Whitehall Sources

Kirsty and Calum discuss education week, in light of A-level results and GCSEs as well - plus Sir Keir Starmer's claim that he couldn't afford to go to university nowadays. There's reaction to the Lucy Letby conviction and sentencing and what it should mean for the NHS. And will he or won't he? Rishi Sunak's reshuffle has bitten the dust...it would seem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Rishi Sunak says we'll all feel better off next year. So we assess whether he's right or not. Plus, A-level results, First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf, and Calum's extremely large mic muff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Calum and Kirsty discuss Stop The Boats week - as outlined by the government. Will it actually work? Kirsty brings some nerdy research to the pod and is available for Ted talks... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Calum and Kirsty are joined by Adam Bell, Director of Policy at Stonehaven, who used to be head of energy strategy at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to discuss Rishi Sunak's Energy Week - what are the big announcements and what do they mean? Plus, we talk about the PM appearing on a radio station no-one has ever heard of which is called LBC and to which no-one listens...

Calum and Kirsty are back to discuss the fall out of last week's three by-elections. Plus Nigel Farage brings down the CEO of NatWest in yet another influential victory. And Sir Keir Starmer discusses what a woman is: can this ever win votes, or is it an all out vote loser? With the Conservative Party's deep electoral troubles and a shift towards the right-wing faction, we'll discuss how Rishi Sun...

Calum and Kirsty turn their attention to rumours of upcoming reshuffles for both the Labour Party and the Conservatives. While rules prevent us from discussing the specifics of the by-elections, speculation continues to circulate regarding potential changes within the main political parties. The Labour reshuffle is said to possibly occur in September, while a Tory reshuffle might be approaching so...

Calum and Kirsty discuss the NHS on its 75th anniversary. Kirsty agrees with former Health Sec Sajid Javid that a Royal Commission is required to move away from the politicisation of the National Health Service. Calum brings a list of all the reforms that have been attempted recently (h/t Politico and reporter Noah Keate). Plus Kirsty discusses her own, ongoing, experiences of the NHS. Hosted on A...

Calum and Kirsty discuss the government losing the latest legal challenge to the Rwanda asylum policy. We reflect on how long we've been talking about it, and whether lawyers are ruling the country. We also consider Rishi Sunak's pledge to "stop the boats" and whether he'll have to pivot his electoral messaging if he fails. Plus, Boris's allies are scolded by the Privileges Committee - why was the...

Calum and Kirsty are joined by former Special Adviser Peter Cardwell to discuss the Privileges Committee report into Boris Johnson which has found he mislead parliament. They discuss what it means now, how the vote will playout in Parliament on Monday, and what happens to Boris Johnson next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Calum and Kirsty are joined by Stewart Wood, a former adviser to Gordon Brown both at the Treasury and in Number 10; and one of those who helped run Ed Miliband's Labour leadership campaign. We talk about foreign trips - Stewart tells us about arranging trips to the United States including a secret one for Gordon Brown; Kirsty tells us about a trip where everything went wrong for Theresa May when...

Calum and Kirsty are back together to discuss the issues of the moment. Kirsty remembers being the SpAd on duty when the first Pestminster scandal broke. She discusses her response to it, and why Westminster hasn't solved the problem. We also talk about the war between Boris Johnson, Oliver Dowden, Rishi Sunak and the Cabinet Office around the Covid inquiry and discuss who should have access to wh...

Calum and Kirsty discuss Boris Johnson, Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak. Why doesn't Boris Johnson just go away? Suella Braverman has avoided being fired again. And Rishi Sunak is trying to deliver on his people's pledges. Is he actually make some progress? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Calum and Kirsty discuss political pledges, promises and changes-of-heart. How high is your trust in politics? Nigel Farage says Brexit has failed, despite being the main cheerleader for it; Oliver Dowden says Keir Starmer has backtracked on 30 promises; the Conservatives are failing to deliver on pledges set out by Rishi Sunak, with an indication that the next missed target will be on net migrati...

As buzz about a coalition government continues, Kirsty analyses the local election results and whether we're getting ahead of ourselves in conversations about what the next govermment may look like. Plus, as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer refuses to answer whether he'd enter a coalition agreement with the Lib Dems - while ruling out a coalition with the SNP - we're joined by Special Guest (SpGu) P...

Kirsty and Frankie are back to join Calum. Kirsty gives us an update, Frankie shares some news and Andrea Bocelli is cancelled. We also discuss the local elections - what do we know so far, and what do the results tell us? We discuss Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer - where they've won and where they've lost. Email us anytime: hello@whitehallsources.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Calum is joined by Special Guests (SpGus) - Chris White, who was a Special Adviser in opposition, then in the coalition government; and Amy Richards who was an adviser to Yvette Cooper last time she was Shadow Home Secretary. This week, we analyse the Illegal Immigration Bill which has passed the Commons. Chris tells us about his experiences of advising the Chief Whip and how the government may ha...

Calum is joined by Tom Kelly, who spent nearly a decade in government, first as director of communications at the Northern Ireland Office, and then from 2001 to 2007, as the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson. Tom was there in the build up to the Good Friday Agreement, was there when it was signed and announced, and was there for the aftermath as well. He remembers the people involved, the ded...

Calum is joined by Asa Bennett who worked with Liz Truss in various departments including at No 10 Downing Street. He reflects on the 40 or so days that they spent in office, and looks back on his time as a writer for her in other government departments. He tells us about his proudest soundbites from speeches he was involved with. Then, Tom Baldwin joins the podcast. Tom worked with Ed Miliband in...

Sarah Southern, who worked with David Cameron, and Tom Hamilton who worked for 10 years for the Labour party, with Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn, join Calum Macdonald to discuss why everything's broken and how to strategise around fixing it. Peter Murrell, the former SNP Chief Executive was arrested and released pending further investigation; Tory MP Scott Benton offered to table parliamentary...

In a bonus episode, Kirsty, Frankie and Calum have a look at the - subtle - launches of the political parties' local election campaigns. Kirsty and Frankie pick out what the elections will be decided upon, and how the messaging might work. What's going to sway your vote at the local elections? Email us: hello@whitehallsources.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...

Kirsty, Frankie and Calum discuss the concept of political momentum - how do you get it, how do you keep it, and how can the opposition try to wreck it? It's because Rishi Sunak's government is building the perception of forward movement and progress continually. Can they hold onto it? Can the Labour party burst the bubble? Kirsty and Frankie tell us they'll be away from the podcast fo...

This week, our focus is on the passing of part of Rishi Sunak's new Brexit deal. Raoul Ruparel, who worked in the Department for Exiting the EU and was a Special Adviser to Theresa May on Europe, joins us as our SpGu (Special Guest) to discuss what life was like in negotiations and how much of the new Windsor Framework has been built on work from his time in office. The government won support...

Calum and Kirsty are joined by James Chapman, who was an adviser to Chancellor George Osborne; and Karim Palant who was an adviser to Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, to take you behind the scenes of budget day. James tells us how the budget is even decided - including one measure that was kept secret from the Cabinet - they only found out about it when it was announced to the Commons. Plus, he discuss...

Calum, Kirsty and Frankie discuss the politics and policy of Rishi Sunak's plan to "stop the boats." What's behind the rhetoric, what's behind the policy? Why do the public care so much - are they right to care? Moreover, we assess how this plays into the electoral strategy of both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. Frankie guides us through some of the difficulties in the plan, based on her experience...

It's kebabs akimbo as we do a post-match analysis of The British Kebab Awards - the hottest ticket in Westminster where Frankie and Calum spent Tuesday evening seemingly avoiding people like Theresa May who was, apparently there. Then it's onto The Lockdown Files - the WhatsApps of Matt Hancock have been thrust into the public domain by the journalist Isobel Oakeshott - what have we learned, is it...