Labour party

Saturday

Steerpike

Starmer’s first 100 days: the commentariat turns

Oh dear. Keir Starmer today marks his first 100 days in 10 Downing Street, but he has little cause for celebration amid tanking poll ratings and reports of staff unease over his grip on the government. When Starmer first entered 10 Downing Street, there were predictions across the commentariat that his arrival would herald a more stable period and mean the adults were back in the room. So, how do the pundits see it now? The papers are stocked with long reads and analysis on how Starmer is doing. In short, he’s not doing great. Mr S has rounded up the highlights – or perhaps more accurately the lowlights –

Friday

Katy Balls

Is Keir Starmer the new Harold Wilson?

19 min listen

It’s another busy few days for the Prime Minister as he chairs the inaugural meeting of the Council of Nations and Regions today, marks 100 days in office, and hosts an investment summit on Monday. With the absence of Sue Gray looming large, James Heale unpicks the politics behind these milestones with Katy Balls and the Financial Times‘s Stephen Bush. They share some lessons from history and the welcome, or perhaps unwelcome, comparison with former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Also on the podcast, they discuss the merits and pitfalls of potential Conservative Party rule changes. Could their era of rapid defenestration soon come to an end? Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The Tracy-Ann Oberman Edition

31 min listen

Actress and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman is well known for her roles across theatre, radio and television, including Dr Who, Friday Night Dinner, It’s a Sin and, of course, EastEnders. Most recently, she has taken on one of the most famous, and problematic, Shakespearean roles: as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Inspired by her great-grandmother, she has reimagined the role as a Jewish matriarch, and the play returns to London’s West End this December. On the podcast, Katy Balls talks to Tracy about her obsession with the Roman Empire, what it was like spending a term in Moscow towards the end of perestroika, and her  career from soap to Shakespeare, hero to villain. As she has

Thursday

James Heale

Can Morgan McSweeney reboot the government machine?

The Queen is dead: long live the King. This week brought an end to Downing Street’s unhappy experiment in dyarchy. Out goes Sue Gray, banished to the regions. In her place stands the Irishman who won the No. 10 power struggle: Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s first chief of staff in opposition, is back on top. McSweeney’s allies believe that the new government will flourish into maturity after a troubled start. ‘We’re back to being political,’ one crows. As another minister prefers to put it: ‘He needs to go around and crack some heads – and quick’ The new chief’s strengths are threefold. First, he is familiar with how the PM

Thursday

Rod Liddle

In defence of Rosie Duffield

Rosie Duffield’s magnificently rancorous resignation of the Labour whip has reduced the number of MPs on the government side who are able accurately to identify what a ‘woman’ is by about 30 per cent. This is, then, a grave loss to Sir Keir Starmer, who could have wheeled Rosie out every time he was asked the tricky question and told his interlocutors: ‘Ask her, she seems to know. I haven’t a clue. I have been shown diagrams, of course, many of them in full colour. But a proper definition still eludes me because, for me and the vast majority of my colleagues on the left, such things as diagrams and

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Keir Starmer’s dysfunctional Downing Street 

By rights, the Conservative party conference in Birmingham ought to have been a funereal affair. It was the first time the party had gathered after its worst-ever election defeat and the number of former MPs rivalled the number of current ones. And yet the mood was surprisingly upbeat. ‘Opposition is so freeing,’ said one MP at the bar in the early hours. ‘It’s like being drunk at the wake after the funeral,’ remarked one Tory strategist. It’s not that the party conference revealed a breakout star in the leadership contest (‘We’ll be doing this again in two years,’ predicts one unimpressed MP). Instead, Tories are looking at Labour’s misfortunes. Three

Saturday

Rachel Johnson

Rachel Johnson, James Heale, Paul Wood, Rowan Pelling and Graeme Thomson

34 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Rachel Johnson reads her diary for the week (1:19); James Heale analyses the true value of Labour peer Lord Alli (6:58); Paul Wood questions if Israel is trying to drag America into a war with Iran (11:59); Rowan Pelling reviews Want: Sexual Fantasies, collated by Gillian Anderson (19:47); and Graeme Thomson explores the ethics of the posthumous publication of new music (28:00).  Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Friday

Katy Balls

The Bridget Phillipson Edition – live at Labour conference

33 min listen

Labour’s Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson returns to Women With Balls in a special live edition of the podcast, recorded at Labour Party conference. The MP for Houghton and Sunderland South since 2010, Phillipson joined Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet in 2020, and was appointed Shadow Education Secretary the following year. She retained her brief following the general election, and was also appointed Minister for Women and Equalities. Katy talks to Bridget about her priorities for Education, what she thinks about the idea that too many people go to university, and the recovery of schools and pupils post-pandemic.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

Thursday

Oscar Edmondson

Are we on the brink of ‘all out war’ in the Middle East?

12 min listen

Events have moved on fast since Labour conference with the mounting prospect of ‘all out war’ in the Middle East. This comes after reports that Israel are preparing a ground invasion of Lebanon to push back Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. What levers are at the disposal of the international community to de-escalate this very volatile situation?  Also today, Keir Starmer’s impressive performance on the international stage risks being undermined by the freebies story which continues to rumble on. What’s the latest?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Michael Stephens, senior fellow at RUSI.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson. 

Rachel Johnson

The best podcasts to fall asleep to

‘Yous!’ a train cleaner in rubber gloves says as we arrive at Liverpool Lime Street. ‘What are yous doing here?’ He is grinning and holding up the political journalists and delegates dribbling from the Euston train like a leaky hose. Behind me waits Tim Shipman, the consummate chronicler of Conservative political chaos. I once sent Shippers a photograph of me sitting between my brothers Boris and Jo in a row on a cream chintz sofa at Chevening, all holding his hardback Fall Out: A Year of Political Mayhem. It was 2017. Instead of exchanging books which we had written – as is the family Christmas custom – everyone had given

James Heale James Heale

Inside Labour’s love affair with Lord Alli

As a peer who hates publicity, Lord Alli might have been expected to dodge the Labour conference – given the near-constant coverage of ‘donorgate’. Former staff talk of birthday cards and Christmas gifts, of Prada bags and Paul Smith shirts Yet there he was, clad in his 1990s telly executive uniform of white trainers and dark suit, nonchalantly strolling around Liverpool. It was public confirmation of what Alli’s friends say privately: that brushes with the press won’t deter him from bankrolling the party he has financed for 25 years. Alli, who is thought to be worth £200 million, has found himself the unwelcome centre of attention over his gifts to

Monday

Katy Balls

Who was the real audience for Rachel Reeves’s speech?

11 min listen

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has just finished her speech at Labour conference. After a brief interruption by hecklers, she addressed austerity, the pandemic, and winter fuel payments. How was the speech received, and who does it really speak to?  Elsewhere, Sue Gray’s lack of appearance in Liverpool hasn’t done anything to slow down discussion of recent controversy. James Heale is joined by Katy Balls and John McTernan, formerly Tony Blair’s Political Secretary.

James Heale James Heale

Is Labour going through its own Partygate?

11 min listen

Labour’s first party conference in government has opened under the shadow of the ‘Frockgate’ scandal, which continues to rumble on. James Heale and Katy Balls report from Liverpool on what the mood is like – and the big topics for the party this week. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Cindy Yu.

Sunday

Steerpike

Richard Burgon fails to draw a crowd at Labour conference

Oh for the days of ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn’. It only seems like yesterday that the likes of John McDonnell and Richard Burgon were commanding impressive crowds at Labour conference. Even last year, with the Starmerites in the ascendant, Labour left events were standing room only. Now though it seems like the fire has gone out of the revolution… At a Morning Star event entitled, ‘What’s in it for the workers? Pushing a Labour government left’, it was slim pickings this morning, with stalwart of the barricades John McDonnell sending his solidarity from home after catching Covid.  It was therefore left to Richard Burgon to be the red star of the show. But

Saturday

James Heale

Will Starmer clash with the unions?

15 min listen

It’s easy enough to keep both business and the unions on side when you are vague about your policies – and when your opponent is messing up so badly. That was Labour’s position going into the election. But now that it’s in government, can it keep that balancing act up? Next week’s Labour party conference will be the government’s first real test. James Heale talks to Kate Andrews and Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Farage’s plan, the ethics of euthanasia & Xi’s football failure

45 min listen

This week: Nigel’s next target. What’s Reform UK’s plan to take on Labour? Reform UK surpassed expectations at the general election to win 5 MPs. This includes James McMurdock, who Katy interviews for the magazine this week, who only decided to stand at the last moment. How much threat could Reform pose and why has Farage done so well? Katy joins the podcast to discuss, alongside Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, who fought Nigel Farage as the Labour candidate for Clacton (1:02). Next: who determines the morality of euthanasia? Matthew Hall recounts the experience of his aunt opting for the procedure in Canada, saying it ‘horrified’ him but ‘was also chillingly seductive’. Does

The Spectator

Labour vs labour: how can the government claim to be promoting growth?

Growth, growth, growth: that was what Keir Starmer told us would be his government’s priority in his first press conference as Prime Minister. Nearly three months on, as the Labour party heads into its first conference in power for 15 years, it is becoming ever harder to reconcile Starmer’s promise with the policies that his government seems determined to deliver. With junior doctors voting to accept a 22 per cent pay rise, yet another group of public sector workers has been lavished with financial reward without any obligation to accept or implement more productive working practices. The NHS is in the midst of a pay bonanza at a time when

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Nigel’s next target: Reform has Labour in its sights

At this weekend’s Reform conference in Birmingham, the opening speech will be given by a man who wasn’t even a member of the party until four months ago. James McMurdock stood in what was once a Tory safe seat. Against the odds and after three recounts, he won, and is now Reform’s accidental member of parliament.  The day after the general election, Reform leader Nigel Farage held his celebratory press conference alongside fellow seat-winners Lee Anderson, Richard Tice and Rupert Lowe, announcing their new gang of four. Half an hour later, from a Westminster pub, they learned that they would be five – after McMurdock, a supposed ‘paper candidate’, was

Friday

Katy Balls

The Lucy Powell Edition

27 min listen

From working on the 1997 general election campaign, to serving in the shadow cabinets of three leaders, politician Lucy Powell has been a prominent figure in the Labour Party for many years. First elected to parliament in 2012, she was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council following Labour’s general election win in July. As Women With Balls returns from a summer break, Katy Balls talks to Lucy about why she transferred out of Oxford University, what her motivations were for serving under Jeremy Corbyn, and why the 2024 general election felt like Glastonbury festival. Lucy also talks about her focus for the newly formed Modernisation

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: A cautionary lesson for England’s schools

Lessons to learn Sir: Your leading article ‘Requires improvement’ (7 September) rightly raised concerns that a curriculum review in England might reverse the excellent progress in schools following the Gove reforms. Fortunately, there are two very good examples of what happens when you replace rigour and the acquisition of knowledge with left-wing dogma and woolly thinking. The introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland has led to a dramatic fall in standards in Scottish education and a resultant collapse in its Pisa [Programme for International Student Assessment] ranking. Last year Wales recorded its lowest-ever Pisa ranking. Its new national curriculum is closely based on the Scottish model, so it