Is Starmer’s leadership on the line?
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 November 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It has been a whirlwind week in Westminster with the BBC in crisis and a supposed challenge to the prime minister’s leadership. So, was there a putative coup from within Keir Starmer’s own cabinet? Is there a “toxic culture” in Downing Street? Plus: the panel’s take on the runners and riders for the top job at the national broadcaster. Host George Parker is joined by Anna Gross, Stephen Bush and Jim Pickard to discuss.
This episode was recorded before the FT broke the story about the chancellor scrapping proposals to raise income tax. Read the article here:
Starmer and Reeves drop proposal to increase income tax rates in Budget
Plus, stay tuned for our panel discussion next week ahead of the Budget on November 26.
Follow George @georgewparker.bsky.social; Jim @pickardje.bsky.social and Stephen @stephenkb.bsky.social
Want more?
Self-inflicted leadership crisis unites factions against Starmer
‘He’s played a blinder’: How Wes Streeting won the week
Brain-dead Labour retreats to its comfort zone: campaigning
Who will be the next director-general of the BBC?
And sign up here for Stephen Bush's morning newsletter Inside Politics for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue (mostly) in cheek analysis. Get 30 days free.
Plus, the FT is hosting a live webinar on November 28 on what the UK Budget will mean for your money. You can put questions to FT journalists Claer Barrett, Stuart Kirk, Tej Parikh and special guest, tax expert Dan Neidle. Get your pass now at ft.com/budgetwebinar.
Our email address is politicalfix@ft.com
Political Fix was presented by George Parker and produced by Lulu Smyth. The executive producer is Flo Phillips. Original music by Breen Turner, mix by Odinn Ingibergsson. The video engineers are Petros Gioumpasis and Andrew Georgiades. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Manuela Saragosa.
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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi political fix listeners. I'm Anna Gross, the FT's political correspondent. Yesterday, just after we |
| 0:08.9 | recorded the show you're about to hear, we got a tip-off that the Chancellor might be making a budget |
| 0:13.8 | U-turn. It turned out to be a major U-turn and a big exclusive, that Rachel Reeves won't be raising income tax to fill the |
| 0:22.9 | fiscal hole, a move she'd been pitch-rolling for several weeks. We couldn't include it in time for |
| 0:28.4 | this recording, but if you'd like to read more about it and don't have a subscription, we've |
| 0:33.6 | made the article free for our audience. Just check out the link in the show notes. |
| 0:38.9 | Now, over to George. |
| 0:44.0 | It's been a whirlwind week in Westminster, |
| 0:46.9 | high-profile resignations at the public broadcaster |
| 0:49.7 | superseded by rumoured plots against the Prime Minister. |
| 0:54.1 | Chief among them, a supposed challenge from the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, |
| 0:58.0 | who claimed there was a toxic culture in number 10. |
| 1:03.0 | The leader of the opposition was quick to revel in the ensuing chaos. |
| 1:07.0 | Two weeks before the budget, isn't it the case that this Prime Minister has lost control of his government, |
| 1:13.1 | he's lost the confidence of his party and lost the trust of the British people? |
| 1:17.8 | So was there a putative coup, and is there a toxic culture at the heart of Keir Stama's operation? |
| 1:24.1 | And can the Prime Minister peace the Labour Party back together in time to face the biggest political moment of his premiership? |
| 1:31.0 | Welcome to Political Fix with me, George Parker. |
| 1:34.0 | Here to discuss the factions and fallouts. |
| 1:36.4 | We have the UK's Deputy Political Editor Jim Picard. |
| 1:39.4 | Hi Jim. |
| 1:39.9 | Hi, George. |
... |
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