The IfG Review of 2023: Posturing and panicking, poison and paranoia

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

News, Politics, Government

4.6 • 252 Ratings

🗓️ 21 December 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

So that was the year that was. Just the one prime minister this time, but plenty of political drama and intrigue, twists and turns, and high and lows. David Runciman, the former host of the Talking Politics podcast, joins the IfG team to look back on the last 12 months. How did Rishi Sunak’s five pledges work out? Does anyone remember what Keir Starmer’s five missions are? What did all those by-elections tell us about what the public are really thinking? Do Boris Johnson or Liz Truss have a second political act ahead? How is David Cameron’s second political act working out? Did Nicola Sturgeon quit at just the right time? And how might conflicts overseas – and election results across the world – impact on politics at home? Hannah White presents, with Jill Rutter and Giles Wilkes. Produced by Candice McKenzie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government. I'm Hannah White. So the year is nearly at an end.
0:17.0	Parliament is closed for Christmas. MPs are back in their constituencies and with a bit of
0:21.8	luck we won't be hearing too much from the government or politicians for the next week or so.
0:25.8	But before we say goodbye to 2023, inside briefing is here for a trip down recent memory lane. British
0:32.5	politics has been set to warp speed for at least the last half decade or more, but although
0:37.0	the last 12 months were more, but although the last
0:37.5	12 months were a little less frenetic, after all we only had one prime minister, they were still
0:42.2	packed with incident, unexpected twists and some unlikely terms. So what were the highs? How
0:47.2	serious are the lows? And what might it all tell us about what's to come in the year ahead?
0:52.5	I'm joined by two IFG colleagues who are still going strong
0:55.3	despite a wave of COVID sweeping through the IFG, rather too many deadlines and a grueling Christmas
1:00.3	social circuit, and that's Charles Wilkes and Jill Rutter. Hi both. Hi, Hannah. Hello.
1:06.3	And I'm absolutely delighted that we're joined again by David Runciman, Professor of Politics at Cambridge University, author of a number of books, including How Democracy Ends, former host of the Talking Politics podcast and current host of past, present and future. Another excellent podcast I can recommend to you all. Hi, David. How are you?
1:24.5	I'm very well. It's very nice to be back. It's great to have you back.
1:27.7	Now, you joined us, David, on this podcast nearly 365 days ago for our first podcast of the year
1:33.7	when we looked ahead to 2023. I've had a little listen back.
1:38.1	Oh dear. Oh dear. This is rather ominous.
1:40.9	We're going to look back at some of the things we thought would happen.
1:44.8	Uh-uh. 2020,
1:45.7	began with Rishi Sunak attempting a restart of his government by setting out five pledges.
1:50.6	Since then, he's tried a headline-grabbing reshuffle, bringing back a former Prime Minister
1:54.6	and trying to reinvent himself as a change candidate.
	...

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