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Ed Balls and George Osborne take us behind closed doors into the rooms where decisions are made. Having battled it out across the despatch box, the former Chancellor and shadow chancellor now meet in the studio to discuss the decisions that affect the nation’s pockets. Our frenemies have the knowledge and experience to explain how good politics follows the economics - and expose how the powerful become powerless when faced with market forces and political currents they can’t control. Join us every Thursday.
Send your messages or voice notes to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk
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Political Currency is a Persephonica production.
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Is Rishi Sunak's election gamble paying off?
After a faltering start in the rain, Rishi Sunak’s campaign seems to be gaining momentum. Is it enough to prove he was right to gamble on a snap election?
While it might not all be plain sailing for the Conservatives, things have certainly been looking up as trouble brews in the Labour Party. Ed Balls thinks Keir Starmer's handling of Diane’s Abbott’s candidacy has been a “terrible mess”. Could it have real ramifications for his hopes at the polls?
But elsewhere George Osborne thinks a nightmare could be brewing for the Tories in the form of Nigel Farage. Could the so-called “honorary president” of Reform UK be looking for a Conservative seat?
We just can't get enough of the election, so we're launching an extra HOT TAKE every Tuesday. Can't wait? Subscribe to POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD 🏅 to get early access on Monday afternoons, as well as getting EMQs on Friday and every episode AD-FREE!
Subscribe now: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency
Remember to send us your questions to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk
Producer: Rosie Stopher and Ned Miles
Production support: Miriam Hall
Technical Producer: Oliver Geraghty
Executive Producers: Dino Sofos and Ellie Clifford
Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.
Subscribe now on Patreon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
EMQs: Election Questions Special
Ed Balls and George Osborne have election fever and won’t be stopped from answering your EMQs. How did George get the election date so wrong? Is the public too despondent with the state of politics to bother voting at all? And could the Liberal Democrats stun us all to become a credible opposition?
Plus, George reveals what he thinks the Tories’ attack line on Keir Starmer will be, and Ed tries to nail him down on just who the incompetent junior minister in his treasury was…
You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free!
Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD 🏅 to support the podcast, enjoy ad-free listening to all our episodes, receive early access to EMQs and Inside The Room, and to live show tickets.
Try for free: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency
Remember to send us your questions to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk
Producer: Rosie Stopher and Ned Miles
Production support: Miriam Hall
Technical Producer: Will Gibson Smith
Executive Producers: Dino Sofos and Ellie Clifford
Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.
Subscribe now on Patreon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Things Can Only Get Worse: Sunak’s Snap Election
A snap election! Not quite George Osborne’s prediction of 14th November, Ed Balls is struggling to understand the logic that led Rishi Sunak to surprise, well, literally everybody with 4th July as the date of the next general election. Are good inflation numbers really enough to see the Conservatives to a better result than the formerly predicted disaster? George reveals Number 10’s thinking.
As the battle is drawn, Ed and George discuss the seats to watch and the issues on the table - and of course, the ones that aren’t. And, they draw back the curtain on how Westminster will be preparing in the wake of the prime minister’s bombshell.
Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD 🏅 to support the podcast, enjoy ad-free listening to all our episodes, receive early access to EMQs and Inside The Room, and to live show tickets.
Try for free: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency
Remember to send us your questions to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk
Producer: Rosie Stopher and Ned Miles
Production support: Miriam Hall
Technical Producer: Will Gibson Smith and Oliver Geraghty
Executive Producers: Dino Sofos and Ellie Clifford
Subscribe now on Patreon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
EMQs: Truss, treasury officials and techxit?
Why doesn’t Bristol have a mayor anymore? What do treasury officials actually do? And is there a reason we’re losing so many bright young tech experts to the West Coast of America?
Plus, author Will Hutton wants to know if Ed Balls and George Osborne will take responsibility for their involvement in the economic crises of the twenty-first century, and in a podcast crossover, Sascha O’Sullivan of POLITICO’s Westminster Insider wants to know if we should be trying to find silver linings in Truss’s attempt to be different.
Remember to send us your questions to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk
Producer: Rosie Stopher
Production support: Miriam Hall
Technical Producer: Will Gibson Smith
Executive Producers: Dino Sofos and Ellie Clifford
Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.
Subscribe now on Patreon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
Protests, Presidents and Politics like it's 97!
Keir Starmer, poster boy. The Labour leader’s new pledge card is here, with six key policies and a black and white photoshoot to woo the public. Is it all a bit retro? Well that depends who you ask: George Osborne would prefer a new approach, whereas Ed Balls reckons some solid Labour '97 nostalgia might just be what the party needs.
Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy is working hard to get himself out there on the world stage - and back in the good books of a certain former (and possibly future) US President, of whom he’s rarely been complimentary before. If he’s after an invitation to Mar-a-Lago, the good news is that George has the inside scoop from the current Foreign Secretary on how an evening at Donald Trump’s dinner table plays out.
And, with George on the ground at Stanford University, what are the challenges of the campus protests sweeping the world - and what does it mean for politics in a globally important election year?
Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD 🏅 to support the podcast, enjoy ad-free listening to all our episodes, receive early access to EMQs and Inside The Room, and to live show tickets.
Try for free: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency
Remember to send us your questions to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk
Producer: Rosie Stopher
Production support: Miriam Hall
Technical Producer: Will Gibson Smith
Executive Producers: Dino Sofos and Ellie Clifford
Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.
Subscribe now on Patreon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
EMQs: Political Book Club
Ed Balls and George Osborne are pleased to have been asked for book recommendations. Is this the start of a book club to compete with the likes of Richard and Judy? If so, George is bagsying his role in the duo now - and no, it’s not Richard.
MP Greg Clark asks about the future of local mayoralties, and Sunday Times interviewer Decca Aitkenhead wants to know whether George is doing anything about his, ahem, selective memory. Plus, what on earth did the Cameron government see in Liz Truss all those years ago, and what’s changed?
You could have been listening to this episode of EMQs early and ad-free! Become a member of POLITICAL CURRENCY GOLD 🏅 to support the podcast, enjoy ad-free listening to all our episodes, receive early access to EMQs and Inside The Room, and to live show tickets.
Try for free: patreon.com/politicalcurrency or on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/politicalcurrency
Remember to send us your questions to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk
Producer: Rosie Stopher and Ned Miles
Production support: Miriam Hall
Technical Producer: Will Gibson Smith and Oliver Geraghty
Executive Producers: Dino Sofos and Ellie Clifford
Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.
Subscribe now on Patreon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Customer Reviews
Poor man’s TRIP
A pod clearly established in response to the success of Rest is Politics. But it’s not as lonely or as fun. Ed Balls rarely challenges George Osborne who somehow seeks to justify the appalling record of the Conservatives over the last 14 years.
Informative, Witty, and Entertaining!
As former opponents facing each other across the despatch boxes in Parliament, George and Ed, ex-Chancellor and ex-Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, are uniquely qualified to bring us the inside scoop of British Politics. And they do so, focusing on not only Ripped-Out-of-the-Headlines current affairs and their political-economic significance, but also on the daily workings (and non-workings) of Parliament.
Similarly, they regale listeners to their Podcast with fascinating anecdotes about ministers and governments present-and-past as well as the parts they themselves played respectively (including the hot water both occasionally landed in).
Always informative, George and Ed work together with an easy-going, good-humoured rapport that they share with members of the public who call in on EMQs, Ex-Minister's Questions, a separate half-hour weekly podcast.
I cannot recommend Political Currency strongly enough!