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Since Attlee & Churchill

Lee David Evans & Richard Johnson
Since Attlee & Churchill
Latest episode

145 episodes

  • Since Attlee & Churchill

    Where have our Prime Ministers chosen as their final resting place?

    13/09/2026 | 56 mins.
    This week Since Attlee & Churchill takes a funereal turn as Lee and Richard trace where each of Britain's nine deceased post-war prime ministers chose to be buried. Featuring Clement Attlee's memorial in Westminster Abbey, Winston Churchill's return to Bladon, Anthony Eden's dramatic dash home from Florida to die in Wiltshire, Harold Wilson's beloved Scilly Isles - and more. What do these final locations tell us about the individual prime ministers and the changing nature of who holds the highest political office in our land?

    In this episode, the following books are mentioned:

    'The Rage of Party' by George Owers. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781408719107

    'Sunak at 10: The Last Conservative Prime Minister?' by Anthony Seldon & Tom Egerton. Available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781805462170

    Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

    Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

    Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
    ***
    Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • Since Attlee & Churchill

    Matters of Interest: Council Tax's Fatal Flaws & The Cost-of-Living Paradox in America

    10/09/2026 | 47 mins.
    In this mid week episode of Since Attlee & Churchill, recorded in the United States, Lee and Richard tackle two live debates spanning the Atlantic. First, Richard makes the case against Britain's council tax system — a tax still based on 1991 property valuations — and considers whether Andy Burnham was right to rule out replacing it with the sort of property tax used in America. What would be the pros, cons and the pitfalls of embracing such a reform? Then Lee turns to a trope doing the rounds online: "America rich, Britain poor." With US midterm campaigns dominated by cost-of-living anxiety, he asks how that squares with claims that Americans enjoy a wealth that Europeans find unimaginable. Could it be tourist selection bias? Or the people jet-setters mix with? And what about the trade-offs involved?

    Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

    Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

    Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
    ***
    Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • Since Attlee & Churchill

    Did John Freeman throw away a brilliant political career?

    06/09/2026 | 1h 7 mins.
    John Freeman was one of the brightest stars of the Labour Party’s post-war generation. Elected in the 1945 Labour landslide, he rapidly rose through Clement Attlee’s government and became a hero of the Labour left. Some even thought he could one day become Prime Minister. But after resigning from the government alongside Nye Bevan and Harold Wilson, he walked away from Parliament aged just 40. For the remainder of his life, Freeman never settled - he became a pioneering television interviewer, editor of the New Statesman, British High Commissioner to India, Ambassador to the United States, television executive and university professor. In this episode of 'Since Attlee & Churchill', Richard and Lee explore the extraordinary nine lives of one of the most fascinating, enigmatic and easily overlooked figures in modern British political history.

    In this episode, the following books are mentioned:

    'Bonar Law' by R.J.Q. Adams
    'A Very Private Celebrity: The Nine Lives of John Freeman' by Hugh Purcell

    Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

    Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

    Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

    Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
    ***
    Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • Since Attlee & Churchill

    Matters of Interest: Starmer Walks Away & Sovereignty is Back in Fashion

    03/09/2026 | 44 mins.
    In this week’s Matters of Interest, Lee and Richard discuss Starmer’s decision to resign as an MP – and look at how his departure is part of a much bigger change in the relationship between former prime ministers and Parliament. Will any future PM do as Arthur Balfour and Edward Heath did and stay in the Commons long after their time in Number 10 is over? Then, Richard turns to the recent debate on the trade-offs between sovereignty and free trade between Canada and the United States. Richard argues that some of the same commentators who diagnosed a 'sovereignty syndrome' in Britain during the Brexit negotiations seem to have done a 180 when it comes to Canada insisting on its right to set its own policies. Is that right? And what would a more consistent reasoned and consistent approach to sovereignty look like?

    Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

    Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

    Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

    Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
    ***
    Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • Since Attlee & Churchill

    Summer Book Club: Churchill's Queen

    30/08/2026 | 1h 5 mins.
    In this episode of Since Attlee & Churchill, Lee and Richard are joined by Nigel Fletcher, author of 'Churchill's Queen: The Remarkable Friendship That Shaped Our Age', to explore the fascinating relationship between Winston Churchill and Elizabeth II. In his new book, Nigel explores how their relationship developed even before Elizabeth's accession in 1952, with Churchill playing an influential role in her early life. This episode also explores the personal relationship between the two as Prime Minister and Sovereign, their very different ways of understanding the decline of the British Empire and the emergence of the Commonwealth, and the disagreements that punctuated their relationship – including about the Royal Family's name and their London home. The episode ends by reflecting on how different the beginning of Elizabeth II's reign might have been if Clement Attlee had remained Prime Minister instead.

    'Churchill’s Queen: The Remarkable Friendship That Shaped Our Age' by Nigel Fletcher is available at: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16406/9781529977257

    Lee’s book, ‘Coronations & Defenestrations: Choosing (and losing) Tory Leaders’, is now available. Save 30% by using the code AGENDA30 on IndiePubs: https://indiepubs.co.uk/products/coronations-and-defenestrations-1760081414340

    Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill

    Buying books via the Since Attlee & Churchill Bookshop is a great way to support the podcast. Click here to visit the shop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/saac

    Enjoy listening to the Since Attlee & Churchill podcast? If so, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a 5 star review!
    ***
    Since Attlee & Churchill is a podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill - and is hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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About Since Attlee & Churchill
The podcast about post-war British politics - since Attlee & Churchill. Hosted by Lee David Evans, an historian of the Conservative Party, and Richard Johnson, an historian of the Labour Party.Enjoy ad-free listening, bonus episodes and show your support for the podcast by joining the Since Attlee & Churchill Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SinceAttleeAndChurchill If you're a fan of the podcast, we would be very grateful if you could leave us a positive review to help other people find us. Thank you!Since Attlee & Churchill is also available on YouTube. Listen and watch the show at: https://www.youtube.com/@sinceattleeandchurchillGot a question or comment? Get in touch!Richard: richard.johnson@qmul.ac.ukLee: lee@leedavidevans.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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