Westminster Insider

More than 300,000 people in Britain — from individuals to whole families — do not have a safe and secure home. Some live on the streets. Others are sleeping in sheds or garages or spending the night in their cars. And many, including more than 145,000 children, live in temporary accommodation, which often means a family sharing a single room.  But things don’t need to be this way. Lloyds Banking G...

As the new Labour government introduces its landmark legislation to nationalize the railways, host Emilio Casalicchio asks: How do we get the trains to run on time? He travels to Japan, where privatized high speed trains whiz passengers between cities at 300 mph and delays are measured in seconds not minutes. And he examines the nationalized rail system in Switzerland, home to a joined up transpor...

As Westminster heads back to work after the summer recess, host Jack Blanchard talks to six political experts about what’s coming up in the months ahead. The FT’s Stephen Bush and the Spectator’s Katy Balls discuss the challenges facing new Prime Minister Keir Starmer this autumn, and consider the Tory leadership contest is likely to play out. Ben Zaranko of the Institute for Fiscal Studies runs t...

Host Sascha O'Sullivan meets a few of the new parliamentarians slowly figuring out their way through Westminster. New Labour MPs — and soon-to-be office buddies — Jake Richards and Chris Curtis give Sascha rundown of their whirlwind first few days in SW1 and a taste of their plans to make a difference in parliament. Lola McEvoy, newly elected Labour MP for Darlington, re-lives the nerves of giving...

Our next season of Westminster Insider is gearing up with new episodes next week. To whet your appetite, we’ve reached into our extensive back catalogue to bring you one of our fan-favorite episodes – whether you’re new to the show or been a listener from the beginning, we hope you enjoy revisiting this historical deep dive into what ex-prime ministers do once the gig is up, hosted by Aggie Chambr...

As Keir Starmer enters 10 Downing Street on the back of a landslide election victory, host Sascha O'Sullivan takes us inside the night power shifted in the U.K. In the final episode of the season, she brings us an hour by hour account of the most consequential general election for a generation, speaking to political insiders for their take on events as they unfolded. At the moment the 10 p.m. exit...

As the general election reaches its final week, host Sascha O'Sullivan takes us inside the last push of the campaign. She explores how parties use every trick of the trade, from advertising to frantic leafleting, to try to capture every possible vote and travels to the BBC debate in Nottingham where the main party leaders had one final face off. Ayesha Hazarika, broadcaster and former adviser to E...

As we approach the final lap of the 2024 general election, host Sascha O'Sullivan discovers what life is like for the photographers who trail hot on the heels of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. She speaks to PA photographer Stefan Rousseau, who talks about the blunders of this campaign, the photos we'll remember long after votes have been cast, and how special advisers try their hardest to frame the...

As Reform teeters close to overtaking the Conservative in the polls, Aggie Chambre goes inside Nigel Farage’s party and asks if he will could actually achieve his takeover of British politics. Starting in January, when Aggie first asks Farage if he’s planning to return to frontline politics, she tracks the party’s journey from small start-up to a shock poll putting it ahead of the Conservatives. I...

As Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer prepare to launch their manifestos, host Sascha O’Sullivan takes a look at what goes into the making of the crucial documents that spell out each party’s plan for government. Former Tory adviser Cleo Watson recalls how it all went wrong for Theresa May at the 2017 election when a manifesto pledge on social care blew up. Authors of the 2019 manifesto Rachel Wolf and...

Days before this general election's first television debate, host Aggie Chambre looks back at the history of debates in this country and asks how politicians go about winning them.  ITV's Julie Etchingham, who will host the first debate Tuesday, recalls being asked to take on the gig, explains what she's thinking during these set piece events and reveals what really happens before and after the de...

Will the Sun win it? After Rishi Sunak called a shock general election, host Aggie Chambre set out to discover just how much influence newspapers will have in this campaign.  Former Labour Leader Neil Kinnock tells her what it was like being attacked in the press in the run up to the 1992 election. Former Sun editor David Yelland reminisces about Rupert Murdoch and Tony Blair's relationship — and...

Just how much power do the economists of Threadneedle Street really wield? As the Bank of England grapples with whether to keep interest rates at an all time high, host Sascha O’Sullivan goes on a mission to find out. In this week’s episode, she speaks to those who have been at the very heart of Westminster's relationship with the Bank for the last three decades. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss te...

After the Tories' drubbing in the local elections and the many, many rumors about efforts to unseat Rishi Sunak, Aggie Chambre talks us through how to prepare a secret Conservative leadership campaign. Former No. 10 head of political comms Adam Jones takes us inside Liz Truss's "fizz with Liz" soirees, explains why she took *that* picture in the tank, and says his former boss got "punch drunk" on...

In the first episode of season 14, host Aggie Chambre tells the inside story of how POLITICO broke the Westminster honey trap story, and goes in search of who is really responsible. She hears from most of the key characters involved in the scandal that rocked SW1.  Two victims tell Aggie about their messages and one of them explains what happened when he organized a meeting with the catfisher.  PO...

Host Sascha O'Sullivan delves into the secrets of the polling industry and asks — if the polls were wrong before, could they be wrong again? David Cameron's former pollster Andrew Cooper tells Sascha how the Conservatives upstaged the polling industry in 2015 and pulled an unexpected election victory out of the bag. Labour polling stalwart Stan Greenberg, who has run the numbers for Tony Blair, Bi...

This week, Aggie Chambre looks at the art of the leak and asks — why do people do it, and what happens when your political secrets are exposed? Former Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green talks about helping to leak Home Office secrets when Labour was in charge. Aggie hears from journalist and author Isabel Oakeshott about her controversial decision to leak Matt Hancock’s Covid WhatsApps — and why s...

New host Sascha O'Sullivan explores Westminster's obsession with all things Australia — and considers the lessons British politics might learn from down under. From the U.K. Tory party's succession of Aussie campaign chiefs to the varying attempts to deploy Australian-style immigration policies, Westminster has held an enduring fascination with its rougher political cousins down under.  Sascha spe...

By now, surely everyone in Westminster knows how to get ready for government — but have enough considered how to prepare for opposition? In this week's episode, host Aggie Chambre tackles the conundrum of how to prepare for the one job in politics no one wants.  She speaks to former opposition leader Neil Kinnock about his time in charge, including the advice his children gave Tony Blair's kids. ...

As the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, Jack Blanchard returns home to the north of England to hear the stories of the refugees who arrived there in 2022 — and of one small town community which opened its arms to help. Jack meets those who hosted Ukrainian people in their homes, and hears from the Ukrainians themselves about what it's like to arrive so suddenly in...

As the people of Wellingborough headed to the polls for a historic vote, hosts Aggie Chambre and Sascha O'Sullivan took a train to the East Midlands to see how by-elections really play out on the ground.  Over the course of a month, they went door-knocking with the candidates, spoke to disenfranchised voters and, finally, stayed up all night to watch the count.  They watched Reform’s Ben Habib dri...

Host Jack Blanchard goes for lunch with the Sunday Times' chief political commentator, Tim Shipman, as the deadline for his new Brexit tome approaches. Over a bottle of claret and (medium) rare steak, Shipman discusses the art of long-form political writing; recalls his best and worst interview experiences, from Donald Trump to Theresa May; considers his favorite moments of the chaotic past decade...

For the first episode of the year, host Aggie Chambre goes inside right-wing TV channel GB News and investigates the role it might play in shaping the future of the U.K. Conservative Party. And she looks at the scandals, controversy and culture that has surrounded the channel so far.  With the help of the channel's chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos, and former presenters including Simon McCoy a...

For the final episode of the year, host Jack Blanchard and a series of expert guests look ahead to 2024 and what is certain to be an extraordinary year of world politics. The Spectator’s Katy Balls and the Times’ Patrick Maguire survey the election prospects of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer respectively, while More in Common’s Luke Tryl — a polling and focus group expert — assesses Britain’s curren...

Host Aggie Chambre explores the crisis in Britain's prison system and asks what can be done to fix it.  She goes inside a prison riddled with drugs and violence, and hears from the governor and from long-serving inmates about what's really going on.  Justice Secretary Alex Chalk sets out his plan to overhaul the sector, and why he believes part of the answer is to stop handing out jail terms for l...