The Week in Westminster

BBC Radio 4

4.0 (26)
GOVERNMENT
UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster

FEB 14

14/02/2026

Caroline Wheeler of The Sunday Times assesses the latest developments at Westminster. After a week in which the Prime Minister had to fight for his political survival, Caroline speaks to Labour grandee, Alan Johnson, a Cabinet minister in both the Blair and Brown governments, and Peter Hyman, a former strategist for Tony Blair when he was in Number Ten. In the wake of the scandal around Peter Mandelson, and amid concerns about the slow progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, a new cross-party group is calling for 'wholesale' reform of the House of Lords. One of those involved is Carmen Smith of Plaid Cymru, the youngest member of the House of Lords. Lord Young of Acton, a Conservative peer and founder of the Free Speech Union, is concerned that rule changes on stripping peerages could be used to suppress speech. Ahead of the Government's Schools White Paper, which is likely to include controversial reforms to special educational needs provision, Caroline speaks to Jo Hutchinson of the Education Policy Institute about how the system might be changed. And, to discuss what it's like inside Number Ten at moments of political crisis, Caroline brings together Guto Harri, former Director of Communications to Boris Johnson, and Luke Sullivan, former political director for Sir Keir Starmer.

28 min
FEB 7

07/02/2026

The Guardian's political editor Pippa Crerar assesses the latest developments at Westminster. The Mandelson scandal dominated the week and Pippa discusses it with Labour MP Natalie Fleet, herself a survivor of grooming and a member of the Women and Equalities Committee and senior Conservative MP, Sir Bernard Jenkin. To debate the government's EU reset, Pippa brought together Lord Peter Lilley, a former Conservative cabinet minister and long-term Eurosceptic. And the MP Anneliese Dodds, who is a former chair of the Labour party and was previously a member of the European parliament. Labour MP Chris Curtis and Kate Ogden, a higher education expert from the Institute for Fiscal Studies talk about student loans. And historian Sir Anthony Seldon and seasoned journalist and political biographer Anne Perkins discuss where the Mandelson scandal ranks in the long history of political scandals.

27 min
JAN 31

31/01/2026

Sonia Sodha assesses the latest developments at Westminster. This week Sir Keir Starmer became the first Prime Minister in eight years to visit China. To discuss the visit Sonia is joined by Labour MP and Chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee Liam Byrne, and the Conservative MP Sir Andrew Mitchell, who served as Deputy Foreign Secretary in Rishi Sunak’s government. Following the Home Secretary's announcement of reforms to the police services in England and Wales Sonia spoke to two MPs, both former police officers, to discuss the proposals. Labour's Jonathan Hinder served in London for nine years, reaching the rank of inspector. He was also the head of the Police Now training academy and the Liberal Democrat Wendy Chamberlain, worked for the Scottish Police College as well as the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. To discuss the issue of loneliness in young men, Sonia is joined by MP Mims Davies, who is a former Conservative Minister for Loneliness and now co-chairs the parliamentary group on Men and Boys' Issues and Chris Hemmings, the Founder of Men’s Therapy Hub, who is also a psychotherapist who specialises in working with men and boys. And, this week saw the launch of a new Conservative group for, what it calls, the 'politically homeless' on the centre right. So what role do political movements play in political parties? To discuss this Sonia speaks to Amber Rudd, a former Conservative Cabinet Minister and vice chair of Prosper UK, and Labour peer Stewart Wood, who is a former adviser to Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband. He is also a signatory to Mainstream, which says it is the home for 'Labour's radical realists'.

28 min

3 Episodes

4

out of 5

26 Ratings

Favorite podcast

04/21/2012

Newsjunkie84

My favorite thing to listen to in the garden or at the gym.
No uploads

10/06/2021

jib59

I enjoy the show, or rather I used to until they stopped uploading it.
Great podcats

04/14/2009

uw in oregon

I think this is the best podcast on itunes it's great when you replay it in you mind LooooooL