All politics is local, with Westminster council leader Adam Hug
The New Statesman | UK politics and culture
The New Statesman
4.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 31 July 2023
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Labour won Westminster Council from the Conservatives in 2022, they made history.
Now in power for the first time ever, the Labour council leadership is faced with the challenge and opportunity of running one of the UK’s richest councils – inheriting what council leader Adam Hug calls “mediocre” and “wasteful” Conservative policies.
In this revealing interview, Anoosh Chakelian and Harry Lambert go behind the scenes of local government to ask the Westminster Council leader how he hopes to address the housing crisis, what Labour nationally should be doing about planning, development and free school meals, and why Oxford Street still won't be pedestrianised.
This interview was recorded on 29th June 2023.
Submit a question:
https://www.newstatesman.com/YouAskUs
Download the app:
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressivemediagroup.newstatesman&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Subscribe to the New Statesman from £1 per week:
https://newstatesman.com/podcastoffer
Sign up to our daily politics email:
https://morningcall.substack.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is a paid advert from BetterHelp. At the New Statesman, I've been working with the data team |
| 0:04.8 | to look into mental health in the UK. We found something really shocking. The number of people |
| 0:09.4 | since before the pandemic who say they suffer from mental health issues because of work has almost |
| 0:13.6 | doubled. When work or anything else in life gets difficult, talking to our problems with the |
| 0:18.6 | licensed therapist can really help with issues such as burnout, stress, depression or anxiety. |
| 0:24.5 | If you're thinking about giving therapy a try, BetterHelp is a great option. |
| 0:28.7 | It's therapy online that has served more than 3 million people around the world, |
| 0:32.1 | and is now available in the UK to make therapy both affordable and accessible. |
| 0:36.3 | It's available via video, phone or even just message chat so you don't need to see someone |
| 0:40.4 | on camera if you don't want to. No waiting rooms, no commutes. BetterHelp is not an emergency |
| 0:45.8 | service, but can help with the day-to-day issues we're talking to a trained person can make a big |
| 0:49.9 | difference. With over a thousand therapists in the UK already, BetterHelp can provide access |
| 0:55.4 | to mental health professionals with a wide variety of expertise. The New Statesman podcast is |
| 1:00.1 | sponsored by BetterHelp. And listeners can get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com-newstatesman. |
| 1:06.8 | That's better-h-e-l-p.com-newstatesman. |
| 1:18.4 | Hi, I'm Anouche. I'm Harry. And this is the New Statesman's politics podcast. In this episode, |
| 1:23.8 | we'll be talking to the leader of Westminster Council to look into all things local government. |
| 1:41.3 | I'm Anouche Shekelyan, Britain Editor of the New Statesman and host of this podcast. |
| 1:45.1 | And joining me in the studio, I have our staff writer and editor, Harry Lambert, |
| 1:48.8 | and leader of Westminster Council, Adam Hugg. Thanks so much for joining us, Adam. |
| 1:52.9 | Lovely to be here. I think you are actually our first council leader to come into the studio and |
| 1:56.9 | speak to us on the podcast, which is great and very exciting, but it also speaks to something, Harry, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New Statesman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The New Statesman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.