In 2024 countries with more than 4 billion people will be sending their citizens to the polls. The US, Russia, and India to name a few; this is set to be the biggest election year in history. In this episode of the podcast Anoosh Chakelian is joined by the New Stateman's foreign correspondent Bruno Maçães and senior data journalist Ben Walker to review some of the major political forces at play around the globe in 2024. Download the app: iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/...
Jan 08, 2024•28 min
"How likely would it be for parliament to introduce a Proportional Representation system similar to the rest of Europe? Would this even be feasible given both main parties benefit from a First Past The Post system?", one listener asks. And after the team tackles the questions of constitutional reform they answer listener Paul's question about Rishi Sunaks recently revealed consultations with Dominic Cummings. Submit a question: https://www.newstatesman.com/podcasts/2022/10/you-ask-us Download th...
Jan 05, 2024•18 min
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Dr Emma Runswick, junior doctor in the North West and the current Deputy Chair of the BMA Council. They discuss what's driven junior doctors to the current 6 day walk out, on top of an accrued 28 days of stoppages over the past year. Will the BMA settle for anything less than a 35% pay rise? Has the new health secretary Victoria Atkins made any changes? And is this industrial action putting patients in danger? Download the app: iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new...
Jan 04, 2024•18 min
2024 is set to be the biggest election year in history and countries with more than 4 billion people will be sending their citizens to the polls. And whether or not the UK government decides to hold a general election before January 2025, it will still be an incredibly decisive electoral year for the country. Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor, and Ben Walker, senior data journalist, to discuss how elections will shape Britain in 2024. Download the app: iOS...
Dec 28, 2023•48 min
In this conversation our political editor Andrew Marr sits down with Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, to discuss why 2024 could be a bigger moment for Labour than 1997. This recording is from from our Path to Power conference which delved inside the Labour Party machine as it gears up for an election in 2024. Download the app: iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressivemediagroup.newstatesm...
Dec 23, 2023•25 min
In a special festive episode of the podcast, Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Andrew Marr and Freddie Hayward to revisit some of the best, the worst, and weirdest moments from UK politics in 2023. You can watch the video from this episode on our YouTube channel. Download the app: iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressivemediagroup.newstatesman&hl=en_GB&gl=US Subscribe to the New Statesman What...
Dec 21, 2023•29 min
This is a live recording from the New Statesman Media Group's Path to Power conference which delved inside the Labour Party machine as it gears up for an election in 2024. In this session, hosted by Sarah Dawood - senior associate editor at the New Statesman, we look at Labour's mission for the UK to become a clean energy superpower. This panel was supported by Lloyds Banking Group. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 20, 2023•28 min
Armando and Anoosh delve into the inner workings of British political reporting, exploring the complex world of the Lobby, the blurred relationships that many political journalists and politicians balance - trading access and trust, - and how this landscape has been evolving over the past few years with the rise of digital and alternative media. To do this they are joined by Ash Sarkar, senior editor at Novara Media, and Ian Dunt, columnist at the I and former editor of Politics.co.uk. Thi...
Dec 18, 2023•50 min
Earlier this month we published a magazine with the cover ‘Being Jewish Now’. At this time of crisis in the Middle East, with divisions over the Gaza war and rising anti-Semitism, we asked a group of writers, thinkers, and activists to reflect on the question of what it means to be Jewish and on the left today. In this episode of the podcast senior editor Alona Ferber speaks to five of the writers who contributed to this essay collection, delving deeper into the the...
Dec 16, 2023•59 min
A listener writes in to ask what the real threat is from the right of the Tory party, and our associate political editor, Rachel Cunliffe, breaks this down - starting with identifying who the different factions of the Tory right are, and what they want. Download the app: iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressivemediagroup.newstatesman&hl=en_GB&gl=US Subscribe to the New Statesman WhatsApp c...
Dec 15, 2023•18 min
Yesterday Wales’s first minister Mark Drakeford announced his resignation, after exactly five years in office. He drew tributes for his tenure at PMQs from both leaders, with Keir Starmer describing him as “a true titan of Welsh politics”. Who will be the next Welsh leader? How will this affect Labour's general election campaign in Wales? And what will Mark Drakeford's lasting legacy be? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Matt Hexter, host of the Welsh politics podcast Hiraeth, political consultant a...
Dec 14, 2023•21 min
Thurrock is suffering major cuts to all its council services since it went effectively bankrupt last December, after hundreds of millions of pounds were put into risky investments that didn’t pay off. One of the services to be gravely affected by the cuts is a place called “Thameside”, an arts complex, described locally as a “mini Barbican”, which houses a theatre, library, archive and museum. Places like Thameside often serve as the heart and soul of our communities. They bring people together,...
Dec 11, 2023•35 min
This discussion was recorded at the Cambridge Literary Festival in November 2023. Anoosh Chakelian was joined by Isabel Hardman, assistant editor at the Spectator and author of Fighting for Life, and Phil Whitaker, GP and medical editor at the New Statesman. They came together to ask, can we fix the NHS? Watch and listen more from the Cambridge Literary Festival: https://www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com/clf-player-watch-listen/ Subscribe to the New Statesman WhatsApp channel: https://whatsapp.c...
Dec 09, 2023•41 min
This week it seems that the government have been doing anything and everything to tackle the high migration numbers, that means cracking down on both illegal and legal routes to entering the UK. First new visa requirements were announced, stating that applicants would need to earn £38,700 to be eligible (higher than the average UK salary) and that this would also apply to UK citizens who intended to bring a foreign partner to the country on a spousal visa. Not long after this Home Secretary Jame...
Dec 08, 2023•26 min
Boris Johnson appeared "diminished" at the Covid inquiry - and still couldn't quite apologise properly. Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor for the New Statesman, was in the room as the former prime minister gave evidence. She joins Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward to analyse two "blockbuster" days, figure out if we've learned anything new, and look ahead to next week when Rishi Sunak will appear to account for his actions during the pandemic. Read Rachel's report from the inquiry: "...
Dec 07, 2023•20 min
Is democracy slipping away from us? How protected are we by our constitution? And do governments have the power to swiftly change this? In June, in front of a live audience, Armando and Anoosh were joined by Simon Woolley, founder and director of Operation Black Vote and Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge, and Graham Smith, CEO of the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic. This episode was recorded shortly after the first data regarding voter ID impact in elections, and also after t...
Dec 04, 2023•45 min
Housing in the UK has become increasingly unaffordable during the last two decades, buying a home is an unattainable prospect for many in the country, and the challenges facing renters are now reaching a tipping point. And the rentier economy is not only freezing out housing tenants. Small, and sometimes large, businesses are also being priced out of these spaces, which is having a significant effect on the UK's cultural landscape. Anoosh Chakelian, Britain editor at the New Statesman, is joined...
Dec 02, 2023•37 min
Andrew Marr joins the team in the studio this week to answer listener questions. John writes in to ask which often used misleading expressions in political journalism might warrant the use of a 'broadcaster swear jar'. Meanwhile, Xia asks the podcast team which policies they're most optimistic about that might be put in place by a Starmer government. In this episode we also hear from Freddie Hayward, politics correspondent, and Zoë Grunëwald, politics and policy correspondent. Download the app: ...
Dec 01, 2023•17 min
Andrew Marr, political editor at the New Statesman, speaks to Freddie Hayward, political correspondent, about why the newly published figures on net migration for 2022 have sent shockwaves through the Conservative party. The focus, he says, has shifted from illegal migration - 'stop the boats' - to legal migration, because of these figures. Last week the Office for National Statistics revealed that net migration to the UK reached a record high of 745,000 in 2022. This figure relates to people gi...
Nov 30, 2023•17 min
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, nearly a million people aged 50-64 have left the workforce. Other major economies have seen their employment rates bounce back after the pandemic, and the Financial Times have reported that the UK is the only developed economy where inactivity kept rising after the initial pandemic shock. In this episode, sponsored by Phoenix Insights, Becky Slack from the New Statesman Spotlight team is joined by Alison McGovern, shadow m...
Nov 29, 2023•27 min
The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our fourth series of Westminster Reimagined . In this episode, which was recorded in the summer of 2023, Armando and Anoosh visit a group of sixth form students who will be voting for the first time in the upcoming general election. They want to know what how politics is taught in schools, how the students view the UK political party system, and whether the issues that mat...
Nov 27, 2023•43 min
How did the Great Depression’s spectres of fascism, bombing and mass unemployment force politicians to think the unthinkable, and pave the way to post-war Britain? How was Thatcher’s road to victory made possible by a decade of nightmares: of hyperinflation, military coups and communist dictatorship? And why, since the Crash in 2008, have new political threats and divisions forced us to change course once again? Freddie Hayward, political correspondent at the New Statesman, is joined in the stud...
Nov 25, 2023•30 min
"The economy will play a central part of next year's election. Do you know if people are better off than in 2010?" - one listener writes in to ask. The podcast team discuss how this can be measured, and how parties might frame this in the run up to the election. Another listener writes in to ask about the constant churn in the ministerial system. Anoosh Chakelian is joined in the studio by Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor, and Freddie Hayward, political correspondent. Download the app...
Nov 24, 2023•15 min
Jeremy Hunt would like this Autumn Statement to be seen as what the government is branding “the biggest tax cut in British history”, but what are the actual costs and implications of the yesterday's budget? Anoosh Chakelian is joined in the studio by Rachel Cunliffe, associate political editor, and Freddie Hayward, political correspondent. Download the app: iOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/new-statesman-magazine/id610498525 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.progressive...
Nov 23, 2023•26 min
The writer, satirist and broadcaster Armando Iannucci returns to the New Statesman Podcast to co-host our fourth series of Westminster Reimagined . Across this season he is joined by co-host Anoosh Chakelian, Britain editor at the New Statesman, to explores parts of British public life he believes to be broken, and is joined by guests from inside and outside Westminster to work out how to fix them. In this first episode of the season our hosts are joined by Alex ...
Nov 20, 2023•51 min
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah – all of whom operate out of Beirut’s southern suburbs – have coordinated their positions in various ways for years in pursuit of what they see as the greater good. John Jenkins, former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq, Syria and Burma, speaks to senior editor Katie Stallard about Iran's interest in the Israel-Hamas conflict and how this will play out across the region. Subscribers get ad-free access to all our podcasts via the New Statesman app. Download...
Nov 18, 2023•28 min
"At the Home Office you have immigration figures, as health secretary there are NHS waiting lists. Is David Cameron likely to improve his reputation because it’s harder to fail as foreign secretary?" - one listener asks. Anoosh Chakelian is joined in the studio by associate political editor Rachel Cunliffe and political correspondent Freddie Hayward to answer listeners questions surrounding David Cameron's appointment as foreign secretary. Subscribers get ad-free access to all our podcasts via t...
Nov 17, 2023•14 min
The government's Rwanda plan has been put on hold, yet again, after being ruled illegal earlier this week by the Supreme Court. And someone who would have a lot to say about this is the former Home Secretary Suella Braverman who was fired on Monday. Braverman has since published a blistering letter to the Prime Minister attacking his failure to deliver on any of his key promises. Meanwhile, Labour is seeing losses and resignations after 56 MPs defied Keir Starmer to vote for ceasefire in Gaza. A...
Nov 16, 2023•31 min
Suella Braverman is out of government... and a shock appointment rocks Westminster. Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward record an emergency episode of the New Statesman podcast to discuss the breaking news of Rishi Sunak's dramatic reshuffle following a weekend of protests which the now former Home Secretary had previously branded "hate marches". This episode was recorded at 10.30am on 13 November 2023, while news of the reshuffle continued to break. For the latest updates and analysis visit ht...
Nov 13, 2023•20 min
They no longer have a stranglehold on Oxbridge and would lose tax breaks under Labour. So what is elite education really selling? At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool in October, the Independent Schools Council hosted a forlorn drinks reception: not one of the more than 40 MPs showed up. ‘We are not the enemy,’ one private school headmaster complained to a sympathetic Daily Mail . But if Labour does win the next general election, it has committed to removing tax breaks on business r...
Nov 11, 2023•30 min
