The Rundown by PoliticsHome

As Keir Starmer prepares to step out of Number 10 for the final time, The Rundown looks at what life is like behind that famous black door after a Prime Minister announces they are stepping down, and what goes on in those few weeks before they exit Downing Street for good. Is everyone in the building demob happy, can anything still get done as the civil service waits for the next PM to arrive, how...

This week, as Andy Burnham prepares to take power, PoliticsHome has once again partnered with ThinksInsight , the global research and strategy consultancy, on their bi-annual 'mood of the nation' survey, as they take the temperature of how Brits feel about the government, the economy, and how optimistic they are about the future. They also conducted focus groups with voters in four constit...

As the country hurtles towards appointing its seventh PM in a decade, this week The Rundown asks has the UK become ungovernable? And if so, why? And what can be done, if anything can be, to stop the rot and get back to a period of relative stability in our national politics. Joining host Alain Tolhurst in looking at where Keir Starmer failed, as Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Theresa May a...

This week’s episode is a heady mix looking both backwards and forwards at the state of British politics; as The Rundown marks the tenth anniversary of the the vote to leave the EU by interviewing one of the key architects of Brexit, and by discussing what happens now following Andy Burnham’s remarkable victory in the Makerfield by-election, as he returns to Westminster to challenge Keir Starmer. S...

After the shocking scenes of disorder in Belfast this week, fuelled by the spread of inaccurate and inflammatory information online following Monday’s knife attack, the debate on what should be done to combat social media misinformation has been reignited. As well as calls for further regulation on the big tech firms, a new report from the Social Market Foundation think tank found disinformation t...

Two weeks out from potentially the most consequential by-election in modern British political history, The Rundown takes a look at one of the key issues for the people of Makerfield; that of rugby league. Looking at it’s importance to local communities across the north of England, how the sport intersects with the politics of place and local pride, but also the precarious nature of the 13-man code...

As Westminster watchers try to work out what Andy Burnham’s ‘Manchesterism’ agenda might mean for the country if he wins the Makerfield by-election and becomes Prime Minister, this week host Alain Tolhurst looks at what it might mean for our democracy, given his strongly and long-held views about electoral reform. So to discuss whether PR’s time might have finally come under a Burnham premiership,...

With the idea of rejoining the European Union suddenly back on the agenda after Andy Burnham's selection for the Makerfield by-election and the positioning ahead of potential Labour leadership contest, this week we’re looking at whether 10 years on from the referendum, could Brexit ever be reversed?  Would there ever be the political will, the public backing or the practical ability, for Brita...

NB: This episode was recorded *before* Wes Streeting resigned and Josh Simons stood aside for Andy Burnham After crushing defeats across the UK last week for Keir Starmer, dozens of Labour MPs have called for him to announce he will not lead the party into the next election, and to set out a timetable to go as Prime Minister. But despite several ministerial resignations he has remained resolute th...

As voters nationwide prepare to go to the polls for a highly anticipated set of local elections, this week we have a special episode giving you a guide to the key results, when to expect them, how to interpret them, and what might happen next. With around 5,000 council seats in England up for grabs on 7 May, along with six mayoralties, every seat at Holyrood and in the newly expanded Senedd, the L...

With Parliament prorogued Westminster is in full campaigning mode a week out from the May 7 elections, and while the conversation largely centres around potential massive Labour losses across the UK and Reform’s continued rise, there is another story going on too; which is that with predictions of another terrible set of results for the Tories, could the party once known as the most successful ele...

As the Mandelson vetting affair rumbles on, the pod takes a look at how damaging the sacking of Olly Robbins and the briefing wars that have followed it are for relations between government and Whitehall. Labour came into power saying they would repair the destruction caused by the Tories to how the civil service operates, but Keir Starmer’s comments about mandarins being too comfortable in the ‘t...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode does include a small amount of language unsuitable for children This week, as campaigning ahead of the May elections began in earnest, the rare sight of Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner all together in one room was spotted at a primary school in greater Manchester as they celebrated the launch of Labour’s new breakfast clubs. But despite the public show of...

This week's episode looks at public service reform, how important ministerial leadership is in driving Whitehall transformation, and what this government can learn from those who successfully executed their vision. Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss why driving change is often so difficult is Dr Rebecca McKee , senior researcher at the Institute for Government, and lead author of a new pap...

With Parliament now in its Easter recess, focus switches to a very large and very crucial set of elections across the UK next month, with 130 councils in England as well as the Scottish and Welsh Parliament up for grabs. May 7 will likely be the most consequential day in British politics since the last general election, with the results key in deciding not just who ends up governing us, but for th...

After the housing secretary Steve Reed announced plans for the creation of seven new towns in England, The Rundown this week looks at how the government is tackling this country’s housing crisis, and how it is getting on in meeting its supremely ambitious target of building 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament. Host Alain Tolhurst caught up with housing minister Matthew Pennycook to discuss ho...

This week The Rundown is breaking with the usual format and host Alain Tolhurst and producer Ewan head out of Westminster to meet with someone who was secretary of state in six different departments, including two of the great offices of state, during a decade-long ministerial career serving three Conservative Prime Ministers, before stepping down as an MP in 2024. Those listeners of a more anorak...

This week, with the conflict in the Middle East showing no signs of abating, host Alain Tolhurst takes a look at what impact it might have on the UK, with everything from energy bills to government debt and mortgage rates potentially affected by the spike in oil prices, stock market downturns and global uncertainty. He's joined by Labour MP Bill Esterson , chair of the Commons energy security...

This week on The Rundown host Alain Tolhurst takes a look at the state of the economy after a low-key Spring Statement from the Chancellor Rachel Reeves. She unveiled figures from the OBR which suggested there were the green shoots of a potential recovery, only for the outbreak of war in the Middle East to send shockwaves through global markets, threatening another period of stagflation which coul...

While Reform are still riding high in the polls and hoping for big successes across the UK in May’s elections, they now for the first time face a threat for the mantle of being the insurgent party on the right of British politics. The launch of former Reform MP Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain party, along with former Reform deputy leader Ben Habib’s Advance UK, both looking to be even more hardline...

This week PoliticsHome has once again teamed up with the pollsters at ThinksInsight, for a special episode looking at the Green Party, and those voters thinking of backing Zack Polanski at the next election. Like our previous episode on potential switchers to Reform , we’re going to look at the results of focus groups with former Labour voters flirting with the Greens, as well as those strongly th...

There is only really one story in town this week, and despite the relative calm that has descended over Westminster since Monday’s explosive call for Keir Starmer to resign from key ally Anas Sarwar, that is merely a facade. Like the duck swimming serenely atop the pond, underneath the surface the legs are kicking furiously, as Number 10 fights an increasingly difficult rearguard action against th...

This week we’re delving into the world of student finance, after a long-simmering row over the loan system for how graduates pay back the cost of their tuition exploded into the mainstream, with accusations successive governments had presided over a "scam" and a "mis-selling scandal". A growing cohort - including many new MPs - who went to university in the past decade are reck...

This week, deep breath, we’re delving back into the Brexit years, after a new book about the failed campaign for a second EU referendum is published this week. It tells the story of a rag-tag bunch of Remainers, Europhiles and progressives coming together out of the anti-Brexit movement following the vote to leave in 2016, hoping to drag the country back to the ballot box in the hope of a differen...

After the PM’s chief secretary Darren Jones set out plans to ‘move fast and fix things’ , we’re asking, is it too late for this government to try and rewire the state ahead of the next election?  And how does wholesale transformation of public services and the way Whitehall operate fit together with getting the so-called ‘barnacles off the boat’ in a slimmed down operation meant to be laser-focuse...