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 RichardsThe Queen, The King – and How An Era Is Defined
Can a monarch genuinely define an era while being unable to express a view or implement policies that can change lives? Plus more brilliant questions from our…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsLiz Truss is Prime Minister
New Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to overturn Tory orthodoxies in place since this long-serving government was elected in 2010. What will the consequences be…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe BBC and Bias - Plus a special bonus listeners' Question Time
We had no time for listeners' questions earlier this week, so here's a bonus podcast with some of the brilliant ones I received, plus my reflections on the BBC…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsRock & Roll Politics: Live at the Edinburgh Festival
Here is the 14th and final show at this year's Edinburgh Festival, in which the audience makes predictions on Liz Truss and Nicola Sturgeon, and I reflect on…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsReflections at the Edinburgh Festival
Meeting some of the members of the Rock & Roll Politics Co-operative has got me thinking, and so have the audiences at my live shows… Plus, I review some of…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsEnergy prices… and Consequences
As in the 1970s, soaring fuel bills are transforming political assumptions and orthodoxies, with only the candidates to be the next PM struggling to catch up…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsUK Economy Hurtling Towards the Cliff's Edge
While the Tory leadership candidates row over tax cuts, there are bigger questions: what to do about Brexit labour shortages, and how will the war in Ukraine…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsLessons for Keir Starmer in The Rise Of Liz Truss
Liz Truss presents herself as the change maker in a time of turmoil. Keir Starmer must do the same, even if the focus groups and the influence of mid-’90s New…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsCan Boris Johnson Make A Comeback?
Some Conservative members want their next Prime Minister to be... Boris Johnson. A man who shares this view is... Boris Johnson himself, who anticipates a…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Tory Leadership Contest
To my surprise we are learning a lot from the contest even though the candidates are saying very little. The biggest lesson so far: Get ready of political…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Conservatives Choose Another Prime Minister
For the third time since 2016 the Conservatives alone will elect a new Prime Minister. Yet the rest of us are excluded from the tax cutting, small state…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson and Judgement
For understandable reasons, there are more raging questions about Johnson’s lack of a moral compass. His hesitation in responding to the allegations about…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Dangerous Allure of ‘The Centre Ground’
In a week when Matthew Parris claimed Rishi Sunak was a ‘centrist’ and Keir Starmer proclaimed that Labour was on the ‘centre ground’ I wonder where the…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWho’s In Charge?
In my reflections I suggest that the fragmentation of the railways – with no clear lines of responsibility – is the biggest cause of the current crisis… plus…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsCries For ‘Tax Cuts’ and a ‘Battle with Europe‘
The confidence vote that Boris Johnson won narrowly is already having consequences. Tory MPs deploy their new leverage to demand vaguely-defined tax cuts and a…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson Limps On
Boris Johnson 'won' the vote of confidence in his leadership, but voters will note that many of his MPs don't support him and will wonder why they should…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Jubilee and the State of England
As millions enjoy street parties and raise a glass to the Queen - what exactly are they celebrating? Plus, brilliant questions on Partygate and Johnson’s…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsSue Gray… and Consequences
Time moves on and other issues erupt. But should that reduce the potency of the lockdown parties at Downing Street, and reduce the pressure on the inept…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBrexit: Far From Done
Boris Johnson chose to place a border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Now, he faces the dark consequences… Plus, the hidden risk of Keir Starmer’s…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsKeir Starmer and 'Beergate' - What We Already Know
This week, I reflect on the many lessons arising from the local elections, from the sudden focus on Starmer's future to the fractured state of the UK. Plus…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
The lessons of Labour’s landslide win in 1997
I reflect on Ukraine and the origins of World War One… plus the lessons of Labour’s victory 25 years ago this week. Also, brilliant questions on issues from…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhen Prime Ministers Fall
The mood amongst some Conservative MPs has turned against Boris Johnson, but what are the conditions that bring about the toppling of a Prime Minister by their…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe Return of Partygate
This week, I get angry… Plus brilliant questions on all the big themes, and the latest on my Union Jack socks. On Patreon there are bonus podcasts on the Feb…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe long search for the BBC’s Political Editor
In a packed podcast we reflect on the lessons for the BBC in its never-ending attempt to find a Political Editor… Plus, Rishi Sunak, the French Elections…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsCost of Living Crisis - How Should Labour Respond?
A drop in living standards and the return of inflation should be an open goal for Labour, but there are huge challenges for ahead for Labour as well as…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson and Rishi Sunak
Both Boris Johnson and Theresa May half-wanted to move their party on from Thatcherism… and yet they both appointed Thatcherite Chancellors. Why did they do…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson: A Columnist as Prime Minister
Boris Johnson's comments linking Ukraine with Brexit show that he is still writing Daily Telegraph columns as a form of leadership. Plus the P&O…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson, Ukraine and the Falklands Factor
This week’s podcast out early for Patreon followers. Number 10 is briefing that Boris Johnson is proving to be a world leader in the Ukraine crisis, and…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Jonathan Powell on Ukraine, Putin and UK Foreign Policy
This week on the podcast, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, reflects on the current international crisis. Jonathan met Putin several times…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsViews of the Past, National Identity… and War
Putin’s view of his country’s recent past propels him to invade Ukraine – and yet his sense of the past is in many ways a wilful misreading. On this at least…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Freedom
I reflect on that most potent and misleading word in British politics, ‘freedom’ – and then we go over to some brilliant questions ranging from Sunak’s chances…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Global Britain’s Foreign Policy – Posturing And Weakness
This week I reflect on British foreign policy in the light of the Ukraine crisis and other sagas in which the UK has played a haphazard role… and Keir Starmer…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Prime Ministers and Number Ten
As politics gets even wilder, I reflect on how the make-up and effectiveness of the No.10 operation tells us much about the character of a Prime Minister…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Sue Gray Speaks Her Mind
The Sue Gray ‘update’ was more dramatic than expected, but only Conservative MPs have the power to act. Will they? Plus, brilliant questions from around the UK…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Boris Johnson: Parties and Rules
Boris Johnson totters precariously because of the parties in Number 10… even though he himself has never been a great party lover. Why did he not think through…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Keir Starmer Makes His Pitch
I analyse Keir Starmer's latest pitch as if it were a classic literary text - which it is not - but there clues in it that are interesting. Speeches are always…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Two Predictions for 2022
In the first podcast of the New Year, I reflect on two big political taboos that I predict will be broken in 2022, and brilliant questions on the politics of…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Lord Frosty Resigns
Why the resignation of Lord Frosty Frost shines light on a vast range of the current political landscape… also Covid latest, the North Shropshire by-election…
- Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
The ‘Freedom’ To Be Selfish
I reflect on the state of the modern Conservative party when so many of its MPs fervently oppose modest protections against Covid at a point when the virus is…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsRishi, Keir and the Times Newspaper
Rishi Sunak briefs the Times about his plans to cut taxes as taxes are about to rise… Keir Starmer gives an interview to the paper that makes no waves… plus…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsKeir Starmer Reshuffles His Shadow Cabinet
Keir Starmer has conducted a wide ranging shadow cabinet reshuffle-How significant will the changes be? Plus brilliant questions from around the UK...and the…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsTrains, Dacre and Marr
My reflections on the government's plans for trains in the north of England, Paul Dacre's revealing reasons for pulling out of the OFCOM post and Andrew Marr's…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsA Shift In The Opinon Polls
The opinion polls- accurate or not- determine the political mood, how leaders are perceived by their parties and the media. What is the significance when some…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson and 'Sleaze"
The episode explores why long serving Conservative governments become vulnerable when stories about 'sleaze' become a dominant theme...and why B Johnson has…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsThe BBC and 'Impartiality'
Rishi Sunak's budget has become mythologised as a 'tax and spend' programme..'a Labour budget'...but is it...? The question highlights issues around…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsRishi Sunak and Rachel Reeves
An analysis of the political duel between the Chancellor and the Shadow Chancellor ..with more to come...plus brilliant questions from around the UK and the…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsA Review: Blair and Brown-The New Labour Revolution
After the unbearable murder of David Amess-a. defence of politics and elected representatives...and a review of the BBC series on New Labour...that is getting…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBrexit and Consequences
Looking ahead to the live show at Kings Place....Tickets here for live in the hall:https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/steve-richards-presents-rock-n-ro…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsB Johnson and his Cabinet espouse the policies of Tony Benn
Boris Johnson has become a fan of import controls as a way of increasing wages- a key part of Tony Benn's Alternative Economic Strategy in the the late 70s and…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsKeir Starmer Makes His Moves
K Starmer aches to engage with the wider electorate...but with the government facing several deep crises is he right to focus on internal issues at the start…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson-The most powerful PM in modern times
Boris Johnson's reshuffle shows that he is in total command of his government and party....more so than any other recent Prime Minister...at least for…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsIs Boris Johnson Moving The Conservatives To The Left?
A look ahead to the Rock N Roll Politics Special streaming live from Kings Place on Sept 13th at 7pm...There's a lot going…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsSocial Care and the Lack of Political Will
Most voters agree that a government must raise taxes to pay for social care.In effect an insurance for care does not come for nothing. Yet the government-like…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsPrime Ministers We Never Had-Part 2
After a short summer break we all need to get together to prepare for an epic autumn...I reflect on Afghanistan and reveal some of the figures included in 'The…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsPrime Ministers We Never Had-Part One
Who qualifies for the dubious honour of being a Prime Minister We Never Had? In my new book I argue that there are two qualifications. They must have been seen…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsIs Rishi Sunak the Next Prime Minister?
Rishi Sunak is spoken of as Boris Johnson's likely successor...Chancellors are often seen as the next Prime Minister..and yet quite a few of them fail to seize…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsWhat should the state be doing and how?
For the first time since 1979 some Conservatives, including Boris Johnson, seem to be looking towards a more active state...while others, including Rishi…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards'Freedom'
Boris Johnson's 'Freedom Day' has become a dangerous farce, with Johnson, Sunak and Javid self isolating..raising big questions about what the complex term…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsBoris Johnson's ' Freedom to Be Irresponsible Day'
B Johnson 'advises' mask wearing should continue in crowded indoor spaces...so the freedom not to do so is granted to the irresponsible who will ignore the…
Rock & Roll Politics with Steve RichardsK Starmer Needs To Change Labour Without 'Taking His Party On'
Labour won the Batley and Spen by-election against expectations..immediately K Starmer was urged to use his new space to 'take on his party'. But what does…