Show 238 - Pat McFadden
Matt Forde's Political Party
The Political Party
4.7 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 9 August 2021
⏱️ 82 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
One of the most direct communicators in politics delivers a dose of pure clarity. Pat has been at the heart of three different Labour leaders' operations: Donald Dewar, John Smith and Tony Blair. He reflects on the attributes they possessed and the importance of visible political change. Pat represents Wolverhampton South East and there are sobering lessons for Labour, especially for its relationship with the working class. With his no-nonsense style, this is Pat taking the Labour Party by the lapels and giving it to it straight.
Follow Pat on Twitter: @patmcfaddenmp
Subscribe to Matt's other podcast British Scandal here or wherever you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/british-scandal/id1563775446
Email the show: politicalpartypodcast@gmail.com
Order Matt's book 'Politically Homeless' here: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/2100000262618
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattforde
Follow Matt on WTSocial: https://wt.social/u/matt-forde
For the latest UK Government advice on coronavirus go to: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the political party. Today's guest is Pat McFadden and I cannot believe |
| 0:14.1 | it's taken me eight years to get Pat on the show. If one of those people I'm always like, |
| 0:18.2 | I need to get Pat McFadden on and then I'm just so embarrassed that it's taken me this |
| 0:22.4 | long to approach him. But my word is it worth the treat. Pat has a wealth of political |
| 0:28.4 | experience having worked for Donald Stewart, John Smith and Tony Blair as well as having |
| 0:32.6 | his own parliamentary government and now Shadow Cabinet career. We talk about a whole |
| 0:36.8 | deal of a lot before that. Don't forget you can email the show politicalpartypodcast |
| 0:41.2 | at gmail.com, particularly if you have a story about meeting a politician in a strange |
| 0:46.3 | or unusual place. Leon has been in touch. He says, my experience meeting a politician |
| 0:51.7 | in a strange place was Nigel Farage. Being a bit of a history buff, my father and I went |
| 0:56.4 | to one of those guided tours of the Waterloo battlefield where it was the 200th anniversary |
| 1:00.7 | of the event. I mean, if you don't just said we went to Waterloo of the 200th anniversary, |
| 1:07.2 | what politician do you think I bumped into? I think Nigel Farage would be so, I think it |
| 1:12.0 | might even be a list of one. Anyway, it says it was a huge show with re-enactors doing cooking, |
| 1:16.0 | horse riding, marching, formations, etc. While nosing around a unit of canon, we came across |
| 1:21.4 | Nigel Farage talking to a couple of the re-enactors. He had at least one very big minder. Oh, |
| 1:27.8 | I guess would have been necessary while celebrating a British and allied victory against the |
| 1:31.1 | French and European soil. Anyway, while my dad and I were chatting to him, Nigel was making |
| 1:35.9 | sure that we knew he thought he would have himself given bone here, good run for his money |
| 1:40.7 | at Waterloo, my word of all the people to have bumped into at Waterloo on the 200th anniversary. |
| 1:48.2 | Nigel Farage. Well, if you've encountered a politician in a strange or unusual place, |
| 1:52.8 | or there was a thing that developed on the last episode, if you just have a really mundane or |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Political Party, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Political Party and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.