As voters prepare to go to the polls in a set of local elections that could redraw the political map, we examine the ‘outsiders’ on today’s episode – starting with the Greens. After Zack Polanski’s grilling on the Today programme, are the Greens facing the same scrutiny that once engulfed Labour under Jeremy Corbyn? Also on the podcast: Tim writes a letter to Britain’s aspiring prime ministers. What does Keir Starmer still lack? Does Andy Burnham have a plan beyond Manchesterism? And why do so m...
May 06, 2026•18 min
The local elections are nearly upon us. Political editor Tim Shipman and deputy political editor James Heale bring you the one-stop shop podcast with everything you need to know ahead of the day. What could happen to Keir Starmer, what will a really bad day look like for Labour, and is the political map about to be redrawn? If you enjoy Coffee House Shots, you can join Tim Shipman and James Heale live as the election results roll in. Will Starmer survive the night? Are Reform and the Greens abou...
May 05, 2026•12 min
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows. Politicians react to potential bans on Palestine marches, in the wake of the Golders Green stabbings. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 03, 2026•14 min
The Conservative party was once the natural political home for those on the right. No longer. The Tories’ vote share collapsed at the 2024 general election and the party, under new leadership, has since been outflanked by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Earlier this week, The Spectator pitted the Conservatives, represented by Nick Timothy and Claire Coutinho, against Reform UK, represented by Matt Goodwin and Danny Kruger, for the definitive debate on which party truly represents the future of the rig...
May 01, 2026•28 min
The assisted dying bill has stalled in the House of Lords – but is it dead, or merely delayed? After weeks of fraught debate, multiple amendments and accusations of filibuster, supporters of the bill are considering whether it could return to the Commons – and whether the Parliament Act might ultimately be used to force it through. Lord Falconer, who has long championed assisted dying, argues that a small group of peers used procedure to block the will of the elected House. Lord Moore disagrees,...
Apr 30, 2026•33 min
Hereditary peers have left their red leather benches for the final time. The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act became law earlier this year, which removes all hereditary peers' right to speak and vote in Parliament by virtue of their family ties. Critics have described their role as indefensible, but others accuse Labour of political point-scoring and vandalising the upper house – removing a 'living part of Britain's constitutional inheritance'. James Heale and Megan McElroy discuss – joined...
Apr 30, 2026•17 min
Does Keir Starmer have confidence in Rachel Reeves? Kemi Badenoch pressed the Prime Minister on his Chancellor’s future at PMQs – and he declined to answer, twice. Westminster (and Twitter) is now awash with reshuffle rumours. No 10 has since issued a denial, but the damage may already be done, raising a familiar question: is Keir Starmer just bad at politics? With recess looming and Labour braced for a battering at the local elections, Tim Shipman and Noa Hoffman join Megan McElroy to discuss. ...
Apr 29, 2026•16 min
It’s a blockbuster day in parliament today. To kick things off, we had Philip Barton pleading ignorance; to close the proceedings tonight we have a vote on a possible Privileges Committee probe. But in between we have Morgan McSweeney, the longtime bete noire of the Labour party left, giving testimony on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as British ambassador. McSweeney pushed hard for Mandy to be given the gig: a decision which he said in his opening statement to the Foreign Affairs Committee ...
Apr 28, 2026•18 min
King Charles is about to travel to Washington to visit President Trump. The brief? Fix the strained relationship. No pressure! Can royal diplomacy steady relations? Will the trip be awkward given Trump's recent words on Starmer, Chagos, The Falklands, and Canada? Does the King have what it takes to navigate such a diplomatic minefield? Elsewhere, Morgan McSweeney will appear before MPs tomorrow to explain his actions relating to the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the United State...
Apr 27, 2026•23 min
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows. President Trump survives another potential assassination attempt, as shots ring out at the White House correspondents' dinner. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 26, 2026•18 min
Is Labour about to lose Wales? That’s what the polling suggests. After 27 years, Wales is seeking change. The beneficiaries look to be the outsiders, Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. Why is it this moment in particular that people are seeking new answers? In this special episode of Coffee House Shots, James Heale goes on the road across the Welsh valleys with Luke Tryl, UK Director of More in Common. Attending a series of focus groups, speaking to people on the doorsteps and across towns in the UK, th...
Apr 25, 2026•13 min
The long-debated assisted dying bill is expected to fail in the House of Lords today – described by the bill's leading advocate Lord Falconer as failing 'not on its merits' but 'due to procedural wrangling'. Natasha Feroze speaks to Tim Shipman and James Heale about whether that is a fair description of the bill. Plus the Telegraph investigation into Attorney General Lord Hermer's previous roles taking legal action against British troops who served in Iraq and what this means for his suitability...
Apr 24, 2026•15 min
Somewhere in the documents surrounding Peter Mandelson’s ambassadorial appointment, the Spectator' s political editor Tim Shipman reveals, is a text Keir Starmer sent the night before the announcement. ‘You’ll be brilliant in challenging circumstances,’ he told the Prince of Darkness. ‘And after many years of our discussions, we get to work together side by side. I really look forward to that.’ The message was leaked after a week in which the Prime Minister’s relationship with senior civil serva...
Apr 23, 2026•19 min
It will come as no surprise that Keir Starmer appears to have heard a very different evidence session from Sir Olly Robbins to the one everyone else thought the ex Foreign Office mandarin gave yesterday. The Prime Minister arrived in the Commons for questions today convinced that Robbins had in fact largely backed him up, give or take a few quibbles over whether there was a ‘dismissive’ attitude in Downing Street towards Peter Mandelson’s vetting. What planet is the PM on? Eyes were fixed on his...
Apr 22, 2026•12 min
'The most gripping testimony' since Dominic Cummings which could prove 'extraordinary and quietly devastating' for Keir Starmer. That's the verdict of the Spectator 's political editor Tim Shipman following sacked Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins's testimony today before the Foreign Affairs Committee. Tim and former FCDO mandarin Ameer Kotecha join James Heale to explain why the hearing over the Mandelson appointment was so important, the questions the session has raised – and the holes in ...
Apr 21, 2026•15 min
Westminster is braced ahead of two key interventions in the Mandelson scandal. This afternoon, the prime minister will give a statement in which we understand he will convey his ‘anger’ at being kept in the dark about Peter Mandelson’s (failed) vetting process. Then tomorrow morning, we are expecting to hear Olly Robbins’s side of the story when he appears in front of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Whose testimony will be the most compelling? Will it be the case – as we expect – that Mand...
Apr 20, 2026•20 min
Liberal Democrat peer Mark Pack and MP for Surrey Heath Al Pinkerton join James Heale to explain that it is a matter of 'when not if' the party become the second biggest in local government. Overtaking the Conservatives would be 'seismic' but they see it as inevitable, following a 'long-run of sustained wins' in the post-coalition Lib Dem era. Faced with criticism that the Lib Dems are too focused on community and that leader Ed Davey is more interested in stunts than policy, they explain that a...
Apr 19, 2026•16 min
Danny Kruger joins James Heale to set out Reform’s plan to overhaul the British state – from taking on the civil service to restoring ministerial control – and why he believes the system will resist change. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 18, 2026•29 min
The Peter Mandelson scandal just got more scandalous. Last night the story broke that Mandeslon actually failed his enhanced vetting before being made US Ambassador. Number 10 are pleading ignorance. Their defence sits on the suggestion that the Foreign Office’s most senior official unilaterally decided to ignore the findings and – what’s more – that he told no one. It’s a stretch and, as Tim Shipman says MPs' 'fury is overwhelming'. There are a number of outstanding questions, including: what c...
Apr 17, 2026•20 min
It is a hard time to be a Labour MP. The polls are flagging, the economy is stagnating and the Middle East remains in crisis. But facing electoral armageddon in three weeks’ time, one brave backbencher has taken it up on herself to raise her party’s spirits. Samantha Niblett, the Honourable Member for South Derbyshire, is launching a campaign to make 2026 the ‘summer of sex’. On today's podcast, Tim Shipman and James Heale make sense of the story with Cindy Gallop, the sextech entrepreneur who's...
Apr 16, 2026•23 min
PMQs is back and – predictably – Lord Robertson’s intervention on the state of the armed forces dominated proceedings. The Prime Minister gave six responses to questions about defence spending, none of which addressed the criticism properly. While it was not a painful session for Starmer, it did show how little he has to say and how little authority he seems to have over such a serious matter. Why can’t he just answer the question? Does he want to be back in opposition? Megan McElroy speaks to T...
Apr 15, 2026•14 min
George Robertson (pictured), a former defence secretary and former NATO secretary-general, has accused the government of 'corrosive complacency' towards defence, which puts the UK 'in peril'. This is all the more stinging because the Labour peer was one of the authors of the government's Strategic Defence Review – and that makes two of the three who have since criticised it. How much trouble does this spell for Starmer? And is this just the latest battle in the ongoing war between His Majesty's ...
Apr 14, 2026•11 min
Two big stories to chew over on today’s podcast, starting with Viktor Orban’s landslide defeat in Hungary. The left have been celebrating this as a victory over populism, but have they misunderstood Peter Magyar’s politics? He’s hardly the Hungarian Ed Davey – as figures such as Zack Polanski would have you believe – and shares a lot of similarities with the outgoing leader when it comes to his conservatism. What are the real lessons from this weekend’s result? And why should Donald Trump be war...
Apr 13, 2026•13 min
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows. No end in sight to the conflict in the Middle East, as negotiations in Pakistan between the US and Iran end without an agreement. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 12, 2026•13 min
With one month to go until the local and regional elections, Megan McElroy and James Heale have hit the road with Luke Tryl and Louis O'Geran of More in Common . They report back from the focus groups they've been running in Wales, where voters view Labour through the prism of a double incumbency, as they hold both the Senedd and Westminster. Starmer faces an uphill battle to avoid an historic loss – so is he about to lose Wales? Produced by Megan McElroy and Patrick Gibbons. Become a Spectator ...
Apr 11, 2026•14 min
Gawain Towler, Reform UK board member and their former director of communications, sits down with James Heale to talk about Reform's appeal ahead of the local elections. Gawain argues that Reform needs to broaden its appeal as it won't find the votes to win to its right, but points to their anti-establishment, nationalist and pro-business credentials. While acknowledging that some of the negative stories about a minority of Reform councillors is uncomfortable, he argues that the scrutiny that co...
Apr 10, 2026•15 min
In the magazine this week, Ben Judah – former adviser in the Foreign Office – makes the case for ‘Anglo-Gaullism’. He says that Britain should learn the lessons of France’s Charles de Gaulle when carving out its place in the world, especially given the increasingly erratic nature of the US and the fragmentation of politics at home. In practice, Ben suggests that this would involve an Australian-style ranked-choice voting, injecting Whitehall with experts (in tech and AI), taking on the welfare s...
Apr 09, 2026•16 min
The new cabinet secretary, Antonia Romeo, has published a list of objectives setting out her vision for what the civil service will look like under her. Many have interpreted it as her tightening control over government ... especially since Darren Jones stepped back from his Downing Street role. The path is clear for her to become the Prime Minister’s ‘principal policy adviser’, and to reform the civil service ‘so that it is recognisable for excellence in delivery, innovation and improved produc...
Apr 08, 2026•12 min
We are hours away from Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz. The President has ‘chickened out’ many times before and offered an extension of some kind, but the threats and posturing ahead of this deadline make it difficult for either side to back down. Will Trump really ‘end Iranian civilisation’ tonight? James Heale speaks to Michael Stephens. Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk...
Apr 07, 2026•13 min
Labour won the 2024 general election in part by focusing on ‘hero voters’ – so called because they may have voted Labour in the past but felt the party had abandoned them. Now they risk losing them again – so how does Labour maintain their support? Chris Curtis, Labour MP for Milton Keynes North and former pollster, and Deborah Mattinson, Labour peer and polling guru, join Tim Shipman to talk about how to appeal to this set of voters. Research suggests that voters from this group that are social...
Apr 06, 2026•31 min
