You sent in your burning questions, now our panel answers them. Will Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘relaunch’ work? Has Britain become ungovernable? Will the UK’s voting system be reformed, is the student loans system punishing youthful ambition, and what about defence? Host Lucy Fisher is joined by the FT’s George Parker, Miranda Green and Robert Shrimsley to discuss a range of topics spanning politics and policy. Follow Lucy on Bluesky or X: @lucyfisher.bsky.social, @LOS_Fisher; Miranda @greenmirandahere...
May 11, 2026•50 min
It’s been a dreadful night for Labour as council seats across the country have turned from red to turquoise. The Conservatives have not fared much better with Reform UK the big winner so far. With results still coming in, host Lucy Fisher discusses the fracturing of the vote and the future for beleaguered Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with the FT’s deputy political editor Jim Pickard, Northern England correspondent Jen Williams and political columnist Stephen Bush. Have a question for the pane...
May 08, 2026•36 min
With just one week to go before voters across the UK deliver their verdict on Sir Keir Starmer’s government – our panel discusses another agonising week for the PM, Labour’s forecast devastation at the polls, and how No 10 can regroup in the aftermath. Other talking points include the momentum behind Reform UK and the Green party — and the hurdles that threaten to trip them up. Host Lucy Fisher is joined by deputy opinion editor Miranda Green, UK chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley and ...
May 01, 2026•37 min
The economist John Kenneth Galbraith once quipped that “there can be few fields of human endeavour in which history counts for so little as in the world of finance.” This show sets out to prove the opposite. Each week, FT columnist Gillian Tett and FT Alphaville editor Robin Wigglesworth dig into the ideas, personalities and institutions that have shaped global finance. From unregulated banking in 19th-century frontier America to institutionalised debt jubilees in ancient Mesopotamia, and from t...
Apr 29, 2026•1 min
The rolling drama over the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador is eating the government alive, with more committee hearings coming next week and crucial elections for Labour on May 7. This week’s host Miranda Green discusses the cost of the Mandelson saga for Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership with deputy political editor Jim Pickard, political correspondent Anna Gross and public policy editor Chris Smyth. Plus, the panel debates Ed Miliband’s electricity announcement, Reform’s new ...
Apr 24, 2026•37 min
It’s not just the Trump administration attacking the UK’s defence capabilities. Now a Labour grandee and former head of Nato, Lord George Robertson, has accused Sir Keir Starmer of ‘corrosive complacency’ over delays to defence spending. With the 10-year plan for defence stuck in deadlock, host Lucy Fisher discusses the choices faced by the PM with chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley, deputy political editor Jim Pickard and political columnist and writer of the Inside Politics newslette...
Apr 17, 2026•35 min
Sir Keir Starmer had promised 2026 would be the year the UK economy and household finances would finally “turn the corner”. But the Iran war has nixed those hopes. Now the pressure from unions to increase public sector pay is mounting, and resident doctors are continuing their rolling strikes. Student finance remains another open sore despite the announcement of a cap on loan interest rates. To discuss the pressures on the public purse, host Lucy Fisher is joined by political editor George Parke...
Apr 10, 2026•36 min
Donald Trump has heaped insults on Sir Keir Starmer in recent weeks over his stance on the Iran war. The US president labelled the UK prime minister “no Winston Churchill”, said Britain’s aircraft carriers were mere “toys” and told Britain to “go get your own oil” from the Gulf. So perhaps it’s unsurprising that the PM appears to be pivoting heavily towards the EU. Host Lucy Fisher unpicks the shift with colleagues Jim Pickard, Anna Gross and Robert Shrimsley. They also discuss how the Middle Ea...
Apr 02, 2026•41 min
Sir Keir Starmer’s authority is slipping and Westminster is alive with speculation about potential successors. But chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley joins host Lucy Fisher, alongside deputy opinion editor Miranda Green and public policy editor Chris Smyth, to argue why he believes Labour may be better off sticking with Starmer. The panel also discuss the government’s plans to ban political donations in cryptocurrency and cap overseas donations at £100,000 a year. What does it mean for...
Mar 27, 2026•38 min
Introducing Opus Dei , a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Antonia Cundy uncovers the cultural and political influence of a controversial Catholic organisation in America. Opus Dei exists to help people get closer to God, but some members say they found other agendas – and unexpected harm – entangled in that spiritual mission. The first episode of Untold: Opus Dei launches March 25. Listen on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on A...
Mar 23, 2026•1 min
Angela Rayner heaped scorn on Sir Keir Starmer’s administration this week, fuelling fresh scrutiny of her ambitions. Does she want to return to cabinet or seize the reins? The former deputy prime minister issued a stark warning that the government is running out of time to change direction under Starmer, while also attempting to court the City. At the same time, the Greens continue to beat Labour in the polls with an unabashedly socialist platform. Does all this signal the government will shift ...
Mar 20, 2026•40 min
It has been a week of red faces for party leaders. On Thursday, Keir Starmer apologised and took personal responsibility for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US – after a first round of document disclosures suggested the prime minister was largely absent from the decision-making process. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch were both busy executing awkward U-turns on their earlier vocal support for a US war on Iran that is proving distinctly unpopular with UK voter...
Mar 13, 2026•36 min
A week into the Iran war and Sir Keir Starmer is scrambling to defend the UK’s position on the conflict. Criticised by Donald Trump over blocking the US from using British military bases to launch initial strikes on Iran, and under pressure from allies such as Cyprus to do more to protect the region, the PM is also facing demands to participate in strikes from the British right. But polling suggests the UK public is broadly in line with his policy on the conflict. This week host Lucy Fisher is j...
Mar 06, 2026•35 min
The Gorton and Denton by-election was supposedly a three-horse race, but on polling day the Green Party stormed to victory by a vast margin. It was a devastating defeat for Labour, which was pushed into third place behind Reform UK. Sir Keir Starmer now faces intense pressure, while his party must battle a threat from the left as well as the right. Does this historic result – the first ever by-election triumph for the Greens – signal the end of the two-party system? And where does it leave Refor...
Feb 27, 2026•32 min
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage unveiled his ‘shadow cabinet’ at a glitzy event in London this week, with a newly bespectacled Robert Jenrick announced as ‘shadow chancellor’. The event was a hit with Reform’s supporters in the room – but can the party appeal to a broader base? One clue as to Reform’s prospects: the by-election next week in Gorton and Denton. The Manchester seat – where Reform, Labour and the Greens are all vying for victory – is a crucial bellwether. Host Lucy Fisher is joined by...
Feb 20, 2026•37 min
After another torrid week for the prime minister, the focus has shifted from No 10 to Whitehall as the UK’s top civil servant is shown the door. Cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald had been in the job for less than 14 months, and his departure — following the resignations of Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff and communications director — has intensified questions about the PM’s judgment over key appointments. While Starmer’s cabinet appears to have rallied behind him in the short term, the impen...
Feb 13, 2026•31 min
Fresh revelations about Peter Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have sparked a political explosion in Westminster, reopening questions about Keir Starmer’s decision to return him to the heart of public life. Mandelson, the former UK ambassador to Washington, has resigned from the House of Lords and from the Labour Party, while a criminal investigation has been launched into allegations that he shared sensitive information with Epstein during his time as bus...
Feb 06, 2026•34 min
Sir Keir Starmer is 5,000 miles away in China, meeting President Xi Jinping to drum up investment and deepen relations, but back on the home front the PM’s leadership looks increasingly beset. Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s ambitions may have been thwarted for now, but the plotting continues in rival contenders’ camps. In a bid to wrestle back control of the agenda, the government is pressing on with fresh policy announcements. Meanwhile, the Tories have seen more MP defections to Reform, as se...
Jan 30, 2026•37 min
From ‘brilliant ally’ to ‘weak and stupid’ within the same paragraph, it’s hard to know how to handle the impulsive outbursts from America’s 47th President. And yet, this is the position in which the British prime minister found himself this week as he stood firm in the face of Donald Trump’s threats to Greenland. Some back channel diplomacy in Davos helped put US European relations back on an even keel but it’s clear the so-called ‘special relationship’ is under strain. So where does Keir Starm...
Jan 23, 2026•35 min
First he was pushed and then he jumped: high drama at Westminster after Kemi Badenoch sacked her rival for the Tory leadership Robert Jenrick - his crime was plotting a defection to Reform UK. Hours later, Jenrick appeared at Nigel Farage's side, branding his former party "rotten". Did Badenoch’s decisive action help the Tory recovery plan? Which party is left weaker and which stronger in the fight for the right - could this, the most significant defection so far, further fuel Farage’s claim tha...
Jan 16, 2026•35 min
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had wanted to kick off the new year with a strong domestic start, tackling the cost of living crisis head on, in the hopes of improving his dire poll ratings. Instead, he has found himself firefighting on the international front, trying to navigate Donald Trump’s foreign policy frenzy. How will Starmer manage his ‘special relationship’ with the US president in light of recent events? Where do Trump’s latest actions leave Nato, especially with regard to Ukraine? An...
Jan 09, 2026•34 min
Imagine a graph with one line going up over time. Below it, another line does just the opposite. It kind of looks like the letter K. On the FT's Swamp Notes podcast, Claire Jones and Rob Armstrong break down why people are saying that letter represents the state of the economy and what it means for the White House. Mentioned in this podcast: Does the K-shaped economy theory even make sense? Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com) Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here Th...
Jan 02, 2026•19 min
Can you name all the Labour frontbenchers who resigned or were sacked during the past year? Why was Peter Mandelson delayed from returning to the UK after being sacked as US ambassador? And who will be crowned Political Fix’s Wonk-in-Chief? Find out as host George Parker puts the entire podcast panel - Miranda Green, Stephen Bush, Robert Shrimsley, Jim Pickard and Anna Gross - through their paces in this big, fat, fiendishly difficult end-of-year quiz. The panellists also highlight their most me...
Dec 19, 2025•50 min
It’s been another turbulent year in politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced down rebellions from within his own party, overseen scandals and sackings, and delivered a constant barrage of bad news from health and housing to small boats and the Budget. He’s fared a little better on the world stage – with successful state visits, securing a comparatively competitive trade deal with Trump, as well as a tentative rapprochement with Europe. But with every international success, Starmer’s stand...
Dec 12, 2025•38 min
Sir Keir Starmer started the week with not one but two speeches defending his party’s Budget decisions in the wake of claims that chancellor Rachel Reeves had misled the public and fellow MPs about the state of the nation’s finances. Was his sell convincing? The prime minister also brought up Brexit, but as panellist Robert Shrimsley points out, Starmer was characteristically unclear as to whether the Labour party was ultimately leaning into or out of the EU. Plus, host George Parker and the res...
Dec 05, 2025•40 min
It’s been a rollercoaster week for both UK politics and our personal finances, with chancellor Rachel Reeves setting out tens of billions of pounds of tax rises in the Budget. But how will these new taxes be applied and what could they cost you? In a Money Clinic podcast recorded live at the FT, host and consumer editor Claer Barrett is joined by Dan Neidle, the founder of Tax Policy Associates; Stuart Kirk, the FT’s investment columnist; and Tej Parikh, the FT’s economics leader writer, to fiel...
Dec 01, 2025•54 min
After months of speculation, predictions and U-turns, Rachel Reeves finally announced her Budget this week. And, symptomatic of the chaos this Budget has wrought, there was one final twist: the entire Budget appeared on the Office for Budget Responsibility's website 45 minutes before the chancellor was set to give her speech. It sent the media and the markets into a spin…the key takeaway: a historic tax rise achieved without officially breaking the government’s manifesto promise. So what are the...
Nov 28, 2025•40 min
Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing efforts have moved from the super rich to a mass market consumer industry. In this series, we’re covering the past, present and future of the longevity movement. We’ll be looking at where the fixation on longevity is coming from, and trying to understand the practical and ethical issues at the hear...
Nov 24, 2025•2 min
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a tough set of measures overhauling immigration policy this week, in a bid to deter illegal boat crossings and tackle the thorny issue of asylum seekers that dominates the news agenda. But how did the announcement go down with a divided Labour party? And, just days away from the Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves is under huge pressure after a series of U-turns and leaks on taxation policy. Host George Parker discusses whether anything can be done to revers...
Nov 21, 2025•34 min
It has been a whirlwind week in Westminster with the BBC in crisis and a supposed challenge to the prime minister’s leadership. So, was there a putative coup from within Keir Starmer’s own cabinet? Is there a “toxic culture” in Downing Street? Plus: the panel’s take on the runners and riders for the top job at the national broadcaster. Host George Parker is joined by Anna Gross, Stephen Bush and Jim Pickard to discuss. This episode was recorded before the FT broke the story about the chancellor ...
Nov 14, 2025•32 min
