Shows / The Politics Show
The Politics Show
Helping you make sense of politics – every week.
Anoosh Chakelian and the New Statesman team bring you sharp reporting, clear analysis and thoughtful conversations to help you understand what’s really going on in Westminster and beyond.
The New Statesman is Britain’s leading source of news and commentary on politics and culture with a progressive perspective. On The Politics Show, our journalists and expert guests cut through the noise of the headlines to explain the forces shaping our world…
Episodes
The Politics ShowAbolish landlords?
Is the Green Party Britain’s only viable left wing party? Amid other proposals, their conference voted to abolish landlords at the weekend. Meanwhile Labour is…
The Politics ShowOctober 7th changed the West forever
Two years ago, on October the 7th, 2023, Hamas militants committed a series of atrocities in southern Israel. 1,195 people were killed in the attacks. 251…
The Politics ShowAre we talking about Reform too much?
And what do Labour really want from digital ID cards? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions. LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱Download the…
The Politics ShowDispatch from the Manchester synagogue attack
Yesterday morning, on Yom Kippur - the holiest day in the Jewish calendar - worshippers were attacked outside a synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. Two Jewish…
The Politics ShowIs a Starmer comeback on the cards?
Keir Starmer is polling as the UK’s most unpopular Prime Minister in history. But days after his conference speech, some are asking whether a Starmer comeback…
The Politics ShowIs anyone taking Trump's peace plans seriously?
Donald Trump says he has a plan to end the war in Gaza and bring eternal peace to the Middle East. Will Lloyd is joined by Katie Stallard to discuss how Trump…
The Politics ShowKeir Starmer loves Britain the most
Keir Starmer is on a mission to reclaim British patriotism. The prime minister has just finished his conference speech in Liverpool, addressing a hall full of…
The Politics ShowThe spectre of Farage looms over Labour conference
The chancellor used her speech to define the Labour party in opposition to Reform and the Conservatives, and Shabana Mahmood the home secretary aimed to…
The Politics ShowStarmer has a lot to prove at Labour conference
The prime minister has described the opposition to Reform UK as “the fight of our times”, but a new poll has also found that Starmer has become the most…
The Politics ShowWho does the Tony Blair Institute really work for?
Since 2021, billionaire Larry Ellison’s personal foundation has donated or pledged at least £257m to the Tony Blair Institute. This took the former PM’s think…
The Politics ShowLiz Truss is still, in some sense, running the country
Three years ago, Liz Truss announced her “mini”-Budget. Since then, the phrase “crashed the economy” has been used 238 times in the Commons. It can be found…
The Politics ShowAndy Burnham has a plan for Britain
Inside his Manchester kingdom, Labour’s prince across the water outlined his radical blueprint to the New Statesman's editor, Tom McTague. Tom McTague joins…
The Politics ShowEd Davey attacks Trump, Trump attacks world
Ed Davey came out swinging at the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth this week, saying "Reform wants Britain to be like Trump’s America." He said it was the Lib…
The Politics ShowBritain recognises Palestinian statehood
This weekend Keir Starmer announced that the UK has formally recognised Palestine as an independent state. The Prime Minister said, "In the face of the growing…
The Politics ShowReform's deportations & Your Party's implosion
Nigel Farage has escalated Reform’s approach to the deportation of migrants, announcing that his party would abolish indefinite leave to remain should they…
The Politics ShowHas history overlooked the enslaved who fought for freedom? | Sudhir Hazareesingh interview
The abolition of the slave trade and of slavery itself in the 19th Century is generally understood to have been instigated by European and American…
The Politics ShowThe US has bought Britain
The US dollar is about to flood Britain. American firms have pledged £150bn worth of investment in the UK, the government celebrates this as part of a wider…
The Politics ShowYour Party meltdown
Donald Trump and Keir Starmer have just finished their joint press conference from Chequers, drawing a close to the US president’s state visit. Andrew Marr and…
The Politics ShowCan Zohran Mamdani save the American left?
Zohran Mamdani has upended New York City politics – and potentially revitalised the American left. Born in Uganda, raised in Manhattan - the socialist mayoral…
The Politics ShowTrump, Starmer and Mandelson don't walk into a banquet
Trump is arriving in the UK today for his much anticipated state visit. Rachel Cunliffe and Will Lloyd look at how it might play out in the aftermath of the…
The Politics ShowTommy Robinson's protests & Danny Kruger's defection
This weekend more than 110,000 people from across the country took part in a far-right protest in central London organised by the activist Tommy Robinson - in…
The Politics ShowAre politicians LARPing? | Listener questions
Are the Greens ‘anarchists’? Has British politics become Americanised? And why was Theresa May prime minister? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to…
The Politics ShowWhere does JK Rowling get the time to obsess about me? | Nicola Sturgeon interview
In power for nearly a decade, Nicola Sturgeon is Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister. She reshaped Scottish politics, leading the SNP through moments of…
The Politics ShowPolitical violence becomes mainstream in the US
Earlier this week the prominent right-wing activist, and close Trump-ally, Charlie Kirk was shot during a public appearance in Utah. Graphic videos of the…
The Politics ShowStarmer's mess
Following the disarray caused by Angela Rayner’s resignation and the sacking of Peter Mandelson, Keir Starmer’s latest reset is a mess. His newly reshuffled…
The Politics ShowMandelson and the friends he keeps
This week in part of an ongoing battle for the release of the “Epstein files”, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a trove of documents related…
The Politics ShowIn Britain's broken housing market, does the Renters' Rights Bill go far enough?
This week the renters’ rights bill returns to the House of Commons for its final debate. But in a country where tenants are spending around 40% of their income…
The Politics ShowReform conference: "Farage has accepted the inevitability of being PM"
As Keir Starmer spent the weekend trying to glue his cabinet back together, another party leader was basking in the glow of the NEC spotlights and a…
The Politics ShowWhat will Zack Polanski do first with the Green Party? | Listener questions
The Greens have a new leader. Listeners want to know what's in store for the left now. Tom McTague is joined by Andrew Marr, Rachel Cunliffe and Megan Kenyon…
The Politics ShowThe long and winding road to Brexit | Tom McTague interview
From the battlefields of Algiers to the corridors of Westminster, Britain’s uneasy relationship with Europe has been shaped by thinkers, politicians…
The Politics ShowRayner out, Labour moves right | Politics with Rachel Cunliffe
Angela Rayner resigned from government, and stood down as deputy Labour leader, following her failure to pay enough tax on a property in Hove. With this Keir…
The Politics ShowShould Angela Rayner resign? | Politics with Tom McTague
Andrew Marr joins the show to discuss Rayner, Immigration and Graham Linehan's arrest. *** Housing Secretary Angela Rayner is under fire for underpaying Stamp…
The Politics ShowThe age of deportation | Cover story with Tanjil Rashid
Who gets to belong in Britain? In the past year, the conversation around immigration in Britain - across the political spectrum - has become increasingly…
The Politics ShowBritain’s booming export: stolen goods | Tom Sasse interview
How your snatched iPhone feeds a global criminal supply chain. Britain’s exports have declined in many areas over the past few years, but there is one category…
The Politics ShowKeir Starmer's reshuffle reveals his priorities | Politics
Who's in, who's out - and why? * Keir Starmer has reshuffled the treasury team and some key parliamentary staff, creating a new "Chief Secretary to the Prime…
The Politics ShowAuthor Nicola Barker: "we are all weirdos" | Culture with Tanjil Rashid
The experimental novelist on finding God, being "a misfit" and her return to writing. -- Nicola Barker is "has broken the mould so many times it's almost…
The Politics ShowHas the English flag been co-opted by the far-right? | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
“Do you think the English flag has been so easily co-opted by by the far right because there is no English government that is proudly flying the flag and…
The Politics Show"The UK government is complicit in genocide" | Humza Yousaf interview
It was foreseen for months, as Israel cut off all aid, but this month the UN declared that more than half a million people in Gaza are trapped in famine. By…
The Politics ShowInside the making of the Employment Rights Bill | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
Last October, the government published the Employment Rights Bill, a slate of reforms set to change workers' rights in the UK - from banning “fire and rehire”…
The Politics ShowWhat the Treasury reshuffle reveals about the budget | Politics with Will Dunn
Ahead of this autumn’s budget there has been a reshuffle in Rachel Reeves’ treasury team. What’s at play? And what might it tell us about the trajectory of…
The Politics ShowThe Manosphere: Red pills, incels and a misogyny epidemic | James Bloodworth interview
Students across the UK have reported a dramatic rise in misogyny in their schools. The government has described this as being on an "epidemic scale". This is…
The Politics ShowCan the UK solve the plummeting birthrate dilemma? | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
Due to Britain’s falling birth rates and the government’s desire for lower immigration levels, does the government have any plan to financially encourage and…
The Politics ShowAndy Burnham: the next Prime Minister? | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
The Mayor of Manchester is the most popular choice to replace Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. Keir Starmer is now less popular than Donald Trump. Despite the…
The Politics ShowWhy are people talking about an English civil war? | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
Following last year’s riots, in the wake of the Southport murders, Elon Musk predicted civil war in the UK was “inevitable”. So far, however, no civil war……
The Politics ShowTrump meets Zelenskyy: hope for peace in Ukraine? | Geopolitics with Katie Stallard
Yesterday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington, flanked by seven European leaders, in order to meet with Donald Trump and push forward…
The Politics ShowPalestine Action arrests "will bring the law into disrepute" | Jonathan Dimbleby interview
In 1978, the broadcaster and journalist Jonathan Dimbleby, and photojournalist Don McCullin, published The Palestinians - a book that sought to tell the human…
The Politics ShowThe New Statesman’s ultimate beach reads
There’s one thing you need this summer. A good book. Will Lloyd is joined by culture editor Tanjil Rashid, and staff writer Finn McRedmond to discuss the New…
The Politics ShowThe government must address the graduate job crisis | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
Will Starmer face a vote of no confidence? What does Reform UK mean by scrap Net Zero? Should the Democrats distance themselves from the Clintons? Anoosh…
The Politics ShowUK economy "fastest growing in the G7 this year" | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
On Thursday morning, data was released showing that UK economic growth has slowed to 0.3%. Also, JD Vance has been holidaying in the UK, recently meeting with…
The Politics ShowBranding pensioners terrorists: "ridiculous... and deeply disturbing" | Sir Jonathon Porritt, arrested at Palestine Action Protest
On Saturday, in Westminster, police arrested more than 500 people under the Terrorism Act. That’s more in a single day than have ever been charged with…
The Politics ShowWhat happens in Alaska won't stay in Alaska | Geopolitics with Katie Stallard
US President Donald Trump will meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for a high stakes summit to discuss the war in Ukraine. Trump has…
The Politics ShowLabour students revolt over Gaza | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
Youth membership for the Labour party has collapsed – from 100,000 to just 30,000 under Starmer’s leadership. The relationship between Labour HQ and its…
The Politics ShowWASP movie | Whit Stillman interview
Whit Stillman is something of a cult film director. He rose to prominence in 1990 with his debut film Metropolitan, which became the first in the so-called…
The Politics ShowAre the Tories more back-stabbing than Labour? | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
Is Keir Starmer sucking up to Donald Trump, and what do politicians get up to during parliamentary recess? Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Rachel Cunliffe and…
The Politics ShowStarmer is now less popular than Trump | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
New polling has found that Keir Starmer is now less popular amongst British voters than Donald Trump. Today, we’re talking about Keir Starmer’s first year in…
The Politics ShowEurostarmer | Politics with George Eaton
Nine years after the Brexit referendum, the dream of 'Singapore-on-Thames' has quietly evaporated. Instead, we’ve got a Labour government embracing high taxes…
The Politics ShowDivided and dormant Democrats | US politics with Anoosh Chakelian
The dormant Democrat party must find a way to revive itself if it is to have any hope of challenging the Maga movement, Donald Trump, and his eventual…
The Politics ShowNigel Farage won't take a day off | Politics with Anoosh Chakelian
Parliament is in recess for the next four weeks, a time when Westminster usually goes quiet, but this year there’s one man who’s determined to keep working…
The Politics ShowWho really owns Britain's houses? | Susan J. Smith interview
Britain is in the grip of a housing crisis and politicians from all sides claim to have the solutions. But as prices rise, renters struggle and investors…
The Politics ShowDo politicians understand the internet? | Politics with Rachel Cunliffe
The team answer listener questions on the practicalities of the online safety act, a Labour-Lib Dem coalition, and the revival of the commonwealth. Submit a…