Westminster Insider

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POLITICS
UPDATED WEEKLY

POLITICO’s weekly political series lifts the curtain on how Westminster really works, offering in-depth insight into the political issues which typically only get broad-brush treatment in the wider media.

6 DAYS AGO

One crazy night in Washington

Westminster Insider heads to Washington to capture a historic election night that changed America — and the world. Host Emilio Casalicchio takes us on a wild ride across the political epicenter of the U.S. as the votes began flooding in and the crucial swing states fell to Donald Trump. He spoke to hopeful Democratic campaigners in a plush club in downtown D.C. and excitable Trump fans packed into a dive bar on the less-polished eastern side of the city. As the results became clear, Emilio headed to the streets outside Howard University, where Kamala Harris no-showed her own election night event, leaving dejected Democrats to begin the unhappy trudge home. He stumbled upon POLITICO D.C. Playbook writer Eugene Daniels, who was in the room as the mood soured through the night before it was announced there would be no victory speech. And as Trump's historic win solidified, Emilio found ecstatic MAGA enthusiasts spilling out of their watch event after closing time. In fitting fashion, he ended the night outside the White House itself, reflecting on the seismic result — and what it means for all of us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 min
1 NOV

How to deliver a great budget

Rachel Reeves' first budget was a historic moment — for her, for the Labour Party ... and for the nation's tax burden. So this week Westminster Insider host Sascha O'Sullivan goes back in history to find out what makes a budget truly memorable. Historian Robert Saunders revisits William Gladstone's bumper 19th Century budget speeches, which sometimes lasted four or five hours. And he discusses the archaic traditions, begun under Gladstone, which U.K. chancellors still follow to this day. Fellow historian David Lough explains how Winston Churchill's biggest budget decision, to rejoin the gold standard in 1925, overshadowed the future PM's ill-fated stint as chancellor — and how Churchill's own precarious finances impacted on his work at the Treasury. Veteran journalist Andrew Marr discusses the postwar budgets of Labour Chancellor Stafford Cripps and the famous 1980s budgets of Tory grandees Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson, still venerated by Tory MPs to this day. Carolyn Quinn, BBC journalist and presenter for 36 years, takes Sascha inside the New Labour years — with a little help from Ed Balls — as well as the "omnishambles" George Osborne budget of 2012. And outgoing Institute for Fiscal Studies boss Paul Johnson explains how the IFS became such a central part of Westminster's budget day tradition — and how his economists work through the night to keep us informed of what the chancellor has planned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

46 min
11 OCT

Does Westminster do God?

Alistair Campbell famously once proclaimed of Tony Blair's government: "we don't do God." Two decades on, this week on Westminster Insider, host Sascha O'Sullivan goes to the politicians' church St Bartholomew the `Great to find out if that's still true. She speaks to some of parliament's most prominent Christians about the influence of religion on politics. Liberal Democrat Tim Farron tells Sascha about stepping step down from the leadership of his party after being confronted with a choice between "being a good leader and a good Christian." Tory MP and evangelical Christian Danny Kruger shares with Sascha how his religion informs his values as a politician and drives the policies he has helped lobby for with Conservative colleagues. Sascha speaks to Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, nicknamed "the rev" because of his faith, about how his support for gay marriage legislation in 2012, led to him being "condemned by the local priest three Sundays in a row." And how, he says, he feels the need to make the case for Christian politics on the left as a louder religious voice emerges in Conservative politics. POLITICO Playbook reporter Bethany Dawson takes Sascha inside the Alliance for Responsible Citizens conference, where British and American politicians openly called for a return to our "Judeo-Christian foundations." And Bishop Alan Smith of St Albans makes the case for bishops in the House of Lords, while Lib Dem peer Lorely Burt and journalist Tali Fraser argue that Christian traditions still present in parliament can prove alienating for non believers and people of other faiths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

55 min
4 OCT

A boozy lunch with Sir Graham Brady

Host Jack Blanchard goes for a long lunch with Sir Graham Brady, the former chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Conservative MPs — and the man who helped bring down multiple Tory prime ministers. Over a meal of rare roast beef and Argentine malbec, Sir Graham picks through his 14 years at the helm of the 1922 committee, and his run-ins with the five different prime ministers who occupied Downing Street through his period in office. Sir Graham recalls the topics which really made David Cameron angry; Theresa May's rage at being betrayed by her own MPs; Boris Johnson's time-wasting tricks and Liz Truss' final words to him before she stepped out of No. 10 Downing Street to resign. And he reflects on an archaic Westminster system by which Tory prime ministers' power ultimately relies upon the size of a pile of secret letters locked in a safe in the parliamentary office of one backbench MP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

50 min
27 SEPT

How to choose a Tory leader

This year’s Conservative Party conference will be a beauty pageant for would-be leaders, with each one setting out their stall as to why they’re the right person to head up the party. So this week Westminster Insider host Sascha O’Sullivan dives into what it’s really like to be a contender in a Tory leadership campaign — and how candidates can appeal to both MPs and party members alike. Andrea Leadsom, who made it through to the final two leadership candidates in 2016 before dramatically dropping out at the 11th hour, recalls the intense pressure on her at the time — and tells Sascha why she really decided to pull out of the race and concede to Theresa May. Sascha also speaks to the Tories' former deputy leader, Peter Lilley, about his own failed run for the leadership back in 1997, and to former party leader Michael Howard about why Tory members were given more of a say at that time over who should be in charge. Tory peer Daniel Finkelstein, a former adviser to William Hague, explains how this new role for the membership led to the election of unpopular leaders like Iain Duncan Smith and Liz Truss. And former campaign chiefs Tim Loughton, who ran Leadsom’s campaign, and James Starkie, who ran Priti Patel’s recent leadership bid, give a behind-the-scenes view of how candidates battle to win Tory MPs over to their side. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

52 min
20 SEPT

Inside Labour Together: the project behind Keir Starmer

The red half of Westminster will shortly decamp to Liverpool for the first Labour conference since the party's general election landslide. Host Sascha O'Sullivan looks at a group which played a key role in that victory — the left-wing think-tank Labour Together. Sascha pieces together the fascinating origin story of Labour Together, speaking to ITV Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana, author of a new book, which details the group's influence, and Keir Starmer biographer Tom Baldwin. Andrew Cooper, political pollster and member of Labour Together advisory board, tells Sascha how Josh Simons, former director of the think tank, built on the work of Morgan McSweeney by using deep voter analysis to help Labour HQ. Sascha speaks to the group's new chief executive, Jonathan Ashworth, about Labour Together's role in shaping the thinking of the new government. He addresses some of the cronyism accusations surrounding the think tank and is quizzed by Sascha on its purpose now Labour is in power. Henry Newman, former political adviser and author of the Whitehall project, explains the concerns about how Labour Together acted as a middleman for political donations between wealthy individuals and politicians. Labour "mega-donor" Dale Vince tells Sascha why he gave money to the think tank. And think tank stalwarts Harry Quilter-Pinner of the Institute of Public Policy Research, Ryan Wain of the Tony Blair Institute and Charlotte Pickles explain how Labour Together fits into the world of the wonks and how different it is from most policy outfits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

56 min
13 SEPT

What's it like to cover a US election?

Days after the drama of the first U.S. presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, host Jack Blanchard asks senior journalists on both sides of the Atlantic — what's it really like to cover an American election? Podcaster and author Jon Sopel reflects on his years covering the White House as the BBC's U.S. editor, recounting famous televised run-ins with Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama. The BBC's Henry Zeffman recalls his own year in the U.S. as a young reporter with the Times, touring the country ahead of the 2020 election. And POLITICO legends Jonathan Martin, Rosa Prince and Eli Stokols consider how political reporting in the U.S. has changed over recent years as the country's politics have transformed dramatically before our eyes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

49 min
11 SEPT

SPONSORED CONTENT: Homes for all: A strategy to end homelessness in Britain

More than 300,000 people in Britain — from individuals to whole families — do not have a safe and secure home. Some live on the streets. Others are sleeping in sheds or garages or spending the night in their cars. And many, including more than 145,000 children, live in temporary accommodation, which often means a family sharing a single room. But things don’t need to be this way. Lloyds Banking Group and Crisis, the U.K. homelessness charity, are calling for the U.K. to build 1 million more homes at social rent by 2033, an endeavor that will require strong partnership between the government and the private sector. POLITICO Studio host David Baker speaks to Francesca Albanese, executive director of policy and social change at Crisis, Rose-Anna Hallam, who is drawing on her experience of growing up in social housing as a student of real estate and planning at Manchester University, and Chris Yau, a director in Lloyds' National Housing Team, about the causes of homelessness, the effect it has on all of us and how we can finally end homelessness in the U.K. for good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 min

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POLITICO’s weekly political series lifts the curtain on how Westminster really works, offering in-depth insight into the political issues which typically only get broad-brush treatment in the wider media.