Quite right!: Dominic Cummings – part two
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.4 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 1 January 2026
⏱️ 15 minutes
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Summary
For the full episode, search 'Quite right!' wherever you are listening now.
This is an extract from the second of a two-part discussion with Dominic Cummings, in which he reflects on his time in government – what he got right and what he regrets – and what he believes must change for the country to thrive.
In part two, Dominic diagnoses the ‘pre-revolutionary’ mood of British politics, marked by voter rage, economic stagnation and institutional failure. He dismisses government promises on immigration as ‘total nonsense’, attacks the political class’s handling of the cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine, and delivers a sobering account of why the Conservative Party is ‘completely dead’. Dominic also assesses the prospects of Reform and Nigel Farage, warns of an increasingly aggressive establishment response to outsider movements, and weighs in on whether Michael would have made a good prime minister.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, this is Madeline Grant, host of Quite Right alongside Michael Gove. |
| 0:04.3 | If you want to hear the latest episode of Quite Right in full, then you can do so on its dedicated podcast channel. |
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| 0:13.1 | Listeners on the best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of our discussions, |
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| 0:25.4 | It really helps us out. |
| 0:26.9 | Happy listening. |
| 0:33.6 | Welcome back to Quite Right with me, Michael Gove. |
| 0:36.6 | And me, Madeleine Grant. |
| 0:37.7 | This is the second part of our discussion with Dominic Cummings. |
| 0:41.2 | If you haven't listened to the first part where Dominic talks to Maddie and I about Whitehall, Boris and COVID, this is your opportunity to seek it out. |
| 0:48.9 | And in the second part, we're looking towards the future. |
| 0:52.6 | And we're asking Dominic what he thinks about the mood |
| 0:56.0 | of politics at the moment. And he believes we're in a pre-revolutionary era. What does that mean? |
| 1:01.8 | And does it actually mean the advent of Prime Minister Farage? Dominic explains his interactions |
| 1:07.3 | with Nigel Farage, his views on reform and the conservatives. Oh, and by the way, |
| 1:13.4 | he also answers a very uncomfortable question, very honestly, and he explains why he thinks |
| 1:18.5 | I would not have made a good prime minister. |
| 1:24.7 | Dom, you described a dysfunctional system, an accumulating set of crises, some of the challenges |
| 1:31.8 | that you faced trying to change those things. As a New Year dawns, what do you think is going |
... |
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