How did Kirstama go from winning a stunning parliamentary majority

to becoming one of the least popular Prime Ministers in the modern era, all within the space of a year?

Perhaps the clue is in how he came to prominence in the first place,

and the web of dishonesty, dark money and backroom operators

who catapulted him into position as Labour Party leader.

This week on downstream, I'm joined by investigative journalist Paul Holden,

and we talk about his new book book The Fraud, a meticulously

researched account about the machinations at the heart of the Labour Party, which is now in government.

From leaked documents to financial accounts to insider reporting, Paul Holden examines the key role

of Morgan McSweeney, how he rose through the ranks of the Labour Party

to become one of the most powerful individuals in the party's history. What's more, we discuss

what this means for how Britain is governed. So I hope you enjoy the interview. Paul Holden,

welcome to downstream. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me.

So you're originally from South Africa. How did, you know, witnessing the aftermath of the

apartheid regime, the birth of a democratic South Africa, how did that shape your sense of what

it meant to be a journalist?

I think very profoundly. I'm going to try very hard not to cry during the story, but I can't promise anything, right? If I get, if I get someone to cry in the first five minutes,

I think that's quite something. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, I had quite an unusual bringing in South

Africa because my father was gay. And under apartheid,

there was a terrifying, terrifying thing where, you know, if it was discovered, you could be

prosecuted for it. You know, there was sort of late stage apartheid. There was like really

properly mad, Stanley Kubrick conversion therapy stuff happening. So my father effectively

...