As the future of Europe dominates the headlines, Lib Dem defence spokesperson Helen Maguire MP, former Tory ministers James Heappey and Greg Hands, and More in Common’s Luke Tryl join host Adam Payne to discuss a seismic week in world affairs as Prime Minister Keir Starmer tries to bring peace to Ukraine. With the tectonic plates of geopolitics shi…

With the Prime Minister in Washington this week the Labour MPs Steve Yemm and Chris Evans, as well as Professor Sam Edwards from Loughborough University, and Lord John Alderdice, Liberal Democrat peer, join host Alain Tolhurst to look at the so-called ‘special relationship’. From its history, to why the close bilateral partnership between the UK an…

This Parliament could finally see further modernisation of the way the Commons operates, with a new committee led by Cabinet minister Lucy Powell setting out plans for meaningful reform in a host of areas, after clamour from new MPs to finally bring how Westminster works into the 21st century. One of the 2024 intake, Labour’s Rachel Blake, joins Li…

One of the most complex, and divisive, issues in modern politics is making a return under this government; ID cards. Advocates describe it as a potential way to improve public services, tackle illegal migration and modernise the state, but it remains intensely controversial, due to significant concerns over privacy, data security and equality. To d…

Instead of tapping into the mood at Westminster, this week The Rundown is looking at the political mood of the country as we move further into 2025, teaming up once again teamed up with the guys at Thinks, the global insight and strategy consultancy. Last week they polled more than 2,000 UK adults on how they feel about the first six months of the …

For the 150th episode this week former deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine comes on the show for a special interview ahead of the publication of his new memoir 'From Acorns to Oaks' about the second part of his career as an advisor to David Cameron and reflecting further on his time in Margaret Thatcher and John Major’s Cabinets. The Conservati…

On this episode of the Political Press Box, I speak to Bron Maher, a senior reporter at The Press Gazette. The outlet has published its annual Substack rich list, unveiling the highest earners in the industry, including the likes of Heather Cox Richardson, Nate Silver and Mehdi Hasan. It sounds like a European list could be coming soon. We also tal…

After a long holiday on the other side of the world, I’m back in action for 2025 and will be keeping up my quest to interview some of the most impactful, insightful and imaginative communicators in and around the world of politics. On that note and on this episode I speak to James Millar, the Godfather of Scottish Political Podcasting. I met James,…

Before the election Labour promised to restore confidence in government by cleaning up lobbying, improving transparency and tightening the rules for MPs, but is Keir Starmer's administration really sticking to its word? The Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, Melanie Onn, a member of the Commons standards committee, Gabe Winn, chief execut…

A difficult financial outlook has got even tougher for Rachel Reeves in recent days, so what is happening to the UK economy, and just how difficult will things get for the Chancellor with the next OBR forecast and the spending review looming? To take a deeper look at what is fuelling the current market turmoil, and ask whether things really are as …

One of the most interesting and consequential politicians of the past few years, Steve Baker was the Conservative MP for Wycombe for 14 years, served as a minister in three departments for three different prime ministers, but is probably best known as the so-called ‘Brexit hardman’, who corralled the ERG group of eurosceptic Tories into numerous re…

To mark the new year LBC’s political editor Natasha Clark and PoliticsHome editor Adam Payne join host Alain Tolhurst to look ahead to the next 12 months in British politics with a preview of 2025; What will be the big flashpoints as Keir Starmer tries to boost his flagging premiership? Can Kemi Badenoch revive the Tories in the face of threats of …

In a special festive episode the PolHome team looks back at the biggest political moments of 2024 after a historical and tumultuous year, dominated by Labour’s landslide election victory this summer, and the fallout from the first change in government since 2010. Joining Alain Tolhurst to discuss everything from Liz Truss losing her seat to Sue Gra…

Rough sleeping and homelessness are some of the most intractable problems successive governments have failed to solve; but does it need to be this hard, are the solutions already out there, and if so why has no administration managed to grasp the nettle? Lord John Bird, crossbench peer and co-founder of The Big Issue magazine, Andy Preston, former …

What does the continued fracturing of the UK’s political landscape means for our democracy going forward? After a preliminary vote on proportional representation surprised almost everyone in Westminster by passing last week, will this Parliament might finally see some movement on electoral reform? Lisa Smart, Liberal Democrat MP for Hazel Grove and…

So, when is a reset, not a reset? As Sir Keir Starmer outlines various ‘milestones’ he wants to achieve before the next election, a panel of seasoned analysts look at why is there a squeamishness about resets, why parties still end up doing them so often, and whether they can be done effectively. Catherine Haddon, programme director at the Institut…

A panel of foreign policy experts joins host Alain Tolhurst to look at global affairs, the dangers the UK faces around the world, how the public feels about them, and what Keir Starmer's government can do to tackle the big security issues. Sophia Gaston, who works at the ASPI think tank, Tobias Ellwood, former defence committee chair, and Chris Hop…

On this episode of The Political Press Box I speak to Tim Ross, co-author of Landslide :The Inside Story of the 2024 Election (Biteback Publishing). Alongside his fellow co-author Rachel Wearmouth, Tim has provided the first full journalistic account of why Labour won the last general election in the UK and, perhaps more importantly, why the Conser…

With the return of the bill on assisted dying next week we're unapologetically getting into the weeds of Parliamentary procedure for this episode, and looking at whether a Private Members Bill from a backbench MP is really the best way of passing such potentially important legislation. Two doyens of PMBs in UK policy circles; Dr Daniel Gover, Senio…

On this episode of The Political Press Box I speak to Gawain Towler, a veteran press officer for the Eurosceptic cause, working first in and around the EU Parliament as a journalist and then joining UKIP. Gawain went on to spin for the Brexit Party and then its successor party, Reform, at the last general election. Gawain is now turning his hand to…

After a host of MPs were among the millions of people to quit X, formerly known as Twitter, in recent days over the role of its owner, the billionaire Elon Musk, and the amplification of misinformation and abuse, Josh Simons, Labour MP for Makerfield and member of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, joined Ben Guerin, co-founder of cr…

On this episode of the Political Press Box, I speak to Nick Hilton, a former podcast producer for The New Statesman and The Spectator, who launched his own podcast company, Podot, more than six years ago. Nick is also a TV critic for The Independent and he has own Substack, Future Proof. But the reason why I spoke to Nick this time around is regard…

After 14 years in power the Conservatives were unceremoniously booted out of office under a Labour landslide in July's general election, so this week Baroness Kate Fall, who was deputy chief of staff to David Cameron for more than a decade, Fred de Fossard, director of strategy at the Legatum Institute, and a former Conservative special adviser, as…

After the most consequential Budget in more than a decade, Labour MP Chris Curtis, vice-chair of the Labour Growth Group, Mel Stride, former Treasury minister and ex-chair of the Treasury Select Committee, join host Alain Tolhurst and two top think tank economists; Isabel Stockton, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and …

What happens when MPs stop being MPs? With hundreds of Parliamentarians having left the Commons this summer following Labour’s landslide victory, what happens to all those turfed out of their seats? Three former Conservative MPs; Vicky Ford, ex-MP for Chelmsford, James Sunderland, who represented Bracknell, and Matt Warman, the former member for Bo…

After a new bill attempting to legalise assisted dying in the UK was introduced to the House of Commons, the Green Party MP Sian Berry, former Lord Chancellor and Labour Peer Lord Falconer, and Nathan Stillwell, assisted dying campaigner at Humanists UK, join host Alain Tolhurst to look at how likely Kim Leadbeater’s private member's bill is to eve…

As Labour prepares to mark 100 days in office Lucy Rigby, the party's new MP for Northampton North, Tim Durrant, programme director at the Institute for Government, as well as Emma Dean, managing director at Portland communications, and a former government special adviser, join Alain Tolhurst to look at how these first few months have gone, what La…

On this episode of The Political Press Box I speak to Tony Diver, US Editor of The Telegraph. We discuss the outlet's expansion into America, how he is covering the Trump and Harris campaigns and why immigration is such an important issue. In addition, Tony discusses the differences between Washington and Westminster as well as how the media ecosys…