David Starkey Talks

David Starkey
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Every week on David Starkey Talks I talk to guests from across the spectrum of British politics and culture, all with the same goal in mind: how do we use the unique resources of talent and history that Britain has to reforge this country anew - stronger, smarter and more assured? You can also follow my YouTube channel on youtube.com/davidstarkeytalks

  1. 12 Jul

    "Farage is so f**king BACK!" | David Shipley calls Count Binface Establishment crony in Starkey row

    One would imagine the number of column inches devoted to Nigel Farage and Reform in the last week stretches to the moon and back. Many focus on whether Farage has erred in calling a by-election which his rival parties immediately announced they wouldn't stand in, leaving him facing a summer of campaigning against the satirical character Count Binface in a contest that nobody asked for, and which he only called in an attempt to blunt the potency of accusations against him that he deliberately shrouded his finances in secrecy as he entered Parliament. There has been a good deal of gloating from establishment parties, firstly about the newspaper revelations on Farage's money, and secondly that his attempt to circumvent scrutiny would appear to have descended into a circus. But if we think longer term, are we perhaps missing the point? My guest this week is journalist and commentator David Shipley. He argues that Farage has made a broader political calculation on top of the specific and self-interested one about how to fight back against lurid newspaper headlines. What we're seeing is a re-engagement of a previous iteration of Nigel Farage; a more radical, more anti-Establishment figure than we've seen in the last year as he tried to appeal to mainstream voters. This is a move, Shipley says, partly in response to the serious attempts by the Establishment to destroy him, but also one motivated by the electoral threat posed by Restore; whose decision not to stand in Clacton appeared curiously correspondent with the thinking of senior Conservatives with whom Rupert Lowe so often mixes in London's private members' clubs. Whether or not this gambit by Farage works is another question, one of the many I put to David in my interrogation. I hope you enjoy the episode!

    "Farage is so f**king BACK!" | David Shipley calls Count Binface Establishment crony in Starkey row

  2. 4 Jul

    "Is King Charles turning his back on Christianity?" | David Starkey Talks... to Bijan Omrani

    The decision by King Charles III to change the nature of his role has rightly been greeted with consternation by many Christians. For the simple and powerful title of "Defender of the Faith", the monarchy's flourishing HR department has substituted the cumbersome title of "Protector of the Space for Faith within the Multi-faith Nation.” Notice the language, the King's role is circumscribed and hemmed in by layers of cultural sensitivity. This is not the specific and expansive responsibility articulated for a powerful monarch but the qualified job description of a bureaucrat. Indeed the language is that of the professional office manager, laced as every workplace must now be with multi-cultural enforcement. That The King has opted to redefine his role in this way is interpreted as turning away from this country's Christian roots in order to accommodate separatist and often outrightly hostile minority religions. It is, indeed, all of those things. But it is also a massive diminishment of the institution of monarchy, a taking away of its grandeur to be replaced with woke and vague platitudes which cannot possibly capture the hearts of a people. Combined with his selfish decision no longer to reside in the heart of London's ceremonial architecture, i.e. at Buckingham Palace, this week has seen The King reduce the stature of the institution he is sworn to uphold and protect. To discuss this I'm joined by the author Bijan Omrani, who wrote the brilliant book 'Good Is An Englishman', that examines the central role of Christianity in creating and sustaining England. I hope you enjoy the episode.

    "Is King Charles turning his back on Christianity?" | David Starkey Talks... to Bijan Omrani

  3. 21 Jun

    "Burnham will CRASH and BURN - but the Right is in danger too" | David Starkey reacts to Makerfield

    As I often do after a significant electoral contest in this country, I turned to my trusted correspondent and political analyst Mark Littlewood to digest what has happened. The Makerfield by-election represents a huge setback for the political Right in this country in a number of ways. We have grown used to seeing Reform on the march since the election of 2024. Labour's collapsing polling and credibility has appeared for the last two years to play straight into the hands of Nigel Farage. But a confluence of factors has stalled that progress. First things first, Andy Burnham was always by far the most likely winner of this by-election. Many analysts with an axe to grind against Reform presented the Makerfield constituency as theirs to lose because of the friendly demographics, totally ignoring that it is slap bang in the middle of Burnham's home ground, where his popularity is (deservedly or not) stratospheric. Reform didn't help themselves by talking up their chances at the beginning of campaigning, like Gawain Towler did on this channel. It was only towards the end of campaigning that they began to recognise what they were up against in Burnham. Secondly, Reform's methods have been tested by this contest and found wanting. They relied once again on the unpopularity of Sir Keir Starmer, not considering that Andy Burnham was running on exactly the same message and providing a much quicker means of dispatching the Prime Minister. And they failed to articulate clearly and confidently what it was they stood for and how it is applicable to this constituency. Thirdly, though Restore performed very poorly and demonstrated that their online predictions were completely illusory, even the small fraction of votes they did pick up in this most favourable of regions is enough to deny any party of the Right many seats during a full general election. Supporters of the political Right in Britain are in danger of falling into the same trap of all disenfranchised peoples; that is voting for parties who are big on performative antics and emotionally satisfying bold statements, while totally ignoring the tactical reality they're facing. Let me be clear, Andy Burnham will fail as Prime Minister once he inevitably takes over from Starmer. He has no better answers to the problems facing this country than his soon-to-be predecessor. But that will not stop him doing enormous damage to this country, and potentially rigging the electoral system in his favour to further disenfranchise the political Right, who really do have the answers. We're entering dangerous times, and must choose our path with great care.

  4. 30 May

    "Restore supporters are DELUDED!" | David Starkey Talks... to Jack Hadfield

    Having worked closely with both the Reform and Restore parties over the last few months, I find myself in a quandary over the goings on in Makerfield, where Reform have a good chance of winning the seat, but are seeing support slip away to the Restore candidate. I think it's time to examine this issue, motivated (as all subscribers to this channel should be) by the overriding concern of what's best for this country and the danger that Andy Burnham presents to its future. Let me make it clear to the complacent: if Andy Burnham wins in Makerfield, then he WILL become the next Prime Minister and he WILL drag this country further to the Left. For those who think doing so will automatically make Labour's chances of re-election even slimmer, I have grave news for you. Mr Burnham's personal popularity is real, if totally unmerited. There is every chance he might enjoy an unearned honeymoon period and bounce the country into an early election, clawing up enough of the vote to form some kind of monstrous coalition involving the Greens, Lib Dems and possibly the SNP. Burnham is also on the record as a keen advocate for proportional representation. If he is able to push through such a change to our electoral law then the chances of a right-wing government ever taking office again are slim to non-existent. The hard-Left will have a permanent whip hand over our politics, just as they do in Germany where attempts by Friedrich Merz to tackle the immigration issue are consistently thwarted by the socialist party. So when I say there's a lot riding on Makerfield, I'm not exaggerating. It is the worst possible occasion in which to indulge in petty factionalism. My guest this week makes no bones about his allegiances, he is backing Reform, and believes Restore supporters are deluded to imagine they can win the seat, rather than simply splitting the vote.

  5. 23 May

    "Burnham is Labour's last trick" | Reform board member Gawain Towler speaks to David Starkey

    This week I was rejoined by Reform board member Gawain Towler, who had spent the day before campaigning in Makerfield ahead of next month's by-election. It is difficult to overstate the importance of the Makerfield by-election. In Andy Burnham, Labour believes it has found their last hope of remaining in office beyond 2029. They're desperate to prove that voters have merely been hoodwinked by Reform and Nigel Farage, and that an "authentic" Labour voice can win them over again. It's funny really, because Burnham is in fact the most inauthentic candidate Labour could have chosen. Although he zealously cultivates the image of a working-class hero, Burnham is thoroughly middle-class, and went to the same Cambridge college that I did. Now, allow me to say that I firmly believe class should be irrelevant, but if one is going to play that card, please don't be dishonest about it. The Reform candidate, on the other hand, is as true to his Makerfield roots as it's possible to be. Robert Kenyon is a self-employed plumber who served as a reserve soldier and fiercely supports Wigan Warriors. His occasionally ribald contributions on social media only prove that he is, in fact, a real person, and not a shape-shifter like his Labour rival. I wish him all the best in this David versus Goliath fight.

    "Burnham is Labour's last trick" | Reform board member Gawain Towler speaks to David Starkey

  6. 15 May

    "Starmer's attack just DOUBLED numbers for Saturday's march" | Tommy Robinson talks to David Starkey

    As the country watches the pitiful and inevitable collapse of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, one aspect of his paltry attempts to revive his leadership went unnoticed. Speaking on Monday in his last frenzied bid to turn things around, the Prime Minister singled out a particular event for opprobrium and a crackdown using the full force of the Home Office. The Unite the Kingdom march, an event organised by Tommy Robinson, stunned the establishment last year when it brought some 150,000 people onto the streets of London to call for a reclamation of and a renewed pride in our national identity. This Saturday the march returns to London for a second time. While the Metropolitan Police has decided it can go ahead, left-wing MPs have been clamouring for a harder line. Starmer, desperate to appease them after the drubbing he took in the local elections, has given it to them: banning several overseas activists from entering the country to attend the protest on the grounds that their presence in the UK is “not conducive to the public good”. These include members of the European Parliament. Today, I’m speaking to the event organiser Tommy Robinson to get his views about why he became the subject of the Prime Minister's attention, even amid the collapse of his entire government. It would appear that to his very last breath, the Prime Minister is determined to uphold the two-tier system he has been so instrumental in creating.

    "Starmer's attack just DOUBLED numbers for Saturday's march" | Tommy Robinson talks to David Starkey

  7. 9 May

    "Reform are the only national party" | David Starkey & Mark Littlewood react to election results

    For all that they were unsurprising, the local results were a political revelation. Reform have continued to conquer the areas that began shifting away from Labour ever since the Brexit referendum of 2016. Reaching, as Nigel Farage said, far further into those regions than even Boris Johnson managed in 2019. If you break down the results in the Red Wall by ward level, you will see an even starker trend. The white working class is voting overwhelmingly for Reform, while the middle-class is largely sticking with Labour, the Lib Dems, or Greens. As well as capturing the traditional Conservative heartlands in the East of England, Reform also came in second in Wales and joint-second in Scotland from a standing start. Giving them a significant presence throughout the United Kingdom. If there is to be a vehicle to overturn the stifling uniparty consensus that has misruled this country for the last 30 years, and to prevent the maniac Greens from entering government, then it is increasingly clear that that vehicle is Reform. Others may wish it wasn't so, but we must deal with realities, not fantasies. All that being said, the Conservatives retain stubborn support among wealthier southern areas. And while Reform performed spectacularly, it still remains to be seen whether their projected national vote share would see them win a majority. The question of some kind of deal pre- or post-general election remains open. As ever, Mark Littlewood provides what I regard as the most acute analysis of the election results and what they mean. I hope you enjoy the episode! Thumbnail image credit: Owain Davies

    "Reform are the only national party" | David Starkey & Mark Littlewood react to election results

  8. 2 May

    "This is how Reform will SMASH the Blob" | David Starkey Talks... to Danny Kruger

    The defection of Danny Kruger MP to Reform last year was one of the most significant political moments of this parliamentary term. Reform had been rising in the polls, appealing to those who felt utterly baffled and dispossessed by the failure of the 2010-2014 Conservative government. But they lacked intellectual heft and parliamentary knowledge. Kruger's brave decision to join this insurgent brand, the first sitting Conservative MP to do so, brought those things to Reform and also cleared a path for others to follow, which more will. I've been particularly interested in Danny's work because it coincides so closely with my own: it is he who is responsible for preparing Reform for the enormous challenges they will face if they win office, taking on the immense institutional opposition to nearly everything that the party will seek to do in government. In this conversation, I wanted to understand how he intends to achieve that, what he foresees as the main challenges, and whether he is fully cognisant of the difficulty of the task. I hope you find his answers interesting.

    "This is how Reform will SMASH the Blob" | David Starkey Talks... to Danny Kruger
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About

Every week on David Starkey Talks I talk to guests from across the spectrum of British politics and culture, all with the same goal in mind: how do we use the unique resources of talent and history that Britain has to reforge this country anew - stronger, smarter and more assured? You can also follow my YouTube channel on youtube.com/davidstarkeytalks

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