Keir hunters: will Britain’s PM go?
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After catastrophic local-election results, Britain’s prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life. One airline has folded and others may follow: jet-fuel prices are crimping carriers the world over, but the pain is not spread evenly. And could San Andrés, a popular Colombian tourist island, ever declare independence?
Guests and host:
- Owen Winter, Britain political correspondent
- Simon Wright, industries editor
- Claire McQue, Americas writer
- Rosie Blau co-host of “The Intelligence”
- Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Britain elections, Keir Starmer, Reform UK, Labour
- Airlines, jet fuel, oil price, Strait of Hormuz
- San Andrés, Colombia, Caribbean
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist. |
| 0:09.5 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:13.2 | I'm Rosie Bloor. |
| 0:14.2 | And I'm Jason Palmer. |
| 0:19.1 | Today on the show, how airlines are coping with the fuel shock |
| 0:22.6 | and why some Caribbean islanders label Columbia a colonizer. |
| 0:33.5 | But first... |
| 0:39.3 | ...and... But first... This week, Britain's Prime Minister, Sir Keir Stama, is battling for his political future. |
| 0:47.3 | I know that people are frustrated by the State of Britain, frustrated by politics, and some people frustrated with me. |
| 0:59.4 | I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will. |
| 1:05.5 | The Labour Party performed even worse at last week's local elections than some were expecting. |
| 1:12.2 | MPs are circling. |
| 1:14.1 | One has already said she'll try to trigger a challenge if no current cabinet ministers do so. |
| 1:20.0 | In a speech this morning, the Prime Minister hit every spot on the bingo card of political leadership reset. |
| 1:27.2 | We're battling reform and the greens, but at a deeper level, |
| 1:32.6 | we're battling the despair on which they pray. |
| 1:36.4 | Fighting words, most of which we've heard before, |
| 1:39.8 | but it'll be hard to talk his way out of the events that precipitated this crisis. |
| 1:46.0 | Labour suffered a catastrophic set of elections last week, |
| 1:50.0 | probably some of the worst local elections in the party's history. |
| 1:53.0 | The Conservatives also did quite badly, and Reform UK, |
| 1:57.0 | Nigel Farage's party, were the biggest beneficiaries along with the Green Party. |
... |
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