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Hi, I'm Anouche. And I'm Alfa. And on today's episode of the New Statement podcast,

we discuss how Christian Wakeford's defection may have actually helped Boris Johnson in the short

term. And you ask us, would Rishi Sunak be a harder opponent for Keir Starmer?

So hello again, Alfa. I mean, it's not been long since we last spoke on this podcast after

our emergency recording. Long time no speak. I mean, it feels like an age with this week,

where every single thing that happens could be a two week long new story, but they happen one

after the other in five minute intervals. So Stephen is at Stephen an honorary degree today,

so he can't actually join us. But we did hear a lot of his instant reactions yesterday.

And I am actually recording from bedroom, and there's a great deal of drilling. So I apologise to

our listeners for that. I'm having flats built on top of my flat. Not work that I've commissioned.

I'm just... So anyway, Alfa, you were sort of following the twists and turns of the fall out

of Christian Wakeford's defection yesterday evening. And you actually wrote that it may have

actually helped Boris Johnson's position in the short term. Why are people concluding that?

I mean, I suppose he's still in his job for one thing. Yeah, it was strange. I mean, I think we...

There was a sense that after PMQ's yesterday a little bit, you could feel it in the chamber

that something slightly shifted, that certainly MPs were a bit more vocal in their support of

Boris Johnson, just because I think they hated the spectacle of Keir Starmer getting an easy win.

...