City Politicos: Counting Down to UK 2024 Election

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A detailed analysis of the 2024 UK General Election, as it proceeds, by academics based at the School of Policy and Global Affairs, City, University of London. Participants: Professor Michael Ben-Gad, Dr Lise Butler, Professor Charles Lees, Professor Ian Pace, Professor Chris Rojek, Dr Konstantin Vossing. Produced and edited by Maria Martinez-Ugartechea. Overall coordination and production by Ian Pace. Music played by Ian Pace.

Episodes

  1. Episode 12: The 2024 election in retrospect and what the future holds for the new Labour government

    07/11/2024

    Episode 12: The 2024 election in retrospect and what the future holds for the new Labour government

    In the final episode of the podcast Ian Pace, Michael Ben-Gad, Konstantin Vossing, Lise Butler, and Eric Harrison reflect on the results of the election. They revisit their early forecasts about the outcome; hear from Eric about how closely the polls predicted the election results; ask what kind of challenges will face the new Labour government; and ask whether the results of the recent election in France tell us anything about the future of social democracy and populism in Western Europe.

    40 min
  2. Episode 11: Polling Techniques and Party Campaigns

    07/04/2024

    Episode 11: Polling Techniques and Party Campaigns

    This episode is hosted by Professor Chris Rojek, Head of the Department of Sociology and Criminology at City. He is joined by Professor Ian Pace, Professor of Music, Culture and Society, and special guest Dr Eric Harrison, Deputy Director of the European Social Survey, which is based at City. He gives some detail about the techniques used by opinion pollsters and outlines some of the contingencies and risks in response to questions from both others. He also contrasts these with the strategies used for assembling exit polls. The three participants then give their ‘ratings’ of the Labour and Conservative campaigns, and some of those from other parties, and discuss what might change in British society by the end of a first term of Labour in power.

    25 min
  3. Episode 10: Britain in the world, higher education, political discourses, and public service

    07/04/2024

    Episode 10: Britain in the world, higher education, political discourses, and public service

    This episode is hosted by Professor Ian Pace, Professor of Music, Culture and Society, with guests Professor Charles Lees, Dean of the School of Policy and Global Affairs, and Professor Michael Ben-Gad, Professor of Economics. They discuss the aftermath of the US Presidential Debate and the implications of the US election for a new British government, how the new prevalence of social media affects the political public sphere, and the impact of J.K. Rowling’s intervention in the election, expressing doubts about supporting Labour because of their equivocal views on biology versus self-identified gender. Then they are joined by special guest Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein, President of City. They discuss the situation for higher education and what this will mean for a new government, the relationship between academic political discourse and that witnessed during the election campaign, the role of public service when politicians and others face threats, and defence imperatives in the face of rising world threats.

    40 min
  4. Episode 09: The Calm before the Storm: reflections on an afternoon before polling day

    07/04/2024

    Episode 09: The Calm before the Storm: reflections on an afternoon before polling day

    In this episode Prof. Charlie Lees chairs a discussion with Prof. Michael Ben Gad and Dr. Konstantin Vossing. They assess the UK election campaign as we approach the last week, get diverted by Joe Biden’s calamitous performance in the TV debate with Donald Trump, and speculate as to how a future Labour-led UK will navigate an increasingly unpredictable international scene. On the way, they discuss electoral systems, political gambling, and ponder an alternative universe where George Galloway is Minster of Defence.

    52 min
  5. Episode 08: Politics as performance, housing policy that works, and the ‘good society’

    06/28/2024

    Episode 08: Politics as performance, housing policy that works, and the ‘good society’

    In this episode Lise Butler and Chris Rojek speak to Professor Richard Sennett, Centennial Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics. They discuss his most recent book, The Performer: Art, Life, Politics, asking what kind of performance is at play in the current election; how the next government should resolve the housing crisis; and whether the major political parties have a clear idea of ‘the good society’.

    34 min
  6. Episode 07: Labour from Corbyn to Starmer

    06/22/2024

    Episode 07: Labour from Corbyn to Starmer

    This episode is hosted by Ian Pace, Professor of Music, Culture and Society at City, with special guest Stephen Pollard, editor-at-large of The Jewish Chronicle, as well as regular participants Chris Rojek, Head of the Department of Sociology and Criminology, and Michael Ben-Gad, Professor of Economics. They discuss Stephen's trajectory from researcher to Peter Shore and policy advisor to New Labour, to endorsing the Conservative manifesto in 2019, as well as the impact of Corbyn in the Jewish community and how Labour has changed dramatically in the period since Corbyn was leader.

    36 min
  7. Episode 06: Polls, Economic Growth and Taxes, also Farage and the Limits of Populism

    06/18/2024

    Episode 06: Polls, Economic Growth and Taxes, also Farage and the Limits of Populism

    In this episode Professor Michael Ben-Gad and Professor Chris Rojek look at recent polling. They remain sceptical of new projections that Labour will achieve a majority of over one hundred seats, but nonetheless as good Bayesians, update their priors. They then discuss the Labour manifesto. Is growth feasible? Is it desirable? Macroeconomists struggle to understand which policies might generate sustained economic growth, yet politicians think they have uncovered its secrets. Chris discusses Nigel Farage’s impact on UK politics and the future of the Tory Party. What does the rising support for the Reform Party tell us about the nature of populism? Michael gets to invoke Friedrich Hayek’s Road to Serfdom.

    24 min
  8. Episode 05: Culture Wars, Class Politics and Democracy

    06/16/2024

    Episode 05: Culture Wars, Class Politics and Democracy

    In this episode we welcome our guest contributor Dr Joanna Williams, academic, author and journalist. Joanna is a columnist for Spiked and a regular contributor to the Times. Her most recent book is How Woke Won. Joanna talks to Professor Michael Ben-Gad and Professor Ian Pace about the shift in UK politics from a focus on the concerns of ordinary working people, in favour of an identity politics that best suits the interests of the graduate elite. They also discuss the future of academic freedom in universities under a likely Labour government. Joanna discusses why she supports the Social Democratic Party and Ian considers how much it overlaps but also contrasts with David Owen’s 1980’s SDP. Finally, we turn to the EU elections. How much does immigration explain the growing support for right-wing political parties, particularly among the young?

    55 min
  9. Episode 04: Rishi Sunak’s Epic Fail

    06/12/2024

    Episode 04: Rishi Sunak’s Epic Fail

    In this episode we welcome our guest contributor Professor Tim Bale (Queen Mary, University of London) who talks with Professor Charles Lees about why the media’s use of Vox Pops is a waste of time and also how the Prime Minister’s week badly unravelled, following his unexpectedly strong performance in the first Leadership Debate on Tuesday. We ask what on earth where he and his team thinking when he left the D Day celebrations on Thursday. We then move on to strategy and discuss whether Isaac Levido’s stewardship of the Conservative campaign is as effective as expected or if there is more to the Tory campaign than the highly visible ‘air war’. Professor Chris Rojek and Dr Lise Butler throw light on historical comparisons from Canada and beyond and we discuss the lessons of Margret Thatcher’s 1970-1983 government as a template for how a future Starmer government might start to move the dial on what is politically possible following their various campaign pledges.

    34 min
  10. Episode 03: What Kind of Society are the Main Parties in this Election trying to Build?

    06/07/2024

    Episode 03: What Kind of Society are the Main Parties in this Election trying to Build?

    The third episode of City Politicos’ 2024 Election podcast is hosted by Chris Rojek, Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of Sociology and Criminology at City, University of London. He is joined by Michael Ben-Gad, Professor of Economics, and Ian Pace, Professor of Music, Culture and Society. They discuss the effect of voting of Nigel Farage’s return to organized politics. What are the main differences between the Parties with respect to the society that they are trying to build in the next 5 years? They also consider such issues as the two main party leaders’ stance on defence, what a Kemi Badenoch Conservative leadership might mean for British politics, and the prospects both in the former Labour seats known as the ‘Red Wall’, and the possibility of a new ‘Blue Wall’ of previously solid Conservative seats which could be lost at this election.’

    33 min
  11. Episode 02: Issues or Personalities? The Theatre of Politics

    06/04/2024

    Episode 02: Issues or Personalities? The Theatre of Politics

    The second episode of City Politicos' 2024 Election Podcast is hosted by Ian Pace, Professor of Music, Culture and Society at City, University of London, and coordinator of this podcast. He is joined by Dr Lise Butler, Senior Lecturer in Modern History, and Konstantin Vössing, Reader in International Politics. They discuss the situations of Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott, the polls predicting a huge Labour victory, and especially the question of politics as a form of performance and theatre, in the run-up to the first TV leaders' debate. To what extent is wider political discourse and public opinion informed by rational discussion of issue, to what extent by the personalities of those involved? The panellists take quite distinct views on this subject, leading into wider discussions of populism, technocracy and more.

    50 min
  12. Episode 01: Welcome to City Politicos

    05/31/2024

    Episode 01: Welcome to City Politicos

    The starting pistols have been fired for the UK 2024 general election. In the first episode of City Politicos: Counting Down to the UK 2024 Election, academics from the School of Policy and Global Affairs at City, University of London, discuss the questions that face the country five weeks before the general election. Are the Tories making policy on the fly, and how seriously should we take their policy offer? How is the Labour Party positioning itself in terms of political strategy, and what will we see in their manifesto? How could the campaign develop over the next five weeks? Is the election a sure bet for Labour, and could anything get in the way of their chances at government? And what does the campaign so far tell us about the future of right-wing populism in the UK? Bringing together insights from across the social sciences, the humanities and beyond, the City Politicos panel puts the election in wider social, historical, and geographical context and asks how the next five weeks could change UK politics as we know it.

    54 min
  • 12 Episodes

About

A detailed analysis of the 2024 UK General Election, as it proceeds, by academics based at the School of Policy and Global Affairs, City, University of London. Participants: Professor Michael Ben-Gad, Dr Lise Butler, Professor Charles Lees, Professor Ian Pace, Professor Chris Rojek, Dr Konstantin Vossing. Produced and edited by Maria Martinez-Ugartechea. Overall coordination and production by Ian Pace. Music played by Ian Pace.

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