EMQs: Can Kemi Badenoch cheer up the Conservatives?

Political Currency

Persephonica

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

4 • 855 Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Can a quick political win keep the public on side while the hard work happens behind the scenes? This week on Ex-Ministers’ Questions, Ed Balls and George Osborne debate whether Labour's lack of early symbolic moves has cost them public goodwill - and whether a bit of political theatre can actually make or break a government.

They also tackle questions from across the UK and the US: how can Kemi Badenoch rebuild morale in a bruised Conservative Party? What’s the right way to pitch bold economic ideas in a divided world? And who really decides where government contracts go - ministers or mandarins?

Plus: a look back at Keynes’s legacy with HM Treasury's Mario Pisani, a tip of the hat to Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and Ed’s run-in with a very enthusiastic listener at Harvard.

And a reminder, we’re doing our first Political Currency live show - we’ll be taking to the stage on Thursday 5th June 2025 at SXSW London. Want a chance to grab a FREE ticket and a pass to the WHOLE six day business conference, worth £600?! Sign up to be a Kitchen Cabinet member to hear how you can get your hands on a ticket!

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Producer: Miriam Hall

Senior Producer: Silvia Maresca

Video Editor: Oliver Geraghty

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 world is complex, but understanding it doesn't have to be.
0:02.3	The economist connects the dots across politics, business, science and culture,
0:06.3	keeping you informed and prepared for what's to come.
0:09.2	Look, when decisions in Beijing shift markets in New York or a populist wave ripples to your doorstep,
0:14.2	the economist explains the what and the why before your morning coffees even brewed.
0:18.9	And with a global team of reporters, they make
0:21.2	complicated issues clear so you can navigate with confidence. Search the economist and make sense
0:26.8	of the world around you. The Chancellor of the Exchequer. Getting a lesson from the Shadow
0:31.8	Chancellor and how to balance the books, it's like getting a lesson from Dracula and how to look after
0:35.5	a blood back. Ed Balls.
0:38.2	As steady as she goes, budget.
0:41.2	What kind of ship does he think he's on, the Titanic?
0:44.0	Themary, Celeste.
0:45.4	Welcome to EMQ's from Political Currency with Ed Balls and George Osborne.
1:07.3	Hello and welcome to EMQ's ex-minister's questions dropping on Friday the 23rd of May into certainly our golden kitchen cabinet, subscribe.
1:09.4	Inboxes, 20 third of May.
1:12.4	Birthday of George Osborne,
1:13.5	I think you're 54th,
1:14.6	a day of national celebration.
1:17.4	Yeah, the bank holiday, I think it is, isn't it?
1:18.8	It's a Friday bank holiday.
1:20.4	Rejoicing.
	...

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