Quite right!: who replaces Nigel Farage?
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 18 February 2026
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
To hear this week's podcast in full, search 'Quite right!' wherever you are listening now.
This week, Michael and Maddie consider Reform UK's succession plan. With Nigel Farage unveiling his new shadow cabinet, attention shifts to the bigger question: who comes after him? Is Reform preparing for life beyond its founder – and if so, who stands ready to inherit the crown?
Also this week, they examine the fallout from the court’s decision to overturn the government’s attempt to proscribe Palestine Action – and ask what it means for free speech, public order and the limits of the state.
They explore whether Britain is drifting toward a de facto blasphemy law, and debate claims of ‘two-tier justice’ in the handling of extremist activism. Has the government lost control of the argument — or is it simply constrained by the courts?
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
To submit your 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. |
| 0:33.6 | Hello and welcome to The Spectators podcast, Quite Right. |
| 0:37.2 | I'm Michael Gove, editor of The Spectator. |
| 0:39.6 | And I'm Madeleine Grant, assistant editor and parliamentary sketchwriter. |
| 0:42.9 | And this week we'll be discussing the reform reshuffle |
| 0:45.1 | as Nigel Farage unveils his fantastic four of shadow ministers, |
| 0:50.0 | whom he hopes will enhance the credibility of his bid for government. |
| 0:54.7 | And the government's own words, we'll be looking at the court's decision |
| 0:58.1 | to uphold an appeal from the activist group Palestine action |
| 1:02.2 | that when the government tried to prescribe them, the government were in the wrong. |
| 1:06.4 | Whose side do we take? |
| 1:07.4 | We'll also be discussing the life and legacy of Kenneth Williams |
| 1:10.4 | on the centenary of his birth, which lands this week. |
| 1:16.2 | Reform UK have announced their shadow cabinet, or at least part of their shadow cabinet. |
... |
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