Bridget Phillipson on the two-child cap, Reform, and the deputy leadership

Political Currency

Persephonica

Politics, News, Economy, Westminster, Business, George Osborne, Ed Balls, Money

4.1 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

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Summary

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson joins George Osborne on the podcast this week for a special conversation, giving him another sit down with a rising cabinet member after his interview with Wes Streeting in the summer.

The pair talk about the challenges of entering government and whether Labour (or any party) still prioritises education, education, education. They debate the effectiveness of scrapping the two-child benefit cap versus reviving plans like Sure Start, and what to expect from the education department in 2026.

They also talk about Phillipson’s deputy leadership campaign, how she felt about being ‘No. 10’s candidate’, and whether she would contest any future leadership bids…

Finally, they turn to the challenge on every Labour MP’s mind: Reform. Phillipson’s Sunderland constituency is at the heart of the Reform challenge to Labour, which means she is acutely aware of the looming threat. How can her party can beat Nigel Farage?

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Credits:

Production: Paige Reynolds and Caillin McDaid

Video Editor: Avi Asher

Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford

Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is political currency with Ed time. After my chat with Ed Davy last week, George has decided to have a conversation with one of the rising stars of the Labour
0:39.2	Cabinet, a rising star, but also the candidate who went up against Lucy Powell for the deputy
0:46.8	leadership of the Labour Party in the autumn, Bridget Philipson. She has a great backstory, a real
0:53.3	passion for politics, but she's also one of the
0:55.5	cabinet members who has been delivering in government in the first 18 months, but also
1:00.6	subject to some brickbats from number 10. So she's a fascinating person to be talking to. And
1:07.8	George, why Bridgett? Well, you know, earlier this year, I was at a big kind of media party in Westminster, and I was talking to some of the Labor Cabinet, who I know pretty well, like West Streeting or Shabana Mahmood. But I got into conversation with Bridget, Philipson, and although we did overlap as MPs, so it's not that we didn't know each other at all. I had never really had a proper conversation with her. This was before the deputy leadership contest came up. She came in in 2010, so just
1:32.5	when you'd become chancellor. Yeah. I mean, I do remember her, you know, as a Labour opposition
1:36.8	MP, I think she was a whip. But anyway, we had this conversation and I really enjoyed it. I
1:41.9	thought this is a really interesting person and someone
1:44.8	I'd like to have a longer conversation with. And then the deputy leadership contest came, which
1:49.9	she didn't win, but she did pretty creditably, and particularly she was the kind of number 10
1:53.8	candidate in effect. So I thought I would see if she'd be interested to come on our podcast, do this
1:59.7	interview. What I wanted to ask her
2:01.5	about was, you know, her job as Education Secretary. It's a big job, job you did, of course. But why is
2:07.6	school, school, schools a bit less prominent than they used to be as the kind of hot political
2:12.8	issue? Remember when Tony Blair and David Cameron and people were made education, you know,
2:17.4	a big, big
2:17.9	theme. It feels to me it sort of dropped off the political radar a bit for all parties.
2:22.6	I was going to ask her about that. Her deputy leadership contest, very interesting she decides to
2:27.3	run. Why does she decide to run? It kind of suddenly potentially reveals her kind of broader
2:32.4	leadership ambitions. We touch on that. And then, you know,
	...

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