Coffee House Shots: Shabana Mahmood in conversation with Michael Gove
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.4 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 29 September 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Whilst a certain noisy northern mayor has positioned himself as the problem child of conference 2025, The Spectator finds another Labour politician far more interesting. All around Liverpool the newsstands are decorated by the image of the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, dubbed the ‘Terminator’ by Tim Shipman in the most recent issue of The Spectator. As one strategist notes: ‘Shabana is not afraid to use power. That’s what we need.’
In this special edition of Coffee House Shots we present a wide-ranging in-conversation between Shabana Mahmood and Spectator editor Michael Gove. Listen for: how to tackle the ‘Boriswave’, whether the Home Office is fit for purpose, Shabana’s compelling case for digital ID cards and her response to Keir Starmer’s claim that Reform are ‘racist’.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And what brings you to Leonardo Hotels today? |
| 0:02.9 | Our son's graduation. |
| 0:04.5 | The company team building day. |
| 0:06.0 | The central location. |
| 0:07.5 | The big match. |
| 0:08.7 | Delicious buffet breakfast. |
| 0:10.2 | The comfy room. |
| 0:11.3 | The dream bed. |
| 0:12.8 | At Leonardo Hotels, if it's important to you, it's important to us. |
| 0:17.3 | Come join us. |
| 0:18.3 | For our best rates, book direct at leonardohotels.com.uk. |
| 0:27.7 | I've given some speeches to party conferences. |
| 0:37.8 | And it's often the case that speeches tend to be lists of achievements, which it's expected |
| 0:44.3 | that the faithful will applaud. But this was a specific argument. Shabana, who were you |
| 0:52.0 | trying to convince and what were you trying to convince them of this afternoon? |
| 0:56.4 | Well, I think the message I have is a message for everyone in the hall and people across the country. |
| 1:02.3 | So what I have in my mind is ordinary British people up and down the country. |
| 1:07.7 | And the argument I'm making is that I feel that we are at real pinch point in our life as a |
| 1:13.5 | country where there are many people who have started as patriots just as I am, but who have |
| 1:21.0 | now gone on this journey towards something that is much darker, a bit more divisive, |
| 1:26.1 | and looks and feels a lot more like |
| 1:27.6 | ethno-nationalism. And the argument I'm making is there are some people that we will never, |
... |
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