Who should be the next prime minister?
Political Currency
Persephonica
4.1 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Wes Streeting’s resignation is the latest domino to fall amid the threat to Keir Starmer’s premiership, in a chain reaction that could lead to months of chaos. Ed Balls and George Osborne evaluate where the government and Keir Starmer can go from here. Should he resign? And how would Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband, and the wildcard option of Al Carns, fare against him in a leadership contest?
News of Streeting’s departure came between our live YouTube stream and recording of this episode – so listen for Ed and George’s instant reaction.
Fresh from a trip to Canada, George suggests the success of Mark Carney, or Australia’s Albert Albanese, could be a template used as a template for a Labour government to rebound, regardless of leader. Does it show Labour needs to take a bolder stance on issues like fossil fuels and immigration?
And finally, as President Trump continues his consequential trip to Beijing, the pair assess how the China-US relations could be vital for Trump in this year’s mid-terms. Does Trump need Xi more than he needs him? And are the two countries inseparable no matter the strength of their relationship?
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Credits:
Research: Sam Burton
Production: Caillin McDaid & Nasreen Arain
Video Editor: Avi Asher & Oliver Geraghty
Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford & Henrietta Harrison
Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello podcast listener. |
| 0:01.6 | Hello you. |
| 0:02.4 | It's me, Greg James. |
| 0:03.8 | And me, Alice Levine. |
| 0:05.3 | Now, look, I know that you're very much enjoying this podcast that you're listening to. |
| 0:10.1 | And we're sorry to interrupt. We really are. |
| 0:12.4 | And it genuinely might not be our place to say, but is it time to try something new? |
| 0:17.9 | We would like to steal you for our new podcast. It's called Bad Chat. And it sounds a bit |
| 0:22.4 | like this. This one goes out to the walkers and the talkers and the late night. Stalkers. |
| 0:27.1 | Maybe not that one. Alice is my best friend. I am not Alice's best friend. Do you know that |
| 0:32.4 | horses' legs are their fingers? That is a bit of bad chat. From me, Greg James. |
| 0:38.6 | And me, famously, Alice Levine. |
| 0:40.6 | Listen, wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:19.1 | Music This is political currency with Ed Balls and George Osbourne. So we are remote this Thursday morning. |
| 1:25.3 | George has just flown in from Canada, I think, and your flight was late. I've been hanging around. Yeah, I just got off a flight from Ottawa. |
| 1:27.7 | I've never been to Oswald before in my life. |
| 1:29.9 | And I should do a little shout out to Rob the cab driver who dropped me off because he's a big fan of the podcast. |
| 1:36.3 | I promised I would. |
| 1:37.6 | I have good things to report from Canada. |
| 1:40.1 | We have friends in high places who are big fans of the podcast and listen to our hot take on Monday on the Labour leadership shenanigans. |
| 1:50.4 | Look, I have loads of friends in Ottawa, but I mean the highest place, it's got to be Mark Carney. |
| 1:55.2 | Well, the highest place in Ottawa is the king, of course. |
... |
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