Coming in Andy: Britain's prime minister-in-waiting
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 19 June 2026
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Andy Burnham won a by-election he needed in order to challenge Sir Keir Starmer, Britain’s prime minister. We look at the path ahead for him. The Iran deal seemingly promises a financial windfall for the country and its regime—one that its battered economy sorely needs. And the mythmaking of presidential libraries, as seen in the latest one: Barack Obama’s.
Watch extended clips from Insider here.
Guests and host:
- Hugo Gye, British political correspondent
- Fraser McIlwraith, foreign correspondent
- Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent
- Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- British politics, Andy Burnham, Labour party
- Iran war, Iran deal, Iran’s economy
- Barack Obama, presidential libraries
Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Economist |
| 0:02.0 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:13.0 | I'm Jason Palmer. |
| 0:19.0 | Today on the show, the Iran deals effect on a battered economy |
| 0:22.7 | and a tour of Barack Obama's presidential library. |
| 0:31.6 | First up, though. |
| 0:47.3 | Thank you. First up, though. In general, we don't spend a lot of time on the show looking at by-elections in Britain. But this one, this one we told you might be seismic. |
| 0:50.3 | Makerfield is a constituency in northwest England that, until yesterday, sat at the centre of British national politics. |
| 0:58.0 | From here on, I will give everything I have got to make it so. |
| 1:03.0 | To ensure the name Makerfield is forever synonymous with bringing about the change this country needs, bringing back something |
| 1:14.5 | we've lost, hope, hope for the future. |
| 1:20.3 | Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, needed to win the election in order to get |
| 1:24.2 | into Parliament, and from there, to challenge Sir Kier Starrmer as leader of the Labour Party and therefore as Prime Minister. |
| 1:31.3 | Well, he did it. Step 1, tick. |
| 1:34.3 | Everyone knows that politics isn't working. |
| 1:39.3 | Everyone can feel that the country isn't where it should be. |
| 1:45.0 | Tonight could, just could, be the turning point. |
| 1:50.0 | It could just be, after quite a bit more party politicking. |
| 1:55.0 | Andy Burnham's won the by-election in Mayleca Field by a comfortable margin. |
| 1:59.0 | He took 55% of the vote with Reform UK, the right-wing populist |
| 2:02.5 | party, quite far behind on 35%. |
| 2:05.4 | Hugo Jai is our British political correspondent. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 26 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Economist, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Economist and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.