 900 staff and is working across at least 45 countries. But who, exactly, does it work for? Will Lloyd is joined by Peter Geoghegan and May Bulman whose investigation into the TBI was published...

Three years ago, Liz Truss announced her “mini”-Budget. Since then, the phrase “crashed the economy” has been used 238 times in the Commons. It can be found just three times in the records before then. Will Dunn sat down with the former PM for an exclusive interview . He joins Anoosh Chakelian to discuss Truss's lasting impact on the economy. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE...

Inside his Manchester kingdom, Labour’s prince across the water outlined his radical blueprint to the New Statesman's editor, Tom McTague. Tom McTague joins Will Lloyd to discuss the mayor's vision. 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 ou...

Ed Davey came out swinging at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth this week, saying "Reform wants Britain to be like Trump’s America." He said it was the Lib Dem’s moral duty to defeat Nigel Farage, and warned that over in the US, people are "really fearful for democracy." Meanwhile, at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump was firing on all cylinders: describing climate change as the "grea...

This weekend Keir Starmer announced that the UK has formally recognised Palestine as an independent state. The Prime Minister said, "In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution." Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision “absurd” and “a reward for terrorism”. This week at the UN France, Canada, Australia and others...

Nigel Farage has escalated Reform’s approach to the deportation of migrants, announcing that his party would abolish indefinite leave to remain should they take power … and Zarah Sultana drops her legal threats against fellow Your Party founder, Jeremy Corbyn. Hannah Barnes is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ethan Croft. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓...

The abolition of the slave trade and of slavery itself in the 19th Century is generally understood to have been instigated by European and American abolitionists. However, has history overlooked how the enslaved themselves resisted their oppressors?  Author and politics tutor at Oxford University, Sudhir Hazareesingh, has explored these stories of resistance in his new book Daring to be Free...

The US dollar is about to flood Britain.  American firms have pledged £150bn worth of investment in the UK, the government celebrates this as part of a wider plan to deepen economic ties with the US. But is there a bigger cost? As the pound flows back across the Atlantic, are we slowly but surely becoming American? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Andrew Marr and Will Dunn. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Do...

Donald Trump and Keir Starmer have just finished their joint press conference from Chequers, drawing a close to the US president’s state visit.  Andrew Marr and Will Dunn will be joining Anoosh tomorrow on the podcast to discuss what these deals mean for Britain as dollars and pounds wash across the Atlantic Ocean - but today we’re looking at something else frothy, the meltdown of Your Party....

Zohran Mamdani has upended New York City politics – and potentially revitalised the American left. Born in Uganda, raised in Manhattan - the socialist mayoral candidate has captivated voters with his viral social media videos and progressive policies. He became the democratic nominee this June, beating political veteran and former governor of New York - Andrew Cuomo - in a tightly fought primary.&...

Trump is arriving in the UK today for his much anticipated state visit. Rachel Cunliffe and Will Lloyd look at how it might play out in the aftermath of the emergency debate which took place in parliament this afternoon concerning the appointment of Peter Mandelson. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday ⏰ Get...

This weekend more than 110,000 people from across the country took part in a far-right protest in central London organised by the activist Tommy Robinson - in his words, to “Unite the Kingdom”. This is thought to be the largest nationalist event in decades. St George’s flags flooded the streets, speakers including Katie Hopkins and Elon Musk were projected to the crowds, and an overwhelming anti-m...

Are the Greens ‘anarchists’? Has British politics become Americanised? And why was Theresa May prime minister? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions and explain LARPing to Andrew Marr. 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...

In power for nearly a decade, Nicola Sturgeon is Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister. She reshaped Scottish politics, leading the SNP through moments of crisis and opportunity, from the 2014 independence referendum to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since stepping down in 2023, Sturgeon has remained a powerful and sometimes polarising figure in public life. She reflects on this in her new memoir, Fra...

Earlier this week the prominent right-wing activist, and close Trump-ally, Charlie Kirk was shot during a public appearance in Utah. Graphic videos of the shooting immediately circulated online and his death was soon confirmed by Donald Trump. While many politicians across the spectrum have denounced the killing of Charlie Kirk - Trump has blamed what he calls “radical left political violence” and...

Following the disarray caused by Angela Rayner’s resignation and the sacking of Peter Mandelson, Keir Starmer’s latest reset is a mess. His newly reshuffled cabinet appears to be largely a response to the very real threat of Nigel Farage. It seems, to his critics, that the Prime Minister is drawn to Reform’s magnetic force to the right. But what does this mean for the direction of our country and...

This week in part of an ongoing battle for the release of the “Epstein files”, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a trove of documents related to the pedophile financier.  This comprised his will and personal address book - but generating the most controversy is an alleged "birthday book" given to Epstein in 2003 celebrating his fiftieth birthday. The 238-page book contains m...

This week the renters’ rights bill returns to the House of Commons for its final debate.  But in a country where tenants are spending around 40% of their income on rent, amidst an increasingly inflating housing market - does the bill go far enough? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Statesman's business editor Will Dunn, and director of the Renters' Reform Coalition Tom Darling. Read: Land...

As Keir Starmer spent the weekend trying to glue his cabinet back together, another party leader was basking in the glow of the NEC spotlights and a governmental crisis. 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 Sat...

The Greens have a new leader. Listeners want to know what's in store for the left now. Tom McTague is joined by Andrew Marr, Rachel Cunliffe and Megan Kenyon to answer listener questions on: the future of the Green Party under Zack Polanski Jeremy Corbyn and Your Party's position on trans rights whether a pro-immigration left party could win working class votes if the Lib Dems have any "serious" p...

From the battlefields of Algiers to the corridors of Westminster, Britain’s uneasy relationship with Europe has been shaped by thinkers, politicians, financiers, and strategists. In his new book, Between the Waves, the New Statesman's editor Tom McTague traces a previously uncovered history spanning eight decades of how Britain came to say “no” to Europe. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New States...

Angela Rayner resigned from government, and stood down as deputy Labour leader, following her failure to pay enough tax on a property in Hove. With this Keir Starmer has reshuffled his top cabinet, where are they headed now? Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Andrew Marr, Tom McTague and Megan Kenyon. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱 Download the New Statesman app MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question – we a...

Andrew Marr joins the show to discuss Rayner, Immigration and Graham Linehan's arrest. *** Housing Secretary Angela Rayner is under fire for underpaying Stamp Duty. The right are gleeful but Keir Starmer is standing by his deputy PM. Is he making the right move ? Tom McTague is joined by Andrew Marr, Rachel Cunliffe, Megan Kenyon and George Monaghan. They also discuss how Labour must respond to th...

Who gets to belong in Britain? In the past year, the conversation around immigration in Britain - across the political spectrum - has become increasingly vicious. As Tanjil Rashid, the New Statesman’s culture editor, writes for this week’s cover story - we are no longer in “an age of migration”. We have been propelled into something altogether new, “an age of deportation". Read: The age of deporta...