Quite right!: what’s the point of Keir Starmer?
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
This week: the stark question of Keir Starmer’s leadership. After a bruising week in Westminster – from fresh revelations about the Mandelson appointment to renewed scrutiny of the Prime Minister’s governing style – they debate whether Starmer’s cautious, process-driven approach is becoming a political liability. Will Labour move to replace him?
Also on the podcast: the House of Lords, as peers prepare to scrutinise two of the most morally charged issues in politics: assisted dying and proposals to decriminalise abortion up to birth. With the Commons accused of rushing through profound legislative changes with limited debate, they ask whether the Lords is performing an essential constitutional role – or defying democratic authority.
And finally: should Winston Churchill really disappear from Britain’s banknotes? As the Bank of England considers replacing historical figures with images of nature, Michael and Maddie debate whether Britain is retreating from its own history.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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. |
| 0:33.8 | Hello and welcome to The Spectatious Podcast Quiet Right. |
| 0:36.7 | I'm Michael Gove, editor of the Spectator. |
| 0:39.0 | And I'm Madeleine Grant, assistant editor and parliamentary sketchwriter. |
| 0:42.2 | And this week we'll be discussing what is the point of Keir Stormer? |
| 0:46.8 | When we need a leader, is he anything like one? |
| 0:49.9 | We'll also be discussing the future of the House of Lords as two seminal moral questions are put before it this week. |
| 0:56.3 | And our banknotes, what are they truly worth? |
| 1:00.2 | And would we rather have Squirrel Nutkin or Winston Churchill as the symbol of our currency? |
| 1:07.5 | We are this week in the middle of another government reset, another attempt by Keir Stommer, |
| 1:14.4 | reinvigorate his premiership with Rachel Reeves giving a lecture in which she talks about the importance of a close relationship with the EU. |
| 1:23.1 | Stolmour himself, increasingly assertive or seeking to appear so in his relationship with Donald Trump. |
| 1:29.9 | And yet and yet, Maddie, there are constant reminders of the real nature of the prime minister |
| 1:38.7 | and the ineradicable problems that he faces in the style of leadership that he's brought to this country. |
... |
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