EMQs: Are we influencers now?
Political Currency
Persephonica
4.1 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is it in the best interest of opposition leaders to see weak Prime Ministers resign? In this week’s EMQs Ed and George debate whether it benefits the opposition to depose a vulnerable Prime Minister. What are the consequences if their successor is a better leader? What comes first for the Leader of the Opposition - the country, or the party?
And - can just anyone become Prime Minister? Do party leaders need to be MPs or might Britain see its own Mark Carney emerge? The pair discuss historical examples in favour of and against this notion and how it could happen again. They then weigh up an even bigger question: has the podcast turned them into influencers? With so many high profile people in the political world tuning in, are they taking notes on what Ed and George say?
Finally, Sky News political reporter Ben Bloch chimes in with a response to our question last week about what would happen in the event a PM was incapacitated. He consulted the Labour Party rule book, and it got him wondering if Britain should adopt a US style line of succession for government. Is it time to codify the unwritten rules?
We love hearing from you, so please don’t forget to send all your EMQs to questions@politicalcurrency and make sure to include a voice note of your question.
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Credits:
Research: Sam Burton
Production: Caillin McDaid, Caitlin Hanrahan & Eve Jones
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 | The Chancellor of the Exchequer. |
| 0:02.0 | Getting a lesson from the Shadow Chancellor and how to balance the books, |
| 0:05.0 | it's like getting a lesson from Dracula and how to look after a blood pack. |
| 0:08.0 | Ed Balls. |
| 0:10.0 | As steady as she goes budget. |
| 0:13.0 | What kind of ship does he think he's on, the Titanic? |
| 0:16.0 | Themary Celeste. |
| 0:17.0 | Welcome to EMQs from Political Currency |
| 0:20.0 | with Ed Balls and George Osborne. |
| 0:27.6 | Welcome to EMQs and we're still remote because I'm abroad. |
| 0:34.4 | You might hear some of my children in the background here having a breakfast |
| 0:39.2 | next door. I can hear quite a noisy scene going on there. But maybe not as noisy as the |
| 0:46.5 | gig I missed because I was away that your band's centristad played in Camden on Saturday with |
| 0:53.2 | that legendary pop star, Luella Benjamin. I can't remember whether you were the warm-up act for her and Ken Follett's band or it was the other way around. It was a double bill. Yeah, but pop concerts don't have double bills, Ed. There's always the big act. There was a lot of chat, though, about where you were. I can't believe you're that popular at the moment for doing a podcast with me when you ought to be pulling your weight over breakfast. |
| 1:14.6 | Don't worry, I'm about... You're about to get it in the neck. But also, no, I'm not at all. I know |
| 1:21.1 | fear will be doing a brilliant job. Yes, she'll be doing a brilliant job single-handed. But we |
| 1:26.9 | also had lots of political currency members there. They were all saying, where's George? You know, we've heard about the poe going, and it was so packed. You had to dance up and down because it wasn't room to go side to side. And the mayor of London was there, and Ed Miller Band came again. He's one of our big fans. Actually, the Defence Secretary John Healy came |
| 1:44.7 | because he's a good friend of Ken Follett, |
| 1:46.7 | who is in charge of the other band. |
| 1:48.4 | But they said, you know, we don't want other cabinet. What we want to know is where George Osborne is, so you can have to come in the summer. Big success. We raised £10,000 for Great Ormond Street. My daughter came on stage and sang Human League, |
| 1:59.7 | Don't You Love Me Baby? |
| 2:00.8 | Which was really cool. |
... |
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