Has Britain become ungovernable?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership on the brink, the revolving door of Number 10 feels like it has never been more pronounced. But is this true? Why is Britain burning through leaders at record speed? And has the country become fundamentally ungovernable?
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Guest: Josh Glancy, associate editor, The Sunday Times
Host: Luke Jones
Producer: Sophie McNulty, Colette Fountain
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Read more: Seven PMs in ten years? How British politics got into this mess
Further listening: Labour’s Brexit conundrum
Clips: BBC, 10 Downing Street - YouTube, The Guardian, Keir Starmer - Facebook, The Independent, Times Radio, Pharos Foundation, UK Parliament
Photo: Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Luke Jones. |
| 0:09.0 | You're joking. Not another one? Oh, for God's sake, I can't honestly, I can't stand this. |
| 0:18.3 | Wait till Brenda from Bristol here's the state that Kirstarmer is in. |
| 0:21.8 | Could we soon have another prime ministerial resignation |
| 0:24.4 | to add to these? |
| 0:26.3 | I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold. |
| 0:31.4 | I do so with no ill will, |
| 0:34.3 | but with enormous and enduring gratitude |
| 0:36.7 | to have had the opportunity to serve the country |
| 0:40.8 | I love. |
| 0:43.0 | As we've seen at Westminster, the herd instinct is powerful, and when the herd moves, it moves. |
| 0:49.4 | I recognise, though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. |
| 0:58.9 | To the country, I would like to say, first and foremost, I am sorry. |
| 1:05.6 | Five Prime Ministers in seven years, bonus points, if you can name them all. |
| 1:10.7 | Does this mean, as some have suggested, that Britain is ungovernable? |
| 1:15.5 | No, I don't think Britain is ungovernable. |
| 1:18.1 | I draw strength from the fact that we are a reasonable, tolerant, decent country, a live-and-let-live country, a diverse country. |
| 1:27.0 | That is the real Britain. That's not an ungovernable |
| 1:29.2 | Britain. |
| 1:32.2 | So why is Stama's |
| 1:33.4 | Premiership teetering on the edge then? |
| 1:35.7 | Are the challenges of office |
... |
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