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In the week Boris Johnson finally said sorry for the mistakes made by his government during the COVID-19 pandemic, host Aggie Chambre explores the art of the political apology — and asks how politicians can redeem themselves after completely screwing up. 
Johnson's former Downing Street aide Cleo Watson analyses her former boss's apology, and why he chose to deploy it this week. 
Neil Parish, the former Tory MP who apologized — and quit — after getting caught pornography in the House of Commons chamber, discusses his slow path toward redemption. And former minister Brooks Newmark recalls his bleakest moments after he was embroiled in an infamous sexting scandal in 2014, and why he felt he had no choice but to apologize and resign.
Veteran journalist Steve Richards recalls some of the most famous political apologies of our age. And former Lib Dem aide Sean Kemp explains how Westminster's most famous apology of recent times — his old boss Nick Clegg's "sorry" over tuition fees — actually came about. 

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With opposition parties starting to dream about life in Whitehall as the next election looms, host Aggie Chambre takes a look at how politicians actually prepare for government. 
She hears from the key players involved in the 2010 election — the last time opposition parties came to power. The former Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell, then the most senior civil servant in the country, recalls an eyebrow-raising chat with David Cameron when he was leader of the opposition. Former Tory minister Nick Boles reveals some disastrous first meetings between shadow ministers and civil servants during preparatory talks. Another ex civil servant, Una O'Brien, recalls awkward moments when her ministerial bosses spotted her headed to private talks with their opposite numbers. And former Lib Dem Minister David Laws reveals his fear of walking up Downing Street for the first time.  
Meanwhile the Institute for Government's Emma Norris, POLITICO's Dan Bloom and former Labour adviser Matt Lavender set out what Keir Starmer's party is doing right now to try to prepare for power.

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With opinion polls showing Donald Trump beating President Joe Biden in key battleground states a year out from the next U.S. election, podcast host Jack Blanchard asks whether Westminster is even remotely ready for the prospect of a second Trump presidency.
Britain's former Ambassador to the U.S. Kim Darroch and ex-Downing Street comms chief Katie Perrior recall their own interactions with Trump during his first tenure as president, while Keir Starmer's former chief of staff Chris Ward considers how the Labour leader might respond to Trump's special brand of diplomacy if he becomes prime minister next year.
Polling guru Joe Bedell of Stack Data Strategy sets out just how likely Trump really is to win again in 2024, while POLITICO's own Eugene Daniels — co-author of our Washington D.C. Playbook emails — explains the political factors driving Trump's seemingly unlikely return.

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In the week U.K Home Secretary Suella Braverman was finally sacked, host Aggie Chambre asks what you actually have to do to get fired from the government — and what the calculations are for the leaders doing the firing. 
Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, recalls his "underhand" sacking of two junior ministers, while Cleo Watson, a former deputy chief of staff at Downing Street, reveals the secrets of the reshuffle whiteboard. 
Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan tells Aggie what really happened when she was sacked by Theresa May in 2016, and the "awkward" conversation that followed. And May's ex-chief of staff Gavin Barwell lifts the lid on what it's like to sack a minister — in this case Gavin Williamson — embroiled in scandal.
Former Chief Whip Wendy Morton talks through her approach to sacking people, while former minister Matt Warman reveals what it was like being sacked by Morton. 
And Tory MP Paul Bristow — who was sacked as a government aide last month — explains why he has no regrets.

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Britain's civil service is under fire like never before — criticised as an obstructionist "blob" by ministers and castigated for a "terrifyingly sh*t" response to the COVID-19 pandemic by former Downing Street aide Dominic Cummings.
So what do U.K. government officials — normally banned from speaking to the media — actually make of it all?
This week in a special 'focus group' episode, five former mid-ranking civil servants sit down with host Aggie Chambre to lift the lid on life inside Whitehall.
The panelists, who worked in departments across government — one for as long as 30 years — tell Aggie about the deteriorating relationship between ministers and officials, and about how difficult all that Whitehall bureaucracy makes their jobs.
They discuss how rare it is for anyone to actually get fired from the civil service — and even reveal the secret formula for getting promoted which works almost every time. 

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As war rages in the Middle East, host Jack Blanchard sits down with Alf Dubs, the 91-year-old Labour peer who arrived in Britain on the Kindertransport — which organized the rescue of children from the Nazis — aged just six.
Dubs reflects on his experiences as a child refugee in 1939 and on how he forged a new life in the U.K. He explains why he got into politics, and how he has since devoted much of his life to helping other young people in dire need. He calls for more humanitarian support for those affected by the current wars in Israel / Gaza and Ukraine, and would like to see the U.K. government take a new approach toward those seeking asylum.

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