Westminster Insider

The Palace of Westminster towers over the River Thames as a symbol of British democracy. But look a little closer and the building is falling apart. 

From fire risks and asbestos to crumbling stonework and miles of aging wiring, experts warn the U.K. Parliament is becoming an increasingly dangerous place to work for MPs, peers and staff. The Restoration and Renewal Programme has spent years trying to work out how to fix it. But now, the politics of repairing Parliament may be even more complicated than the engineering. 

In this week’s Westminster Insider, Patrick Baker takes a tour of the building’s crumbling infrastructure and hears from the people battling over what to do next.  

Restoration expert Alexandra Meakin sets out the risks of continued delay. Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman argues MPs should temporarily move out to allow the work to be done. Conservative MP and Father of the House Edward Leigh dismisses the plans as over-engineered “gold-plating”. And former minister Ed Vaizey wonders whether Parliament should move out altogether. 

Finally, POLITICO’s Ottawa bureau chief Nick Taylor-Vaisey explains how Canada tackled the same problem — and what Westminster might learn.
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The Green Party have won their very first by-election. Westminster Insider Host Sascha O’Sullivan goes inside the Greens’ effort to win the seat, and finds out how the battle for this seat will inform the three-way fights between the Greens, Labour and Reform UK.

She speaks to Hannah Spencer on the election trail – and on the night itself.

And she speaks to the other candidates, Angeliki Stogia for Labour and Matt Goodwin for Reform to find out what worked – and what didn’t.

As Labour licks its wounds, director of the Labour Growth Group Mark McVitie talks Sascha through how the party machine have been thinking about the Greens and what needs to change.

Pollster and director of More in Common Luke Tryl examines what the curious combination of voters can tell us about the future fights Labour will shake out.

And deputy political editor of the Spectator James Heale explains why Reform’s Matt Goodwin didn’t win here in Gorton and Denton.
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Keir Starmer may have survived a political near-death experience last week. But with a perilous by-election looming and punishing May elections on the horizon, few in Westminster think the prime minister is truly in the clear.

With fresh jeopardy ahead, could Starmer become the fifth prime minister in a decade to fall short of a full term?

This week on Westminster Insider, host Patrick Baker asks: why don’t UK prime ministers last anymore?

Political historian and host of the Past, Present, Future podcast David Runciman argues the revolving door at the top reflects a wider global surge in political instability — driven above all by economic turbulence.

Former Downing Street communications directors Katie Perrior, Lee Cain and James Lyons lift the lid on how Britain’s unforgiving 24/7 media machine is grinding down modern premiers.

David Lammy's former adviser Ben Judah and the Institute for Government’s Jill Rutter probe whether the civil service is helping — or hindering — an era of increasingly fragile premierships.

And the author and historian Anthony Seldon says a “massive collapse” in prime ministerial experience means many new arrivals in Downing Street are stepping into the job unprepared for the demands of governing. 
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As Keir Starmer flies to Germany for the Munich Security Conference, Westminster Insider Host Sascha O'Sullivan finds out if the Prime Minister's time abroad has damaged him here at home – and if it has, if it's been worth it. 

Sascha spoke to half a dozen current or former Labour advisors or government insiders about Starmer's approach to foreign policy. With the help of POLITICO Foreign and Defense Correspondent Esther Webber, she pieces together Starmer's legacy on the world stage. 

Olivia O'Sullivan, director of UK in a Changing World at Chatham House, says the Prime Minister has managed to secure "the least worst option" with Donald Trump. 

And Peter Ricketts, former head of the U.K.'s diplomatic service, said the shift towards “a hyper-personalized world” demands Starmer’s presence.

“Unless you are in the room with Donald Trump, you're not influencing him," Ricketts added.
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After the most difficult week of Keir Starmer's premiership, with mounting speculation over how long he can last as Prime Minister, this week on Westminster Insider, host Patrick Baker explores Labour's long and not-too-illustrious history of failed coups and botched insurrections.

Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson remembers the "curry house plot" in 2006 that forced Tony Blair to bring forward his departure from office and urges Starmer "not to let himself be forced out". 

One of those at the heart of "balti-gate" as it became known, ex-Labour MP Sion Simon, explains how being well-organised and having a viable successor in Gordon Brown made all the difference.

Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika and The Independent's John Rentoul remember the one-man kamikaze mission that was ex-Culture Secretary James Purnell's hapless bid to oust Gordon Brown, and reflect on why the Tory party seem to be much more efficient at removing leaders.

Former Jeremy Corbyn adviser Andrew Fisher describes what it was like to be on the receiving end of multiple failed attempts by Labour MPs to remove the then Labour leader, pointing to the power of the Labour membership - a factor which could mean Labour is now more ripe for a change at the top than the famously regicidal Conservative party.

POLITICO's Dan Bloom takes us through the dramatic week in Westminster, with Number 10 engulfed by the revelations about Peter Mandelson.

Labour insider Sienna Rodgers of Parliament's The House magazine outlines who she believes might be in the strongest position to challenge Keir Starmer.

And politics expert Richard Johnson, an academic at Queen Mary University, illuminates the complex tangle of rules and procedures that any would-be Labour challenger needs to follow to depose Keir Starmer.  
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