The State of It: Keir Starmer: the end game
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An extraordinary day in British politics: Keir Starmer vows to fight on, but the resignations keep on coming. How long can the prime minister survive? What's next, and who will move first? Wes Streeting has one shot: will he take it? What is Andy Burnham's plan?
Recorded at Temple Church as part of the Fleet Street Quarter Festival of Words.
Hosts:
- Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times
- Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
- Gabriel Pogrund, editor of Insight, The Sunday Times
Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness
Picture credit: Getty Images
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, it's Manveen. |
| 0:03.9 | The atmosphere in Westminster is feebrile as the Prime Minister clings on in Downing Street, but his support seems to be ebbing away by the hour. |
| 0:15.6 | To chronicle what's been an extraordinary day in British politics. Our sister podcast, The State of It, |
| 0:21.8 | pulled together three of the most well-informed journalists in Westminster, |
| 0:26.0 | Steve Swinford, Patrick McGuire and Gabriel Pogrand |
| 0:29.2 | to shed light on what's happening behind the scenes. |
| 0:33.8 | Here they are with an emergency podcast recorded earlier today, |
| 0:37.6 | The State of It. |
| 0:46.6 | Welcome to The State of It, this live recording of the political podcast from the Times and the Sunday Times. |
| 0:51.7 | I am Stephen Swinford, the Politico of the Times. |
| 0:54.3 | I'm Patrick Maguire. Chi Plus Political Commitator for the Times. |
| 0:57.5 | And I'm Gabriel Pogrand, editor of Insight, the Sunday Times investigation. |
| 1:02.4 | Here, newly promoted. Congratulations, Gabriel. |
| 1:05.2 | We come to you at yet another extraordinary juncture in British politics. I kind of think it will never happen again and then it happens again. |
| 1:15.0 | So we just had a cabinet where Kier Stama has essentially sent a message to his cabinet of put up or shut up. |
| 1:22.2 | And he has issued a direct challenge at that cabinet that essentially in his words, there's a process. |
| 1:28.1 | And if you want to trigger that process, there a way of doing it it's essentially and this is my words not his |
| 1:33.3 | come and have a go if you think you're hard enough and that message is aimed at west streeting |
| 1:38.0 | the health secretary and also others around that table that are backing Andy burnham and there's one |
| 1:43.4 | question that really matters. |
| 1:45.5 | And I'm going to direct this to Patrick and cop out entirely in this moment from answering it. |
| 1:49.5 | Is there any way that Keir Starmer can survive this, Patrick? |
... |
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