Shows / Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Based on his live one-man show Rock & Roll Politics, the broadcaster and author Steve Richards takes a weekly behind-the-scenes tour of UK politics and the media that shapes the way we view the epic political dramas. The future is ridiculously unpredictable and the past is so easy to misread. Subscribe to your weekly guide through seismic times.
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Episodes
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsDo the Tory Right know what they want?
After the elections, Sunak’s right wing dissenters called off their planned coup even though the results were disastrous for the Tories, while outlining their…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsHas the SNP become impossible to lead?
A First Minister and SNP leader falls after a short tenure. Like the Tory party’s problems in Westminster, does the SNP leadership crisis raise thorny…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWho is Winning The Battle of Ideas?
Nigel Lawson once noted that the party that wins the battle of ideas wins elections. He was right. Ideas matter and yet play little part in the contest between…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsHarold Wilson’s affair and how we misread leaders
In his last term as Prime Minister, Harold Wilson was seen as old, paranoid and ineffective… yet now we discover he was lively enough to be having an affair…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThis Time No Mistakes – In Conversation with Will Hutton
The journalist and author Will Hutton has written an important new book on the eve of what’s likely to be a Labour government. The title is stark: This Time No…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsRock & Roll Politics Live – The Easter Special
A rare chance to hear a live show… this one recorded in the main concert hall at Kings Place, London. On the agenda: How do the dramas around the current…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsCan Rachel Reeves win the battle of ideas?
Nigel Lawson once said a party that wins the battle of ideas wins the election... Rachel Reeves has started to engage in this battle of ideas during her Mais…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsIs Sunak's time up?
With polls suggesting a slaughter at the election will Tory MPs seek to replace Sunak … and should they? Tickets for the next Rock n Roll Politics Live: Kings…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsFrom Johnson to Starmer – How much does character matter?
We are obsessed by the character of leaders, even if context, ideas and external circumstances can determine the fate of a government as much as character…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhere’s the passionate anger over the crisis in UK?
The nightmare in Gaza triggers chaos in the Commons, a victory for George Galloway and apocalyptic warnings from Rishi Sunak… and yet there’s broad agreement…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsHas Liz Truss got a point?
Amidst the delusional craziness of Liz Truss’s interventions, she raises one valid question: Does too much power lie in unelected institutions? Since 1979 a…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsStarmer and Rayner – What does she think of him?
In Tom Baldwin's new biography of Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner describes the Labour leader as “the least political person I know in politics”. What does she…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Why are the Tories bolder when on the verge of power?
Labour is way ahead in the polls and has dropped its most radical policy, the £28 billion green recovery plan. But in opposition, in the build up to the 1979…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsLabour’s £28 billion saga – Has an exciting policy become a threat?
Starmer and Reeves have got in a mess over their pledge to borrow £28 billion for a green recovery programme. The proposal has been marked by defensive…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWill Tory MPs dump Sunak?
Attempted coups against PMs and leaders are becoming increasingly familiar. Will the current plot against Sunak succeed? Support Rock N Roll Politics on…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe myths of Blair’s ‘97 campaign – and why Starmer is being judged unfairly.
It’s become a cliché that Keir Starmer's pitch lacks the clarity and sense of purpose that marked New Labour's victory in 1997. But Blair’s over-mythologised…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsHow can Britain start working again?
Last week Steve Richards asked what the deeper lessons were from the Post Office scandal. The responses from the Rock N Roll Politics Co-operative suggests it…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Post Office scandal-What are the deeper lessons?
The indifference of ministers in the coalition government to the Post Office scandal is becoming a big story. But the indifference was not accidental, it was a…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsHow can Rishi Sunak cut Labour's lead?
A bonus New Year episode for all in the Rock N Roll Politics Co-operative: With Keir Starmer following a Blairite pre-election strategy, Steve Richards thinks…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsChristmas Special: Rock N Roll Politics Live At Kings Place
It was a packed house at Kings Place this December for a live Rock N Roll Politics: The Festive Special. As a special Christmas gift from Steve Richards we…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsAre you driving home this Xmas (because the trains are useless)?
A small but emblematic announcement highlights why public services are so poor in the UK; the government has scrapped plans for an app to make booking train…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhy is the Rwanda plan sucking up all political energy?
NHS waiting lists spiralling out of control. A crisis in social care. Station boards full of cancelled trains. Creaking schools. But somehow, Rishi Sunak's…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsAre we heading for an early election?
After the resignation of Robert Jenrick, plus Suella Braverman's opposition to his new Rwanda legislation, can Rishi Sunak govern any more? If not, will he…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson Vs. The Covid-19 Inquiry
It’s a new week and Boris Johnson will finally be held to account for his leadership during the pandemic at the Covid-19 Inquiry this week. Steve Richards…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhy Are Right Wing Populists Winning Again?
Now even Holland is under the rule of a right wing populist, it might be time to admit that they are winning again. Argentina has elected another. Trump might…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhy Tax Cuts Now?
The UK government is presiding over a crumbling, broken country and investment is required urgently. Steve Richards asks why are Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsGet Ready For Another Tory Psychodrama
Rishi Sunak's desperate attempt to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda will be the dominant political theme for months, sucking up all energy as Brexit did. Steve…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWill Sunak's reshuffle improve the party's prospects?
Rishi Sunak has sacked Suella Braverman and brought back David Cameron. But in terms of party management and the direction of policy, do these seemingly…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhere does power lie in the UK?
Steve Richards considers how Rishi Sunak pays homage to Elon Musk, and discusses the confirmation from the Covid inquiry that no one and no agency was in…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Covid Inquiry and The Fatal Chaos in Johnson's Number 10
Covid struck the UK at the worst possible time. Johnson was governing amidst casual chaos and yet he was popular and this popularity made him dangerously…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsDoes Northern Ireland offer any lessons for the Middle East?
In this Question Time Special, Rock & Roll Politics explores the Israel/Gaza nightmare, the origins of Brexit and the crises facing the Conservative party…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWill the Tories be wiped out?
The Conservative Party has a reputation for adapting ruthlessly to changing times, but is it deserved? After the two historic by-election defeats last week…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsIsrael & Gaza: Is there space for nuance?
Tensions are high in the UK and yet virtually everyone condemns the brutal atrocities in Israel while warning about the horrors in Gaza. Steve Richards asks…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Labour Party conference part 2: Keir Starmer makes his pitch
Keir Starmer framed a powerful and coherent argument in his conference speech, but what about the gaps? Steve Richards asks; What have we learnt from the…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Labour Party conference part 1: Labour moves closer to power
Steve Richards is at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. The mood is disciplined and yet ebullient and businesses have flocked to the conference assuming…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsSunak and the Tory Conference: Can Rishi Sunak be the candidate for change?
In his party conference speech, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed to be the “change-maker” who was moving Britain on from “the last thirty years”. Steve…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsSunak and the Tory Conference: Why has Rishi Sunak failed to learn the art of leadership?
The pre-election Conservative Party conference manages to be both noisy and subdued. The autumnal gloom has set in, there's a pervasive sense that defeat looms…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsNick Thomas Symonds on Clem Attlee, Keir Starmer and Brexit
Steve Richards speaks to the Labour shadow cabinet member and historian Nick Thomas Symonds. Nick has revised his biography of the former Prime Minister…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsIs the UK On The Edge of An Historic Turning Point?
The tidal waves move away from Thatcherite orthodoxies as the next election moves into view and the consequences of austerity economics and privatised…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsHas The UK got a foreign policy? If so, what is it?
As the UK is excluded from the latest US/EU initiative, Steve Richards asks what is its role in the world? The same question was asked during the Suez crisis…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhen governments fall - plus Starmer's pre-election reshuffle
Today; the closure of schools because of unsafe buildings is emblematic of a country where nothing seems to work. Nothing happens by chance and Rishi Sunak's…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWho Does Rishi Sunak Rely On Most?
We are close to the start of a new political year and the Conservatives appear to be as disturbed as ever. Nadine Dorries is stirring, so who is Rishi Sunak…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsSummer Special - Prime Ministers and Their Special Confidants: David Cameron
In this latest episode Steve Richards reflects on the lessons so far from a vibrant Edinburgh Festival and introduces an episode previously released for…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsSummer Special: The 1992 Election
The 1992 election haunts Keir Starmer and his team. It was an election when Labour was at some points well ahead in the polls and still lost. In this summer…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsSummer Special! Troublemakers: Enoch Powell
In the first of a series of Summer Specials Steve Richards reflects on the role of troublemakers in British politics. This is the chance for the whole Rock N…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsQuestion Time Special
It's the height of summer and a chance to explore the many mysteries of British politics via brilliant questions from the Rock N Roll Politics Cooperative…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsA Revealing Twist in the Mad ’Tax and Spend’ Debate
While the UK's bonkers pre-election 'tax and spend' debate continues the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has discovered he has more money to spend than he had expected…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe three by-elections and the consequences
Labour's gain in Selby was a triumph as was the Liberal Democrat’s victory in Somerset and Frome. In a by-election special Steve Richards considers the fall…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsKeir Starmer: Is he right to copy Tony Blair's language and ideas?
In a recent article for the Observer, Keir Starmer deployed many phrases that were part of Tony Blair's armoury twenty years ago – or even further back than…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe BBC and The Sun – A dark dance
At the same time that we discovered the police were not investigating allegations surrounding Huw Edwards we also learned that the presenter was in hospital…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards'Tax Burden' and 'Reform' part 2 - Where is the economic growth going to come from?
One of Keir Starmer's key missions is to achieve the highest levels of growth in the G7. Steve Richards asks how? The answer is far from clear, as Starmer and…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsMy Extinction: Climate Change Special
Steve Richards is in conversation with the director, Josh Appignanessi, about his new film ‘My Extinction’. The film is both funny and urgently reflective as…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards'Tax Burden' and 'Reform' - What Do These Ubiquitous Terms Really Mean?
We are now in the pre-election phase, so inevitably tax is a 'burden' that should be cut and 'reforms' will magically improve public services. Steve Richards…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsDirty Water – What Does It Tell Us About British Politics?
Water privatisation was rushed through after the 1987 election. The many problems were as obvious then as they are now. So why was privatisation proclaimed as…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhere's The Hope?
The anti-Tory mood is deep and deepening but amidst the gloom where are the arguments about why nothing works in the UK? And where are the ideas that offer…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsSecret State? The pros and cons of freedom of information
Martin Rosenbaum was the BBC's Freedom of Information guru, seeking to uncover hidden material via the Freedom of Information Act, an item of legislation Tony…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsDon't forget David Cameron and George Osborne
It is easy to blame Boris Johnson for everything that has gone wrong but the seeds of the current set of crises go deep, as the Covid Inquiry seems to…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBeing Privileged and on the Left - In Conversation with Polly Toynbee
Following the publication of her book - My Family and Other Radicals, Polly Toynbee reflects on being privileged and on the left, her remarkable family, being…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsKeir Starmer Moves Closer to Number 10
Boris Johnson seeks to cause trouble for Rishi Sunak. Nicola Sturgeon is arrested. These dramas are more nuanced than they appear to be but for now the obvious…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWill There Ever Be A National Care Service?
It is the most pledged policy in recent decades and yet never delivered … Labour proposed a national care service in 2010, Theresa May had a plan in 2017…