It's Bloody Complicated - A Compass Podcast

Compass
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Hear from the widest range of voices in the progressive movement. Every week, host Neal Lawson, speaks with progressive thinkers, writers and politicians from the UK and beyond about current affairs and how to build the Good Society. Visit compassonline.org.uk to learn more about Compass.

  1. A Holyrood Awakening: What Next for Scotland? | ep. 146

    2D AGO

    A Holyrood Awakening: What Next for Scotland? | ep. 146

    On May 7th 2026, the Scottish people go to the polls to elect a new Scottish Parliament. In and amongst what look like seismic losses for the Labour Government across the English local elections and in the Welsh Senedd, Scotland stands out: it had its reckoning with the Labour Party back in 2011. If the polls are to be believed then the SNP look set to retain their place as the biggest party in Holyrood, but with a diminished seat number as Reform, the Greens and the Lib Dems look to capitalise. So with a fraught relationship with the Green Party after their recent coalition woes, an ideological opposition to Labour and a minority of MSPs, the question needs to be asked: what next for Scotland? To discuss this with Compass Director Neal Lawson we were delighted to be joined by two true standout voices in Scotland: Stephen Flynn, MP for Aberdeen South, and Leader of the SNP in the House of CommonsTommy Sheppard, SNP MP for Edinburgh East between 2015-2024.Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

    1 hr
  2. How to Save the NHS | ep. 145

    MAR 29

    How to Save the NHS | ep. 145

    Aneurin Bevan called it “quite the most ambitious adventure in the care of national health that any country has seen”. Nigel Lawson called it “the closest thing the English have to a religion.” And it’s been called by our guest tonight “an expression of what’s best in our society”. We are, of course, talking about the NHS.  After another report about just how much the staff and the patients they treated endured during the Covid-19 pandemic, our Deputy Director Lena Swedlow was joined by Dr. Gavin Francis to talk about two books he’s written, Free for All: Why the NHS is worth saving (2023) and The Unfragile Mind (2026). Gavin became a doctor in 1999, first studying neuroscience, and has since become a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of General Practitioners, and the Royal Society of Literature. We’ll delve not only into the current challenges the NHS is facing and how we might address them, but also because this is the podcast where we get into the bloody complicated stuff – the politics of the NHS.  You can get Gavin's latest book, The Unfragile Mind, here. Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

    1h 4m
  3. The Poll-tergeist: Our Fragmented Politics and Labour’s ‘Progressive Defectors’ | ep. 144

    MAR 13

    The Poll-tergeist: Our Fragmented Politics and Labour’s ‘Progressive Defectors’ | ep. 144

    The world that Compass has long predicted is now becoming self-evident: Britain no longer lives in its two-party system. The Conservative-Labour duality that has dominated British politics since the 20th Century is no longer a given. Our politics has fragmented. Five parties are now regularly polling in double figures. Reform have led every poll since May 2025, Labour are sitting at half of their 2024 vote share in under two years, the Tories sit in the wilderness. Amongst all of this, the Greens have surged, reaching all-time polling highs of 21%, while the Lib Dems are beginning to stagnate in fifth place and their own internal divisions are starting to show. So how do we make sense of all of this? How has it happened and which voters are going where? To get into the detail of all of it, our Director Neal Lawson is joined by Persuasion UK’s Steve Akehurst. Persuasion have recently released their new paper, ‘Revolt on the left: Getting to know Labour’s ‘Progressive Defectors”, showing how the largest swathes of Labour’s 2024 voters are going to the Green Party instead of Reform. Steve Akehurst is Director of Persuasion UK and leads their research work. He has spent his career working at the intersection of politics, policy and public attitudes, with a focus on communications-orientated polling research. In recent years, he has specialised in global attitudes to the Net Zero transition. In addition, Steve has written extensively about UK electoral battlegrounds, being the first person to coin the term ‘Blue Wall’ and define these constituencies in a UK context. His work has featured in the likes of The Times, Telegraph, FT and Guardian. Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

    59 min

  4. FEB 28

    BONUS EPISODE: Gorton & Denton Reaction with Megan Kenyon and Peter Kellner

    In this bonus episode, Neal and Lena are joined by the political commentators Megan Kenyan and  Peter Kellner to dissect the result of this week's by-election in Gorton & Denton. Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

    48 min
  5. Is it Time for PR?: Lifting the Lid on Britain’s Pressure-Cooker Politics with Stuart Donald and Emma Harrison | ep. 143

    FEB 26

    Is it Time for PR?: Lifting the Lid on Britain’s Pressure-Cooker Politics with Stuart Donald and Emma Harrison | ep. 143

    One of Compass’ evergreen campaigns is that for proportional representation. Doing away with the archaic first-past-the-post voting system is something self-evident to the new politics we here at Compass are trying to build. Ensuring cross-party collaboration and the best of all progressive ideas will be key to a democratic system that works in the people’s best interest going forward. But there’s a darker side to FPTP too: how it contributes to inequality. This little-researched area of the ramifications of our voting system and the political-socioeconomic system it exacerbates is now being dragged to the front. Our new paper, ‘Lifting the Lid on Britain’s Pressure-Cooker Politics’, authored by Stuart Donald, shows just how stark the links between the two are. Joining our Deputy Director, Lena Swedlow, to talk about this are: Stuart Donald, author of ‘Lifting the Lid on Britain’s Pressure-Cooker Politics’ and ‘The Temper Trap‘. Stuart is a researcher and writer, committed to using data to prove that in today’s world, the First Past the Post electoral system no longer works and is driving countries that use it to destruction. A native of Perth, Stuart now lives in Linlithgow and works in Edinburgh where he leads a research and data analytics team. Stuart is also a husband, a dad and a supporter of Aberdeen FC.Emma Harrison is Chief Executive of Make Votes Matter and leads the organisation with a key focus on driving forward better governance, higher levels of engagement with the public and persuading politicians to support the principle of fair votes for all. She was the founding Chief Executive of IMIX, a not-for-profit communications agency dedicated to transforming public attitudes on migration. Emma’s passion for using strategic communications to drive social change has been a defining feature of her work. Throughout her career, Emma has been deeply committed to engaging the public and building movements for change. She has held senior leadership roles in a range of charities, spanning international development, the disability sector, and the consumer rights movement. Her expertise extends across multi-channel communications, policy development, and advocacy, which began with her formative experience working at the European Parliament. Outside of work Emma is an Arsenal season ticket holder, a mudlarker,  wild swimmer and is owned by her two dogs.Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

    1h 3m
  6. A World of Trouble: Is US Hegemony Crumbling? with Mary Kaldor and Nick Dearden | ep. 142

    FEB 13

    A World of Trouble: Is US Hegemony Crumbling? with Mary Kaldor and Nick Dearden | ep. 142

    ‘We’re living through unprecedented times’ seems to be the slogan of the past decade now, which is a grim reality. But, when facing the international space, it’s difficult to argue. The rampant chaos that has been seen through international relations since Brexit and Donald Trump’s first election as US President seems to be reaching an apex. Between the recent incursion into Venezuela, overtures towards Greenland and Iran – the former directly calling into question the 80-year sanctity of NATO – American imperialism is taking on a dimension we’ve never seen before. This comes with a backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine War entering its fifth year, a potential European reorientation towards China as the behemoth still threatens Taiwan with force, and the genocide in Gaza showing the international law to be a sham. Joining our director, Neal Lawson, to talk about this are two international experts: Mary Kaldor is Professor Emeritus of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict Research Programme at the LSE. She has pioneered the concepts of new wars and global civil society. Her elaboration of the real-world implementation of human security has directly influenced European and national governments. She is the author of numerous works including New and Old Wars: Organised Violence in a Global Era, International Law and New Wars, and Global Security Cultures (2018).Nick Dearden has been the director of Global Justice Now since 2013, and a campaigner against corporate globalisation and for global economic justice for over 20 years. He was a leading voice in the UK and European movement against the now‑abandoned EU‑US trade deal (TTIP), and subsequently against the US-UK trade deal, about which he wrote a short book, Trade Secrets. Nick started his career at War on Want, and went on to be corporates campaign manager at Amnesty International UK, and then director of Jubilee Debt Campaign (now Debt Justice), where he built strong relationships with campaigners in the global south. His book, Pharmanomics: How Big Pharma Destroys Global Health, was published by Verso in 2023.Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

    1h 2m

  7. FEB 10 ·  BONUS

    Starmer's Last Stand: What Next for the Labour Party? with Paula Barker MP, Clive Lewis MP, Kerry Postlewhite and Luke Hurst

    This EMERGENCY episode of It's Bloody Complicated was deemed necessary due to the rapidly moving events of the past weekend. Recorded on Monday 9th February 2026, the day after Morgan McSweeney resigned as the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, and the same day that Tim Allen resigned as the PM's Director of Communications - before the Cabinet gave Starmer full-throated support online - there is a sincere feeling that this is far beyond the beginning of the end of this Government. To discuss what the Labour Party can do to revive itself in the eyes of the public and its own membership, Compass Director Neal Lawson is joined by Paula Barker (MP for Liverpool Wavertree), Clive Lewis (MP for Norwich South), Kerry Postlewhite (Interim Council Chair of Mainstream Labour) and Luke Hurst (National Coordinator of Mainstream Labour). Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

    36 min
  8. The Greenwave with Rachel Millward | ep. 141

    FEB 1

    The Greenwave with Rachel Millward | ep. 141

    Even for the most stalwart party member, the meteoric rise of popularity for the Green Party since the 2024 General Election would have caught them off guard. After a record-setting performance at the election – 6.8% vote share and four returned MPs – there were questions of how they could ensure they went from strength-to-strength. As it turned out, this came in the form of a new leadership team. In September 2025, Zack Polanski was elected leader of the Green Party, with Rachel Millward and Mothin Ali elected as co-Deputies. Since then, the Greens are now averaging 15% in national polls, reaching highs of 18% with certain pollsters – and beating Labour in multiple polls. So how did this happen and how do they take advantage of it to ensure that 15+ percent turns into national conversation and significant seat returns? To discuss all of this, we’re overjoyed to have Compass Deputy Director Lena Swedlow joined by Green Party Deputy Leader Rachel Millward. Support the show Enjoyed the podcast and want to be a live audience member at our next episode? Want to have the chance in raising questions to the panelist? Support our work and be a part of the Compass community. Become a member! You can find us on Twitter at @CompassOffice.

    1h 14m
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Hear from the widest range of voices in the progressive movement. Every week, host Neal Lawson, speaks with progressive thinkers, writers and politicians from the UK and beyond about current affairs and how to build the Good Society. Visit compassonline.org.uk to learn more about Compass.

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