The Rundown by PoliticsHome

With more leadership speculation swirling around Keir Starmer and claims he is seen as a ‘caretaker Prime Minister’, this week the podcast takes a look at things from the other end of the telescope; asking how do you protect the person in charge if you’re working inside Number 10? What can you do to defend your principal and neutralise any threats they face? Well to answer that three people who worked at the coalface in different Downing Street administrations and faced a litany of internal threats join host Alain Tolhurst. First up is Beatrice Timpson, who was deputy press secretary to two prime ministers, Liz Truss and then Rishi Sunak, and is now a director at Sanctuary Counsel. Alongside her is Guto Harri, who was Downing Street Director of Communications in the final year of Boris Johnson’s premiership, and also Paul Harrison, press secretary to Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May for three years, and now an Executive Director at Lexington. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 12 December 2025

This week Britain’s newest party - Your Party - finally got going in earnest, after a difficult birth to say the least. Over the past few months since its unexpected launch there have been legal threats , accusations of misogyny, boycotts, expulsions, resignations, and at the heart of it all acrimony between its two leading figures; Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, and that’s all before they’d even held a conference to decide on a permanent name and leadership structure. But last weekend several thousand members put all that aside, well mostly, to meet in Liverpool, and both The House magazine's deputy editor Sienna Rogers, and PolHome reporter Tom Scotson, were up there to cover it. They join host Alain Tolhurst to talk it all over, and discuss where the party goes now, alongside Andrew Fisher, director of policy for the Labour Party under Corbyn. MP Ayoub Khan killing a dog And to sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 5 December 2025

After another momentous tax-raising fiscal event from Rachel Reeves, this week we’re running the rule over the 2025 Budget, with its further freezes to tax thresholds, the scrapping of the two-child limit on benefits, reforms to savings, pensions and ISAs, as well motoring and property taxes, and a host of cost-of-living measures too. Oh and the fact the whole thing was leaked by the OBR half an hour before the Chancellor stood up in the Commons to deliver the thing... To discuss all that and much more on this bumper episode we’re going to hear from the Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride, Treasury minister Lucy Rigby, economists James Smith from the Resolution Foundation and Carsten Jung from the IPPR think tanks, as well as Labour MP Yuan Yang, who sits on the Treasury select committee. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 28 November 2025

As Reform UK continue to top the polls, this week we’re looking at why so many voters are turning away from the two main parties and looking in Nigel Farage’s direction, and what they need to do to convert the curious into an election-winning majority. So PoliticsHome has teamed up once again with the polling and strategy gurus at Thinks Insight, who have conducted focus groups with a host of Labour and Conservative voters thinking of backing Reform next time round, asking why they are ditching their previous party. So to help host Alain Tolhurst assess the results of this work and look at how and why the political landscape of the UK is changing, he is joined by Allie Jennings, director at Thinks, along with leading academic Paula Surridge, Professor of Political Sociology at Bristol University, and PolHome editor Adam Payne. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2025

As the Budget finally looms into view, this week the panel takes a look at one of the potential tax reforms suggested to Chancellors year-in, year-out, that could transform the Treasury coffers, but is one that this government, and every previous one stretching back decades, has refused to touch - council tax. While economists and tax experts all agree it is an unfair, outdated and regressive levy, nobody has the political will to change it, so to look at why that is, and what it could be replaced with, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Labour MP Jonathan Brash, chair of the APPG on council tax, along with Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates, and two members of the Treasury select committee - Conservative former minister Harriet Baldwin, and Labour’s Catherine West. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 14 November 2025

There is a crisis in higher education, as financial woes threaten the UK’s world-renowned university sector, with dozens of institutions in serious financial difficulties with fears of cuts, closures and collapse. Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss what is causing such strain on universities, how it can be solved, and what may happen if it doesn’t, are the former universities minister, Conservative peer Lord Jo Johnson, as well as Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, Jess Lister, director at the strategy consultancy Public First, as well as Sarah Stevens, director of strategy at The Russell Group of leading universities, and Matilda Martin, reporter at PolHome. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 7 November 2025

With the Autumn Budget looming, this week The Rundown takes a look at one of the key players in shaping the government’s fiscal policy, but one that we know little about.  The forecast on the future health of the British economy delivered to Rachel Reeves by the Office for Budget Responsibility will have more impact on shaping what the Chancellor announces next month than almost anything else, but who are the unelected panjandrums who sit on the independent body known as the OBR, how reliable are their economic estimations, and why do they hold so much sway over the Treasury? Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss whether the OBR really runs Britain, and if it needs reform, or perhaps abolition all together as some have suggested, is the Conservative former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, and Ben Zaranko, associate director at the think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Jeevun Sandher, a Labour MP and former member of the Treasury Select Committee. To sign up for our newsletters click hereAnd to submit your nomination for this year's Women in Westminster: The 100 list, click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2025

As the storms roll in and all memories of summer recede, for the health service this only means one thing; the start of the annual winter pressures faced by the NHS. After record waits in A&E last year, sharp increases in corridor care and waiting lists spiralling further beyond long-missed targets, this week host Alain Tolhurst looks at what the government is doing to prevent another crisis this winter. Joining him are Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP and her party’s spokesman on health and social care, along with Rosie Beacon, research manager and head of health at  the Re:State think tank, and Siva Anandaciva, director of policy at the King’s Fund, a health sector charity. To sign up for our newsletters click hereAnd to submit your nomination for this year's Women in Westminster: The 100 list, click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 24 October 2025

After the collapse of the Chinese spying case, host Alain Tolhurst looks at the state of the Anglo-Sino relationship, how it has evolved over the years, where UK-China relations are now under this current government, and what should be done to improve them. On the panel are Tony Vaughan, Labour MP for Folkestone and Hythe, and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on China, along with Mark Field, former minister for Asia and author of The End of an Era: The Decline and Fall of the Tory Party, with Dr Kerry Brown, Professor of Chinese Studies and director of the Lau China Institute at Kings College London, and Luke de Pulford, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. To sign up for our newsletters click hereAnd to submit your nomination for this year's Women in Westminster: The 100 list, click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 17 October 2025

Something a little bit different again this week, as host Alain Tolhurst and the PolHome team head up to Manchester for the Conservative Party’s annual conference, and return with a despatch from the four-day event, finding out what the mood is like among the Tories as they settle into the slog of opposition. Featuring MPs, pollsters and academics, including Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride, Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly, shadow transport minister Greg Smith, pollsters Allie Jennings from ThinksInsight and Patrick English from YouGov, politics professor Rob Ford, and economist Tom Pope from the Institute for Government, they assess whether there is still life left in the party, what their plan is to get back into office, and whether it will be Kemi Badenoch who tries to lead them there... To sign up for our newsletters click hereAnd to submit your nomination for this year's Women in Westminster: The 100 list, click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 10 October 2025

This week's episode is a little different, as listeners are taken deep within Labour’s annual party conference, giving you the inside track on how things unfolded in Liverpool over the past few days, from Andy Burnham's leadership challenge, Cabinet ministers taking on Nigel Farage, as well as the less serious moments such as a charity rugby league game and the infamous Mirror party on the final night. Host Alain Tolhurst spoke to a number of MPs, including transport minister Keir Mather, Charlotte Nichols, Josh Dean, Peter Swallow, Ben Goldsborough and Josh Fenton-Glynn, as well as West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, former MP and Manchester deputy mayor Kate Green, and pollsters Scarlett Maguire of Merlin Strategy and Patrick English from YouGov, plus the rest of the PolHome team, about the story of this year’s event. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 3 October 2025

This week the focus is on the Liberal Democrats after the party held their annual conference in Bournemouth. Which despite still giving off a celebratory mood at becoming the third-largest party in the Commons last year, was beset by questions over whether Ed Davey’s stunt-based leadership style is wearing a little thin. And a discussion whether they are punching below their weight in the political discourse 12 months on from their biggest electoral success, as Reform and Nigel Farage continue to pull Westminster and the media’s focus. The episode starts with some despatches from the south coast, recorded by PolHome reporter Zoe Crowther at the event, who spoke to a number of the party’s MPs about the big themes of conference, and where the Lib Dems are positioning themselves in our fractured political system. She spoke to Jess Brown-Fuller, former leader Tim Farron, and James MacCleary, before joining host Alain Tolhurst alongside another Lib Dem MP, Alison Bennett, her party’s spokesman on care and carers, as well as Sophie Church, reporter on our sister title The House magazine. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 26 September 2025

This week the so-called ‘dark arts’ of politics are being demystified, with a look inside the system known as whipping, where MPs are corralled by fair means or foul into voting with their party’s leadership in Parliament. But in the modern era have things moved more from threats of punishment to pastoral care? And have the days of the 'little black book' filled with politicians misdeeds ready to be used against them, as made famous by Francis Urquhart, the fictional chief whip in the classic TV show House of Cards, been banished to a bygone era, or do whips still hold sway over their flock? Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss all that - and also the changes made by Keir Starmer to his whipping operation last week- are Seb Whale, journalist and author of a new book - The Usual Channels - which unpicks the mysterious world of political whips, as well as Lord Mark Harper, the Conservative peer and former Cabinet minister, who served as Chief Whip in the Commons under David Cameron’s premiership. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2025

This week is a look under the bonnet of British politics, and shining a light into the dark corners of how Westminster’s finances operates, and seeing if the endless pledges to close loopholes and tighten regulations after every scandal have actually led to a crackdown on illegal lobbying and undue influence on democracy. Or whether the UK remains vulnerable to illicit wealth, cronyism and financial corruption, despite Keir Starmer’s pledge to clean up politics if he got into power last year. Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss all that are Lloyd Hatton, the Labour MP for South Dorset, as well as Sue Hawley, executive director at Spotlight on Corruption, Daniel Bruce, Transparency International UK's chief executive, and the investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan, author of the Democracy for Sale website. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2025

As MPs returned to Westminster after the summer recess, this week we’re looking ahead to a crucial autumn for this government, packed full of potential pitfalls as they hope year two in office is an upgrade from a tricky first 12 months. But after a clunky internal Downing Street reset and distracting revelations about Angela Rayner’s tax affairs, things have not got off to the best start, with a high-risk Donald Trump visit, party conference season, the ongoing smalls boats crisis and Rachel Reeve’ sophomore Budget to deliver, things don’t get any easier for Keir Starmer and his team in the coming weeks. Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how Labour navigates its way through all of this are two of the party’s MPs; Antonia Bance, the member for Tipton and Wednesbury, and Jess Asato, the MP for Lowestoft. Alongside them are Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at the pollsters Savanta, along with Adam Payne, editor of PoliticsHome. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 5 September 2025

This week is the sixth and final episode in our series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts and looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office in some of the big policy areas, and the biggest has been saved until last; the economy. Fixing the country’s finances was their number one priority when Keir Starmer came into office last year, promising to kickstart economic growth after a decade of stagnation and austerity, followed by post-pandemic inflation and the chaotic fallout from the Liz Truss ‘mini-Budget’. But after announcing there was a so-called £22billion ‘black hole’ in the country’s finances once she arrived in the Treasury, Rachel Reeves announced £40billion of tax increases in her first Budget as Chancellor, and despite saying it would be a ‘one off’, this year’s sluggish growth figures mean she finds herself in a similarly difficult position as she heads towards her second Budget this autumn. So joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how well the government has managed the economy after being handed an undoubtedly difficult inheritance, and whether they will chart a path towards economic growth this parliament, is Helen Miller, the new director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the UK’s most-respected economic think tank. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 29 August 2025

In the latest episode in a series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this week the focus is on the world of work, from employment rights, public sector pay, and the government’s relationship with trade unions. Host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, which represents 48 unions with a total of about 5.5 million members, to discuss how well Labour have done so far, having come into office promising an end to the strikes in a number of sectors, repairing the relationship with public services, as well as sweeping changes to workers rights. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 22 August 2025

In the fourth episode of a series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts and looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by not one but two brilliant guests to discuss probably the single most important policy area outside of the economy for this government; health. Labour has long staked its reputation as being the defenders of the NHS and made big promises ahead of last year’s election about fixing a broken system of healthcare in this country, but 12 months on, have they lived up to those pledges? Later in the episode Siva Anandaciva, director of policy at the King's Fund think tank, discusses the government’s new 10-year plan to reform the health service, and how Wes Streeting is faring as health secretary, but first up in Dame Jennifer Dixon, the chief executive of the Health Foundation charity, to assess Labour’s overall performance on health and social care so far. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 15 August 2025

The latest in a series over Parliament’s summer recess, looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this episode features Chris Skidmore, the former Conservative MP, who as Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, signed the UK's Net Zero pledge into law in 2019. Later asked to chair a review of the government's net-zero strategy, he resigned from the Commons in January last year over the introduction of the government's Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, calling it "the greatest mistake" of Rishi Sunak's premiership, and he now chairs the Climate Action Coalition launched by former US Secretary of State John Kerry. He spoke to host Alain Tolhurst about how Labour have got on with the country’s climate commitments and its progress on Net Zero, what he makes of GB Energy, whatever happened to the party's promise of £28 billion of green Investment, and where the Tory party finds itself on all of these issues. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 8 August 2025

In the second episode of a series over Parliament’s summer recess looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this week's guest on The Rundown is Sarah Owen, Labour MP for Luton North and the chair of the Commons select committee on women and equalities. Speaking to host Alain Tolhurst, she discusses how this government is doing on its manifesto commitments to tackle racial injustice and gender inequality, improve the lives of the disabled and to protect trans people and other marginalised communities, as well as the role of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 1 August 2025

With Parliament now into its summer recess, The Rundown is going to spend the next few weeks assessing how the Labour government is performing after a year in office in a number of key areas, with the help of some top experts and those with experience of having facing the same problems staring back at Keir Starmer and his Cabinet. Starting this week with the subject of social mobility, and that most key of all questions we ask of those in power; have you made our lives better? And have those barriers to success been removed? To discuss if Labour are on the right track so far, and her own party’s record in this area, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by someone who has made social mobility the focal point of her political and business career, the former Conservative education secretary Justine Greening. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2025

This week marks nine years since Theresa May entered Downing Street, after David Cameron’s resignation the morning after the EU referendum, but while Brexit was the reason she became Prime Minister, ultimately it was the thing that ended her premiership too, after she was unable to get a deal through Parliament. Consequently most look back on her tenure as a failure, but looking back now while her three years in Number 10 were undoubtedly some of the most chaotic in recent memory, they might also be some of the most consequential, with events and legislation taking place that still impact our politics now, despite the vast stream of history that has thundered through in the years since she left office. So joining host Alain Tolhurst to take another look at what Theresa May’s time as PM achieved, and what the current Downing Street incumbent Keir Starmer can learn about dealing with a difficult inheritance and global headwinds while also trying to get your own agenda implemented, I’m delighted to be joined by Baroness JoJo Penn, who was her deputy chief of staff. Alongside her is Seema Kennedy, the former Tory MP who was May’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, and is now executive director of Fair Civil Justice, and also the journalist and author Isabel Hardman, assistant editor of The Spectator, and also appearing in the episode is Paul Harrison, who Theresa May’s press secretary. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 18 July 2025

With this week’s state visit to Britain by Emmanuel Macron, we’re looking at the state of UK-Franco relations, and how important a new ‘entente cordiale’ is to Keir Starmer as he deals with political problems both home and abroad.Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss why the French president is open to a rapprochement after a pretty frosty few years post-Brexit, what both sides have been able to agree on, and what still divides them, are Sir Peter Westmacott, a former UK ambassador to France, as well as Ben Lake, Plaid Cymru MP and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on France.Alongside them are Francois-Joseph Schichan, director at Flint Global and former career diplomat in the French diplomatic service, Adam Plowright, ex-deputy editor-in-chief for Europe at Agence France Presse and a biographer of Emmanuel Macron, and Matilda Martin, reporter at PoliticsHome. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2025

This weekend marks 12 months since last year’s General Election, when Labour were swept to power with an enormous landslide victory ending 14 long years in opposition, but it seems unlikely they will be hanging the bunting outside Number 10 after a very tough first year in office for Keir Starmer. To discuss just how bad things have got, and how Labour might solve their problems, PoliticsHome have again partnered with the pollsters Thinks Insight & Strategy, who have taken the nation’s temperature this week, and with host Alain Tolhurst to discuss the results of their voter survey is their CEO Ben Shimshon, along with two Labour MPs elected for the first time last summer, Rachel Blake, the member for Cities of London and Westminster, and Julia Buckley, the MP for Shrewsbury. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 4 July 2025

This week we’re taking a look at what life is like not for politicians themselves, but for their spouses, asking what does a life in the Westminster spotlight do to relationships, what their role is, and the often unfair way they are portrayed in the public eye. Someone who knows more about this than most is the journalist Sarah Vine, who for many years was married to Michael Gove as he served in the Cabinets of multiple Prime Ministers, giving her a front row seat to the many machinations of the modern Tory party. She has written a new book called ‘How Not to be a Political Wife’, charting her difficult upbringing to entering the so-called Notting Hill set as David Cameron become Conservative leader, through to her falling out with his wife Samantha, as the couples fell on either side of the Brexit divide, and her surprisingly amicable divorce. Host Alain Tolhurst and producer Nick went to visit Sarah at her home in West London this week to chat at her kitchen table about unrealistic expectations, what she’d learned from her 20 years as a Westminster wag, what advice she’d give to any soon-to-be political spouse about how to get through it with marriage intact, and what her own political ambitions are now her ex-husband is out of the Commons. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 27 June 2025

This week host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Zack Polanski, Green Party deputy leader, as the podcast takes a look at the forgotten winners of last year’s general election, as despite unprecedented success in winning 1.8 million votes and quadrupling their number of MPs to 4, the Greens finds themselves at something of a crossroads. They are joined by Sophie Stowers, research manager at the think tank More in Common, and Sophie Church, reporter at our sister title The House magazine, about how the party builds on that success, what can it do to remain part of the national conversation, champion its progressive causes under the banner of eco populism, and Polanski's bid to become their new leader. To sign up for our newsletters click hereRead Sophie's piece about the Green Party click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2025

While this week Rachel Reeves set out her plans on how and where Labour is set to spend money for much of the rest of this Parliament, the question now is do they have a plan for how they’re going to deliver on their priorities, and succeed in completing Keir Starmer’s missions for government? Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss the vexed issue of actually delivering in office what you came in to do is Michelle Clement, lecturer in government studies at the Strand Group at King’s College London, who has just published a new book ‘The Art of Delivery: The Inside Story of How the Blair Government Transformed Britain’s Public Services’ which goes inside the work of Michael Barber, who was put in charge of Tony Blair’s delivery unit in 2001. Alongside them are Charlotte Pickles, director of the Re:State think tank and a former special adviser to Iain Duncan Smith, Alexander Iosad, director of Government Innovation at Tony Blair Institute, and John McTernan, former Political Secretary to Tony Blair and a government special adviser. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2025

With Rachel Reeves still finalising her comprehensive spending review next Wednesday, this week we’re looking at how the process works, going inside the battles between the Treasury and Whitehall departments on spending plans for the coming years, with John Glen, conservative MP and a former Treasury minister, Sonia Khan, a special adviser to Philip Hammond during his time as Chancellor, join host Alain Tolhurst alongside Bee Boileau, research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Tom Pope, deputy chief economist at the Institute for Government. They reflect on how useful spending reviews are for creating economic policy, take a look back at previous reviews and see what can be learned ahead of the Chancellor’s big speech, and what it will say about this government’s priorities over the course of the Parliament, while later in the episode Brandon Lewis, who was a minister in multiple departments under four different prime ministers, describes his experience of the spending review process. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 6 June 2025

As disquiet brews within Labour over cuts to welfare, and a perceived failure to pursue a progressive enough agenda, this week host Alain Tolhurst looks inside the governing party as a host of new caucuses and organised campaign groups have sprung up, and asking - who are the new tribes within Labour Who is behind them, what are their aims, and how dangerous could they be to Keir Starmer’s leadership, as he faces his first major rebellion since winning office with a huge majority last year. On the panel to explain everything from the Labour Growth Group, the coastals and rural MPs, the Co-Operatives, Christian socialists, Blue Labour and a host of others are three of the finest Labour party Kremlinologists in Westminster; Sienna Rogers, deputy editor of our sister publication The House magazine and a former editor of the LabourList website, as well as Morgan Jones, journalist and another former editor of LabourList, along with Stephen Bush, associate editor of The Financial Times. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2025

With this month marking 15 years since the signing of the historic Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition agreement, and given the fractured five-party politics of 2025, what can be learned from five chaotic days in 2010, that led to five years of surprisingly stable government? To discuss how it all came together, and what stopped it from falling apart, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by one of the people who helped negotiate the historic deal between the Tories and the Lib Dems, along with two members of the House of Lords, who in their past lives were at the heart of that 2010-2015 government, as well as a professor who quite literally wrote the book on the coalition. David Laws was the Lib Dem MP for Yeovil from 2001 to 2015, and was part of his party’s team that thrashed out an agreement after the general election gave no party a majority to govern, and Baroness Kate Fall, who began working for David Cameron after he became leader, worked as deputy chief of staff inside Number 10 when he entered Downing Street. Lord Jonny Oates, a Lib Dem peer, was chief of staff for Nick Clegg during his time as deputy Prime Minister, and finally Robert Hazell, Professor of Government and the Constitution at University College London, and the co-author of the book The Politics of Coalition, joins the panel too. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2025

This week the podcast looks at another of those knotty, seemingly intractable issues sat on Labour’s in-tray when they entered government last year; namely social care.To look at how successive administrations have failed to grasp the nettle and deal with the rising costs of a sector that has ballooned in size to deal with our ageing population, host Alain Tolhurst is joined on the panel by Paulette Hamilton, Labour MP and the acting chair of the health and social care select committee, as well as Joe Robertson, Tory MP for the Isle of Wight who also sits on the select committee.Alongside them are Lucinda Allen, policy fellow in social care at The Health Foundation, and Will Dalton, national officer for care at the GMB union, to discuss Andrew Dilnot’s infamous unimplemented review, Theresa May’s election-losing dementia tax, and what Keir Starmer’s government is doing to take on the care crisis.They argue whether the latest review is another exercise in kicking the can down the road, and what impact this week’s immigration white paper will have on the sector’s massive vacancy issues, while later on in the episode Joe Dromey from the Fabian Society talks about the think tank's proposals for dealing with pay and recruitment. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2025

This week the podcast takes a look at the government's plans to try and fix the UK’s rental market, with soaring rents, terrifying competition, no fault evictions, poorly maintained properties and huge supply pressures trapping an increasingly large cohort of tenants in a system that means they may never own their own homes.To discuss the Renters Rights Bill and how it will look to solve some of these issues, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Joe Powell, Labour MP for Kensington and Bayswater, who sits on the housing select committee, as well as Roisin Lanigan, journalist and author, whose debut novel ‘I Want to Go Home But I’m Already There’ has been billed as a “gothic novel for generation rent”.Alongside them is Tom Darling, director of the Renters' Reform Coalition, a group of 21 housing organisations campaigning for stronger renters' rights , Charlie Trew, head of policy at the charity Shelter, and Chris Norris, director of policy and campaigns at the National Residential Landlords Association. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 9 May 2025

This week the panel is discussing whether the government can avoid a pensions crisis? As most analysts think the UK’s retirement industry is at a tipping point, needing bold and meaningful - if politically unpopular - reforms, Guy Opperman, the former Tory MP who was the UK’s longest-serving pensions minister from 2017 to 2022, joins host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how ministers can ease the financial burden of the current state pension, while making sure younger workers will still have enough savings to retire comfortably. Alongside them is Lord David Willetts, president of the Resolution Foundation think tank, and Jonathan Cribb, associate director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and there is a chat with Baroness Ros Altmann, another former pensions minister, about the overall health of the sector, and what the government’s priorities should be. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2025

With much of England set to go to the polls next week we’re previewing a crucial set of local elections, with more than 1,600 council seats up for grabs, as well as six mayoral contests and a high-profile Parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby.On the panel is Jonathan Ashworth, chief executive of the think tank Labour Together and a former shadow cabinet minister, Max Wilkinson, Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham and his party’s culture spokesman, as well as Scarlett Maguire, pollster and founder of Merlin Strategies, and Jack Sellers, a former Conservative special adviser who worked for Rishi Sunak in Number 10.They talk to host Alain Tolhurst about the government’s potential electoral struggles, Reform’s high hopes, whether the Tories will take another pasting, and why nobody is talking up the Lib Dems. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 25 April 2025

With the Commons in recess the pod heads down the pub for another episode looking at the UK’s hospitality industry and the struggles it continues to face - with a host of global headwinds and domestic policy contributing to a bleak outlook for the sector in 2025. Joining host Alain Tolhurst for a pint in The Westminster Arms, a stones throw from Parliament, is Conservative MP Richard Holden, vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Pubs and the Shadow Paymaster General, Morgan Schondelmeier, policy manager on tax and trade at the British Beer and Pub Association, Ellie Hudspith, campaigns manager for CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, Steve Alton, CEO of the British Institute of Innkeeping, and Jonny Garrett, chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers and co-host of the Craft Beer Channel. They discuss what the government can do to help this crucial part of the economy, that not only contributes £54 billion in tax receipts, £20 billion in exports, and is the third largest employer in the UK - but also plays a vital role in the country’s social fabric - after it was hit by the triple of whammy of rising business rates, a National Insurance hike, and increased staff costs, this month. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 18 April 2025

Senior Labour MP Liam Bryne, who chairs the Commons business and trade committee, joins host Alain Tolhurst to discuss how Keir Starmer navigates the post-tariff world, and whether the market turmoil could be an opportunity for Britain. Later in the episode a panel of experts discuss the small matter of what on earth is happening to the global economy - and what that will mean for the UK - after Donald Trump’s sudden volte face on Wednesday, abandoning almost all of the tariffs he had meted out on so-called ‘Liberation Day’ a week before, but leaving 10% levies on British goods and 25% on steel and the automotive sector. Jill Rutter, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government and a former senior civil servant, Raoul Ruparel, a former adviser to Theresa May on Europe and a special adviser in the Brexit department, Allie Renison, associate director at SEC Newgate and a former policy adviser to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and Clive Jones, Liberal Democrat MP and his party’s spokesperson on trade, try to make sense of what just happened, and explain what might happen next. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 11 April 2025

Former Conservative MP and minister Mark Field speaks to host Alain Tolhurst about his new memoir The End Of An Era, which as the title suggests charts both his own time in politics as well as the waning fortunes of his party over the past 25 years. They discuss his reflections five years on from stepping down from the Commons, what the Tories got right as well as wrong in their time in office, how they might recover once more from last year's disastrous election, why he's voted for the losing candidate in every leadership contest stretching back to Ken Clarke, and the response to writing about his much-publicised affair with Liz Truss, and the incident at the Mansion House dinner in 2019 that led to the premature end of his ministerial career. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 4 April 2025

To discuss the fallout from this week’s Spring Statement, after Rachel Reeves confirmed a host of cuts to benefit payments and a squeeze on public spending to offset a downgrade in the country’s growth forecast, John Glen, Tory MP and a former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Helen Barnard, Director of Policy at the Trussell charity, Greg Thwaites, Research Director at the Resolution Foundation think tank, and Chris Curtis, Labour MP and Vice-Chair of the Labour Growth Group, join host Alain Tolhurst. As the question already turns to whether further tax rises will be needed as soon as this year, some Labour backbenchers fume about the optics of the government appearing to balance the books on the backs of some of the poorest in society due to self-imposed fiscal rules, while others have questioned the role of the OBR in guiding the Treasury’s hand every six months. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 28 March 2025

Last week Keir Starmer scrapped NHS England as he signalled the government's aim to fundamentally reshape and rewire how the state operates, so the panel is discussing what this means for civil service staff numbers, what impact this will have on the delivery of public services, and how briefings about a so-called ‘project chainsaw’ have gone down in Whitehall. Joining host Alain Tolhurst is Max Blain, who was the official spokesperson for three Prime Ministers, and is now a director at the global advisory firm Portland, as well as Hannah Keenan, associate director at the think tank the Institute for Government, and Suzannah Brecknell, co-editor at our sister publication and Whitehall bible, CivilServiceWorld. To sign up for our newsletters click hereTo view this year's Women in Westminster 100 list click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 21 March 2025

After winning five MPs last year and continuing to surge in the polls - are the wheels starting to come off for Reform UK after this week's damaging but wholly predictable internal row involving MP Rupert Lowe and party leader Nigel Farage? Gawain Towler, the party's former director of communications and a long-time spokesman for Nigel Farage, as well as Sophie Stowers, research associate at the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, and Harriet Symonds, commissioning editor at The House magazine, join host Alain Tolhurst to discuss if this is just the usual teething problems for an insurgent party, if it might damage their electoral chances this May, and whether this meme is coming true once again. To sign up for our newsletters click hereTo view this year's Women in Westminster 100 list click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 14 March 2025

As the future of Europe dominates the headlines, Lib Dem defence spokesperson Helen Maguire MP, former Tory ministers James Heappey and Greg Hands, and More in Common’s Luke Tryl join host Adam Payne to discuss a seismic week in world affairs as Prime Minister Keir Starmer tries to bring peace to Ukraine. With the tectonic plates of geopolitics shifting day by day, the Labour government faces major questions like how to deal with Donald Trump, and whether a ’coalition of the willing’ can really protect a peace deal from Russian aggression. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Adam Payne, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 7 March 2025

With the Prime Minister in Washington this week the Labour MPs Steve Yemm and Chris Evans, as well as Professor Sam Edwards from Loughborough University, and Lord John Alderdice, Liberal Democrat peer, join host Alain Tolhurst to look at the so-called ‘special relationship’. From its history, to why the close bilateral partnership between the UK and America is so enduring, but why it might now be under threat as Keir Starmer tries to deal with the Donald Trump White House. Elsewhere in the episode Katie Perrior, Downing Street director of communications under Theresa May, also talks about what is was like to deal with the first Trump administration. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 28 February 2025

This Parliament could finally see further modernisation of the way the Commons operates, with a new committee led by Cabinet minister Lucy Powell setting out plans for meaningful reform in a host of areas, after clamour from new MPs to finally bring how Westminster works into the 21st century. One of the 2024 intake, Labour’s Rachel Blake, joins Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, her party’s spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, as well as Sophie Church, reporter at our sister publication The House magazine, alongside host Alain Tolhurst discuss if Westminster working will finally get dragged into the 21st century. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 21 February 2025

One of the most complex, and divisive, issues in modern politics is making a return under this government; ID cards. Advocates describe it as a potential way to improve public services, tackle illegal migration and modernise the state, but it remains intensely controversial, due to significant concerns over privacy, data security and equality. To discuss those issues host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Jake Richards, Labour MP for Rother Valley, Kirsty Innes, director of technology at the think tank Labour Together, Rebecca Vincent, interim director at the campaign group Big Brother Watch, and James Baker, campaigns manager at the Open Rights Group. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 14 February 2025

Instead of tapping into the mood at Westminster, this week The Rundown is looking at the political mood of the country as we move further into 2025, teaming up once again teamed up with the guys at Thinks, the global insight and strategy consultancy. Last week they polled more than 2,000 UK adults on how they feel about the first six months of the Labour government, their view of the different opposition parties, and if they regret their vote at last year’s general election. To discuss the findings as well as the results of focus groups conducted with voters in swing seats that backed Labour in 2024, Ben Shimshon, co-founder and CEO at Thinks, joined host Alain Tolhurst along with PolHome editor Adam Payne, and Sienna Rodgers, deputy editor of our sister publication The House magazine. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 7 February 2025

For the 150th episode this week former deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine comes on the show for a special interview ahead of the publication of his new memoir 'From Acorns to Oaks' about the second part of his career as an advisor to David Cameron and reflecting further on his time in Margaret Thatcher and John Major’s Cabinets. The Conservative peer, who at 91 is still one of the ‘big beasts’ of British politics, despite leaving parliament in 2001 and retiring to Thenford House in Northamptonshire and its 400 acre estate. The book contrasts his work to restore the woodland at his family’s arboretum with his time trying to pursue urban regeneration and increasing Britain’s regional growth, and he speaks to Alain Tolhurst about his long career championing devolution, what Labour need to do to get the economy moving again, and how his party rebuilds after last year’s devastating defeat. To sign up for our newsletters  Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 31 January 2025

Before the election Labour promised to restore confidence in government by cleaning up lobbying, improving transparency and tightening the rules for MPs, but is Keir Starmer's administration really sticking to its word? The Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, Melanie Onn, a member of the Commons standards committee, Gabe Winn, chief executive of the Blakeney Group, a public affairs and communications agency, John Johnston, London Influence reporter at Politico, and Jon Gerlis, head of public relations and policy at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, join Alain Tolhurst to take a look inside the sometimes hidden world of lobbying in Westminster. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 24 January 2025

A difficult financial outlook has got even tougher for Rachel Reeves in recent days, so what is happening to the UK economy, and just how difficult will things get for the Chancellor with the next OBR forecast and the spending review looming? To take a deeper look at what is fuelling the current market turmoil, and ask whether things really are as bad as during the Liz Truss era, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Dr Isabel Stockton, senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, as well as the Labour MP and member of the Treasury select committee, Jeevun Sandher, and Cameron Brown, a former Treasury special adviser under the last Conservative government. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 17 January 2025

One of the most interesting and consequential politicians of the past few years, Steve Baker was the Conservative MP for Wycombe for 14 years, served as a minister in three departments for three different prime ministers, but is probably best known as the so-called ‘Brexit hardman’, who corralled the ERG group of eurosceptic Tories into numerous rebellions over how Britain left the EU. Now out of the Commons having lost his seat in the Labour landslide last summer, he speaks to Alain Tolhurst about politics in 2025, his anger over the rhetoric around the grooming gangs issue, how his party recovers under Kemi Badenoch and takes on Nigel Farage and Reform, and what life has been like post-Parliament. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 10 January 2025

To mark the new year LBC’s political editor Natasha Clark and PoliticsHome editor Adam Payne join host Alain Tolhurst to look ahead to the next 12 months in British politics with a preview of 2025; What will be the big flashpoints as Keir Starmer tries to boost his flagging premiership? Can Kemi Badenoch revive the Tories in the face of threats of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK? Will Westminster continue to have a fractured five-party politics? Or will President Trump 2.0 blow it all out of the water? To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick Hilton and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

Transcribed - Published: 3 January 2025