The Power Test Podot

With Labour now firmly in the driver’s seat of government, Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika are joined by Power Test co-founder and former Chief Executive of the Centre for Progressive Policy, Charlotte Aldritt, and Ryan Wain, the Executive Director of Politics at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, to look at where Britain goes next.
How can Labour get Britain's creaky systems moving in the right direction, and put together a positive, proactive plan for power? From AI in the civil service to Martin Lewis in the (fantasy) cabinet, this is a wide-ranging final discussion for the series. And no season finale would be complete without a few guest stars, so we've invited a few special contributors to send a message to this new government, making their requests and offering their advice.

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July 4th, 2024: the date that Labour returned to power. After 14 years in the political wilderness, Keir Starmer has led the party to a landslide victory. With the keys to No.10 Downing Street in his hands – and a crack team of ministers assembled – it's time to look back on how Labour has changed under the Starmer premiership, and ahead to how it, in turn, could change Britain.
Ayesha Hazarika – fresh from a marathon broadcasting stint – and Sam Freedman – fresh from a marathon Excel stint – gather to debrief on a momentous night for Labour politics. But the story was not always a smooth one, and Ayesha and Sam are here to unriddle the subplots, expose areas of coming danger (the threat of Reform? the rise of independent candidates?) as well as celebrating triumphs in Scotland, the so-called 'Red Wall' and the defenestration of multiple Prime Ministers.

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Just before we head hurtling into election week, Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika are on hand to take you through the reality of Labour’s pledge on energy - together with think tank Third Way’s Josh Freed who leads its Climate and Energy work and Brett Christophers, author of The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet.
Labour has made reforming a troubled energy market one of its six key pledges, with the creation of a Great British Energy company at the heart of that. But will this guarantee energy security going forward? Is it compatible with our long-term commitment to decarbonisation and Net Zero? And, as voters head to the ballot box, how will it answer their big question: will energy prices be going down?
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As the issue drives Nigel Farage’s return and the Conservatives seek to sharpen attacks on Labour in a last ditch attempt to breakthrough in the campaign, this week Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman look into Labour’s pledge on immigration.
Ayesha and Sam probe further into Labour’s policies on immigration with former Home Office adviser Matt Cavanagh and LSE economics professor, and former Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, Alan Manning.
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On this special manifesto episode of The Power Test, Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman are joined by two special guests: Nick Pearce, one of the authors of Labour's 2010 manifesto, and Claire Ainsley, who was Keir Starmer's policy guru from 2020 to 2022. Together, this quartet dissect and discuss the Labour party's 2024 manifesto (titled, simply, 'Change'). Does it live up to that name? What are the big policy areas it covers, from housing to the NHS? And are there any notable omissions from the a document that could be foundational to how a Labour government does business?
Looking at whether this is a bold statement of the party's intention to change Britain for the better – the key question that The Power Test has been asking for three seasons – or a cautious testament to Starmer's "safety first" mentality, this is your breakdown of the first clear indication of where the country is headed.

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The academic who inspired Blair’s “respect agenda" on tackling crime and anti-social behaviour urges Labour to ensure that there is effective investment in community support alongside law and policing.
Talking to Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman, Professor Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, says he recognises the similarities between the approaches taken by Keir Starmer and Blair on crime and anti-social behaviour but fears that the economic circumstances make effective action much harder today.
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