Westminster Insider

As Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and former health secretary Wes Streeting jostle for influence in the Labour party, host Sascha O'Sullivan looks at what it takes to turn around a party's fortunes mid-term.

Former John Major aide Daniel Finkelstein explains how the Conservative Prime Minister managed to win the 1992 elections against the odds and differentiate himself from his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher.

Theo Bertram, former Tony Blair and Gordon Brown advisor turned think tank boss, talks Sascha through Brown's fateful decision not to call a snap election after taking over from Blair, and the challenge he faced in gripping the No. 10 machine.

The most recent history of mid-term Prime Ministers might prove most instructive for any new Labour Prime Minister, and Rishi Sunak 's former deputy director of policy James Nation takes Sascha inside the effort to reboot his premiership. He tells Sascha Sunak's team found themselves hamstrung by the manifesto commitments promised in 2019, and struggled to keep the party from infighting after taking over from Liz Truss.

Sascha discusses the lessons from these mid-term Prime Ministers with former Keir Starmer policy director Claire Ainsley to find out if Labour can fight its way out of unpopularity — with or without Keir Starmer at the helm.
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With Keir Starmer fighting for his political life after the most perilous week of his premiership, the prime minister and his inner circle have been engaged in a desperate rearguard effort to shore up his position.

This week on Westminster Insider, host Patrick Baker lifts the lid on what life is really like inside Number 10 when a Prime Minister and their shrinking band of loyal advisers enter what Westminster knows as “bunker mode.”

Boris Johnson’s former aide Ross Kempsell sets out his “rules for the bunker” — such as ensuring you have a highly political Chief Whip and tightly controlling access to the prime minister.

Former civil servant Robert Midgley, who worked under Theresa May and Boris Johnson, recalls political advisers suddenly vanishing behind closed doors during moments of crisis, leaving officials wandering the corridors of Downing Street awaiting news of a prime ministerial resignation.

Beatrice Timpson, former deputy press secretary to Liz Truss, explains how communications teams often go to ground during political meltdowns in an effort to impose message discipline when the PM’s back is against the wall.

Conservative peer George Bridges, who worked in Downing Street under John Major, describes the melancholy atmosphere surrounding a prime minister who knows, deep down, that their time is up.

And psychotherapist and political commentator Lucy Beresford argues that bunker mode is not merely a crisis-management strategy, but a revealing feature of the prime ministerial psyche — helping explain why so many leaders cling on long after hope of survival has faded.
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The Victorians called Britain and Germany “awkward cousins.” These days, Keir Starmer is trying to revive that Anglo-German amity as part of a broader reset with the European Union. The prime minister has wooed Chancellor Friedrich Merz since the Christian Democrat leader took power in Berlin last year, leading to the signing of the Kensington Treaty nine months ago.

The treaty was designed to fill the gap in bilateral relations after Brexit and give the Anglo-German relationship more power with an increasingly bellicose Russia. But how much influence do Starmer and Merz have over an erratic American President Donald Trump — and can the E3 (the U.K., Germany and France) really influence Trump’s war with Iran?

Host Anne McElvoy talks to Susanne Baumann, Germany’s ambassador to London, in her first interview since she was appointed last September. In a week when the British government received stinging criticism over its defense plans, the ambassador defends Germany's cooperation on long-range missile and other projects. She also rates England's chances at this summer's FIFA World Cup under German coach Thomas Huchel.
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Despite the war in Iran and its economic consequences preoccupying ministers, much work is going on behind closed doors in Whitehall to strike a closer relationship with Brussels.

Nearly a decade after Britain voted to leave the EU, Keir Starmer has tasked his ministers with negotiating a post-Brexit reset that aims for closer alignment with the bloc in a bid to bring down prices and cut regulations on businesses.  

In this interview episode of Westminster Insider, host Anne McElvoy talks to one of the Prime Minister’s closest allies, Nick Thomas-Symonds. The Cabinet Office Minister has been notching up the Eurostar hours  back and forth to Brussels in a bid to strike a deal by the summer. Will he and his EU counterparts be able to agree a youth mobility scheme and alignment in key sectors of the economy, or will their differences be too great to overcome?
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As Westminster rolls into recess, host Sascha O'Sullivan looks at some of the problems which bedevil SW1 from voter disengagement to constant reshuffles to find out if political systems from Australia to Italy might have the solutions.

Sascha speaks to Australian-raised Labour MP Lauren Edwards about the push for compulsory voting here in Britain and how it makes Australians more involved in the democratic processes which run their country.

Italian journalist Marco Varvello explains the polling ban in Italy which makes it illegal to forecast the result 15 days before an election.

Mark Paul, London correspondent for the Irish Times, gives Sascha the run-down on citizens assemblies which might be trialled in the UK on digital ID, but have been used in Ireland for decades now.

And Jack Blanchard, managing editor and author of POLITICO's Playbook in the US, reflects on how an American-style Cabinet prevents the reshuffles British politics is so accustomed to.
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