Quite right!: 'Keir Starmer is the problem'
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
To hear to this week's episode in full, search 'Quite right!' wherever you are listening now.
This week: Michael and Maddie examine the crisis engulfing the Labour party and ask whether Keir Starmer is facing a Boris-style collapse of authority.
They explore what could be to come in the continued fallout from the Peter Mandelson affair, the rebellion over the release of government files, and what Starmer’s pattern of scapegoating aides reveals about his grip on power. Is this a corruption scandal – or something more damaging: a failure of judgment?
Finally, they look ahead to what comes next. If Starmer’s authority is ebbing, who could replace him? From Angela Rayner to Wes Streeting – and the outsiders hovering on the edge – will internal revolt mark the beginning of a wider realignment in British politics?
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, visit spectator.com/quiteright
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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. |
| 0:10.1 | Just search Quite Right wherever you are listening now. |
| 0:13.1 | Listeners on the best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of our discussions, |
| 0:17.0 | but for the full thing, please seek out the Quite Right channel. |
| 0:20.3 | While you're there, click the follow button to never miss an episode. |
| 0:23.4 | And why not give us a rating and review? |
| 0:25.4 | It really helps us out. |
| 0:26.9 | Happy listening. |
| 0:33.5 | Hello and welcome to The Spectator's Weekly Podcast, Quite Right. |
| 0:37.5 | I'm Michael Gove, the editor of The Spectator. |
| 0:39.9 | And I'm Madeleine Grant, assistant editor and parliamentary sketchwriter. |
| 0:43.5 | And this week we'll be looking at the tensions that are gripping the government |
| 0:47.5 | and asking what lessons does it tell us about the future |
| 0:50.7 | and who amongst the opposition parties is best placed to exploit it. |
| 1:02.8 | Michael, after even by usual standards are pretty bonkers, 7 to 2 hours in British politics, |
| 1:09.1 | how long do you give Keir Starmer? Is this it now for him? |
| 1:12.6 | Keir Starmer will probably be toppled after the local elections. That was probably the |
| 1:18.1 | conventional view a couple of months ago. And recent turbulence may have suggested that the |
| 1:23.8 | timetable be accelerated. And of course, there are some who argue that he may emerge |
| 1:28.5 | strengthened from this. Ed Miliband, for example, is making that case. But I think that the |
| 1:34.4 | fundamentals are that the Labour Party doesn't believe that Kiyos Dahmer has what it takes |
... |
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