The State of It

The end of Britain’s political duopoly now looks complete, as Labour suffers a catastrophic by-election defeat to the Greens in Gorton and Denton. Reform comes second, while the Tories lose their deposit with just 2% of the vote. Keir Starmer is now a prisoner of the left, and Britain is undergoing a tectonic realignment of its electoral politics.

Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times
Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall editor, The Sunday Times

Producer: Euan Dawtrey
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture credit: Getty Images

Email us: [email protected]
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Caroline as she visits Ukraine on the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion. Burner phones to make sure the Russians don't track them as they travel in on a train called the Bravery Express. A meeting with the first lady, and with a woman who was captured and held in a forced labour camp. Kyiv is a busy, modern city where some residents have to find tents to get heating and electricity.

Caroline Wheeler, political editor, The Sunday Times

Producer: Euan Dawtrey
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture credit: Getty Images

Email us: [email protected]
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three separate scandals have raised serious questions over Keir Starmer's judgement. It's empowered Labour MPs who were once written off as cranks. And with many files still to come out, the questions will keep on coming.
Meanwhile, the PM is selling the idea that the Gorton and Denton by-election is a two-horse race between Reform UK and Labour, but will voters believe him when the Green Party is campaigning hard on Gaza? Also, is parliament fit for purpose on the subject of the royal family?

Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times
Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall editor, The Sunday Times

Producer: Euan Dawtrey
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture credit: Getty Images

Email us: [email protected]
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Labour Together scandal is the latest storm threatening to capsize the government - and Gabriel has been right at the heart. For the first time, he describes what happened when a Labour think tank set private investigators on a journalist. Their secret report falsely accused Gabriel of acting as a Russian agitator and "grotesquely subverted" his faith in an attack on his and his colleagues' reporting in The Sunday Times.

Hosts:
Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall editor, The Sunday Times

Producer: Euan Dawtrey
Executive producer: Dan Box

Email us: [email protected]
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to what Labour ministers and MPs are saying about their colleagues in a week of chaos in Westminster.
The prime minister thought it was all over for him this weekend, but a scrambled rearguard action has left him looking stronger than he has for some time. But to survive, Keir Starmer may now have no choice but to move leftwards. And there's much worse to come when the Mandelson files are released.
Meanwhile, has Wes Streeting missed his moment to challenge the prime minister?

Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times
Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall editor, The Sunday Times

Producer: Euan Dawtrey
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Picture credit: Getty Images
Audio credit: Sky News

Email us: [email protected]
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.