Hello and welcome to the Political Party podcast, the first of a new weekly edition.

The monthly shows will continue, they're very much the main thrust of the show, but in

those intervening weeks I want to broaden the amount of people that I could have on and

the type of people that I have on.

So as one of the still featured in politicians in these weekly interviews, I'll also feature

advisors, journalists, academics and more.

I'm delighted that on this first show I'm joined by Theo Bertram, who worked for Tony

Blair and Gordon Brown in number 10 and was really among many other roles, was there

to coax them for problems as questions and this is something we talk about in what is

a hypnotic interview.

I've just been to see the darkest hour this week and it was almost a new labour version

of that, felt transported to a different time, different place.

Theo has, as you will gather from this, exceptional intellect, but wears it very lightly and has

learned so many fascinating lessons in politics and can explain them very well.

He's blessed with not only a great brain but the ability to articulate very simply as

he sees it, I think the rules and lessons of politics.

So it's a wide range in discussion about what got him into politics as a person but also

about the things that he learned and we get inside of stories from every level of politics

from being effectively a donor in a very small way at the start of his life to then a

member and then working for the party regionally, then nationally and then into Downing Street

and in the end why at the moment he has no real desire to go back.

It's a brilliant interview, it was the hour flew by, there's so much in it, he's wonderful

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