The Expert Factor IFS/IfG/UKICE

The NHS is front and centre of a general election campaign. Rishi Sunak has placed the NHS at the heart of the five pledges he wants to voters to judge him on, while Keir Starmer has made NHS reform one of the five missions which he says would drive a Labour government.
But money is tight, and performance levels are poor. That familiar subject of how to reform the NHS is surfacing again – along with the tricky question of how to pay for our health service.
So how is the NHS funded? How much do we spend on the health service? How well is this money spent and why does the NHS never seem to stick to its budget? Are there better ways it could be funded? And are politicians being honest with the public about what the NHS can provide – and how it should be paid for?
On this week’s Expert Factor, the team examine one of the thorniest questions in politics – and a question that is sure to be asked repeatedly in the general election campaign.

THE EXPERT FACTOR is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come.
Produced by Milo Hynes and Podmasters
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‘Stopping the boats’ was one of Rishi Sunak’s five priorities at the start of 2023. The numbers, and the visuals, of small boats arriving on the UK’s southern coast is an issue long seized upon by Nigel Farage and the Reform Party that has, to some extent, spooked both the Conservatives and Labour. And it is a policy problem that has caused massive headaches for the finest minds in government, a succession of ministers as well as the officials trying to implement that policy.So what's actually happening in asylum policy? How many people are trying to claim asylum in the UK, and what does that really mean? What is the government’s approach to asylum, be it by approaching Rwanda to be a ‘third country’ or otherwise, and is it working? And what, if there is one, could be a better approach?On this week’s Expert Factor the team explore asylum policy and how effective the government’s approach has been to date.
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THE EXPERT FACTOR is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come. Produced by Milo Hynes
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With elections being held in the UK, India, the US, Austria, Belgium and for the European Parliament, 2024 is going to be a huge year for politics, politicians and political parties. But could it also be another big year for populists?  
In recent years populist parties of the right and left have exploited anger towards the political elite, a loss of trusts in governments, and growing democratic dissatisfaction. They have surged in polls and made electoral breakthroughs, but will the coming months see more of the same?
What would this mean for the numerous elections set to take place over 2024? Will we see previously fringe candidates rocketing up in the polls? What will happen if Donald Trump wins or loses in the US? Will politics in Europe and beyond lurch to the left or right? Just which voters do these parties most appeal to? And how do we go about improving voters’ faith in their representatives and stop democracy itself coming under threat?
On this week’s Expert Factor the team take a deep dive into populist politics.
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THE EXPERT FACTOR is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come. Produced by Milo Hynes
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On 5 November 2024, up to 161 million American voters will go to the polls to vote for the next president of the United States – and will be faced with a choice between the same two candidates that stood in 2020. Joe Biden, the incumbent, will again face Donald Trump – the former president who lost to Biden in 2020. But polling suggests many voters are less than enthused by the choice. Non-MAGA Republicans feeling queasy about the prospect of Trump – who is still facing a pile of legal challenges – returning to the White House, and many Democrats wonder if Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second presidential term, is the best possible candidate.
So what are we to make of American politics?  How does their system work? What will happen in the election? What could this mean for the UK? And is politics in the US a guide to what might happen in the UK?
On this week’s Expert Factor the team take a deep breath and take a deep dive into US politics. Mark Landler, London Bureau Chief of the New York Times and a former White House correspondent, joins Hannah, Paul and Anand (who dials in from Boston) to try and make sense of a presidential election that will have consequences across the world.
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THE EXPERT FACTOR is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come. 
Produced by Milo Hynes
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Take a look at the polls and you might be forgiven for thinking that the next general election is heading towards one outcome and one outcome only. But that election could be months away – even next year, and a week, let alone a month, is a long time in politics. Keir Starmer keeps reminding his party not to be complacent, and Peter Mandelson has even predicted that the next election will result in a hung parliament. If so, then what happens?
What would it mean for the country if no party wins a majority at the general election? Are there lessons from the coalition years of 2010-15 or Theresa May’s 2017 deal with the DUP? Are there better ways for minority governments to govern? What should Westminster learn from the devolved administrations? And why have we seen an outbreak of hung parliaments in recent years – and should we prepare for more?
On this week’s Expert Factor the team take a deep dive into the confusing – and often chaotic – world of hung parliaments.
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THE EXPERT FACTOR is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come. Produced by Milo Hynes
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A major new report by the Institute for Government says the centre of government – No10, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office – is not capable of meeting the challenges that the UK faces in the 21st century.  So what has been going wrong?
How has No.10 failed prime ministers from different parties over the last two decades? What does the Cabinet Office actually do, and why has it more than doubled its size in the last ten years? 
Should the Treasury be split up? Is it right that the most. important decisions in government are taken in Cabinet meetings attended by over 30 ministers? And if, say, you are Rishi Sunak with five pledges or Keir Starmer with five missions, and you win the general election, then how would redesigning the centre of government help you achieve those aims? 
This week’s Expert Factor sees Hannah, Paul and Anand take a deep dive into the heart of UK government – and explore why the centre doesn’t work, and what needs to be done to fix it.
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THE EXPERT FACTOR is the podcast for people who haven’t had enough of experts. Each week the directors of three leading and respected think tanks – Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Hannah White of the Institute for Government, and Anand Menon of UK in a Changing Europe – get together to discuss, debate and explain the big questions and themes that will shape the election – and the political landscape for years to come. Produced by Milo Hynes
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