POLITICO's Westminster Insider
Jack Blanchard
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POLITICO’s weekly political series hosted by Jack Blanchard lifts the curtain on how Westminster really works, offering in-depth insight into the political issues which typically only get broad-brush treatment in the wider media.
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Mar 17, 2022
The road to Brexit — 30 years since the Maastricht Treaty
Jack Blanchard speaks to some of the key U.K. players involved in the passage of the Maastricht Treaty and ponders whether this was the moment which set Britain on the path to Brexit.
Former British diplomat John Kerr recalls the epic all-night negotiations in Holland, including a session where he hid under a table to offer secret advice to Prime Minister John Major. Treasury Minister Francis Maude tells how he was dispatched to sign the treaty by his then-boss, Chancellor Norman Lamont, who seemingly did not want his own name enshrined upon the document.
Rebel MPs Iain Duncan Smith and Bill Cash recall the heated debates in parliament which then followed, with Tory Euroskeptics working hand in glove with opposition Labour MPs led by shadow Europe minister George Robertson, who also appears on the podcast.
Former Tory whip Andrew Mitchell recalls the Major government's valiant but ultimately abortive attempts to push the rebel MPs back into line. And Cambridge University's Professor Catherine Barnard explains the wider significance of the Maastricht Treaty and its impact upon Britain, 30 years on.
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Mar 10, 2022
How to avoid a nuclear war
As Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine continues, Jack Blanchard speaks to diplomats, nuclear experts and historians about how we can best hope to avoid the conflict escalating into full-blown nuclear war.
Former Foreign Office head Sir Simon Fraser and former NATO Policy Chief Fabrice Pothier analyse Western policy toward Russia since the end of the Cold War, and explain how they believe the current crisis is likely to play out.
The Russian Cold War historian Professor Sergey Radchenko provides some historical context, detailing moments during the 20th Century when tensions between the Soviet Union and the U.S. almost spilled over into direct conflict — and how disaster was ultimately averted.
And the Norwegian academic Dr Kristin Ven Bruusgaard, an expert on Russian nuclear strategy, explains the circumstances in which Russian President Vladimir Putin might actually reach for the nuclear button, and how he might yet be deterred from doing so.
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Mar 3, 2022
Bar room talk with Labour’s Andy Burnham
This week Jack Blanchard heads north to Manchester to talk music, football, history and politics with Mayor Andy Burnham. In his favored city centre bar, Burnham — currently the favorite to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour leader — talks about his childhood growing up on the outskirts of the city, and how Manchester's legendary music scene inspired him to Cambridge University.
He discusses the highs and the lows of his 20-year career in Westminster, and the struggle he faced even as a senior minister to get the Whitehall machine delivering for the North. He also runs the rule over Starmer's performance as Labour leader so far, and admits his own fears for the future as Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine spirals further and further out of control.
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Feb 24, 2022
Russia and Britain — A brief history, from Navarino to Ukraine
As Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine plunges Russia's relations with the West into crisis, Jack Blanchard talks to the historian and former U.K. Foreign Secretary David Owen about the turbulent history of the Anglo-Russian relationship.
Lord Owen charts the many ups and downs of the 19th and 20th centuries, a period through which Britain and Russia fought side by side in three major wars while also coming close to outright conflict on multiple occasions. He recalls his first visit to Moscow as foreign secretary at the height of the Cold War, and his subsequent run-ins with Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin while working as an EU diplomat and as a businessman. And he offers a damning verdict on Putin's latest act of aggression, with a chilling warning too of what it might mean for the months ahead.
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Feb 17, 2022
Cold water swimming with Johnny Mercer MP
This week Jack Blanchard heads to Plymouth to meet Johnny Mercer, the ex-soldier who as a Tory MP has proved one of the government's fiercest critics. They go sight-seeing, take shelter from a winter storm in various pubs and cafes, and even head to the coast for an ill-advised February dip in the sea. Through the course of the day, Johnny discusses his military career, his disenchantment with the Westminster system, and his campaign to improve the lives of Britain's military veterans.
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Feb 10, 2022
How to topple a prime minister
With questions swirling about Boris Johnson's future, Jack Blanchard looks into the murky world of leadership challenges and asks what it's like to topple a prime minister.
Former Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull recalls the internal coup which ended his premiership in 2018 — and explains why he'd deposed his own party leader, Tony Abbott, in 2015. Tory backbench rebel Mark Francois and Theresa May's Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell recall the plot which ended her premiership in 2019 and changed the course of Brexit. Margaret Thatcher's Private Secretary Caroline Slocock shares her memories of the plot against Britain's first female leader in 1990, and the atmosphere in Downing Street as it became clear her reign was over. And journalist and author Steve Richards explores other great leadership challenges of recent years, including Gordon Brown's war of attrition against Tony Blair and John Major's epic 1990s battle with the Tory Euroskeptics.
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Feb 3, 2022
Why there's nothing new about Leveling Up
As Boris Johnson publishes his much-delayed plan to "Level Up" the country, Jack Blanchard explores the long history of the North/South divide in England and the efforts of past governments to narrow the gap.
Author and former FT journalist Brian Groom explains how the North/South divide stretches back centuries, and how prime ministers of all parties have been trying to support the North for at least 100 years. Former Deputy PM Michael Heseltine recalls the regeneration schemes he led in the 1980s and 1990s which made him a household name, and the factors he believes made them such a success. John Prescott's former deputy Richard Caborn explains New Labour's radically different approach to the problem, with large public sector bodies set up in 1999 to drive growth in every region. And Nick Clegg's former director of strategy, Polly Mackenzie, sets out why David Cameron's Coalition government tore it all up and started again in 2010.
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Jan 27, 2022
Notes on a scandal
As the "party-gate" controversy rocks Boris Johnson's premiership, Jack Blanchard takes a look at the history and the nature of political scandals.
Former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell, who was forced to resign over the so-called "Plebgate" affair in 2012, reveals what it's like to be at the centre of a bruising political controversy, and how he got his life back on track afterwards. Top political journalists Pippa Crerar and Christopher Hope — who helped break the Dominic Cummings and MPs' expenses scandals respectively — explain what it's like to uncover a major political story, and their disbelief at learning how senior political figures are sometimes prepared to act. And the author and ex-Washington Post journalist Michael Dobbs analyzes the greatest political scandal of them all — Watergate — with the help of thousands of hours of newly-released audio tapes of President Richard M. Nixon.
Andrew Mitchell's memoir "Beyond a Fringe: Tales from a Reformed Establishment Lackey," and Michael Dobbs' new book "King Richard — Nixon and Watergate: An American Tragedy," are both available now.
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Dec 23, 2021
The year ahead in 53 minutes
As another eventful year in U.K. politics draws to a close, Jack Blanchard is joined by 10 special guests to predict the big stories we'll be talking about in 2022.
Conservative Home's Editor Paul Goodman considers what the year ahead may have in store for Boris Johnson, while the New Statesman's Political Editor Stephen Bush reads the runes for a newly-emboldened Keir Starmer.
Resolution Foundation boss Torsten Bell warns of economic problems looming in the spring of 2022, while FT columnist and author Anjana Ahuja predicts how the next stages of the pandemic will play out. Polling expert Robert Hayward and Irish Times columnist Newton Emerson look ahead to the May local elections in Great Britain and Northern Ireland respectively, while POLITICO journalists Rym Momtaz and Ryan Lizza preview the French presidential election in May and the U.S. mid-terms in November.
Finally, Professor Rana Mitter of Oxford University previews the Chinese Communist Party's 20th party congress, while the Guardian's David Conn considers the political storm raging around the 2022 men's football World Cup in Qatar.
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Dec 16, 2021
From opium wars to cyberattacks: 200 years of UK-China friction
As Hong Kong goes to the polls for a highly controversial election, Jack Blanchard is joined by politicians, historians and diplomats to reflect on 200 years of U.K.-China relations.
Tory peer Chris Patten, the last U.K. governor of Hong Kong, explains the optimism he felt when the city was handed back to China in 1997 — and his anger at Beijing's recent clampdown. Pro-Beijing Hong Kong legislator Regina Ip gives the opposing view, claiming China has every right to quash pro-democracy movements if deemed illegal.
Professor Rana Mitter of Oxford University and Professor Steve Tsang of SOAS explain the historical forces that have shaped U.K.-China relations since the early 19th century. While former U.K. diplomat Peter Ricketts sets out how British policy toward China has evolved over recent decades, and Commons foreign affairs committee chairman Tom Tugendhat explains why his backbench grouping of Tory MPs has been piling pressure on the U.K. government to take a harder line.
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Dec 9, 2021
Two years on: What the hell happened in the 2019 general election?
In a special anniversary episode, Jack Blanchard looks back at the seminal general election of December 2019, with help from experts and insiders from all the main campaign teams.
Tory campaign chief Isaac Levido reveals the secrets behind Boris Johnson's slick election-winning machine, including the all-important "Get Brexit Done" slogan. Jeremy Corbyn's policy supremo Andrew Fisher rues the unforced errors and the impossible circumstances which led the Labour Party to its worst defeat in years. The Brexit Party's Gawain Towler and Lib Dem peer Dorothy Thornhill reveal the wildly contrasting fortunes of the minor parties in 2019. And political scientist Professor Rob Ford of Manchester University explains the findings of his team's major new study of the election — and why Boris Johnson's landslide victory could easily have been far bigger.
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Dec 2, 2021
Meet Mayor Sadiq Khan: Boxing, knives and curryhouses on the streets of south London
This week Jack Blanchard ventures out of the studio to meet Mayor Sadiq Khan on the streets of south London.
Khan takes us back to his old stomping ground of Tooting as he recalls his childhood, one of eight kids in a working-class family of Pakistani origin. Khan visits his old secondary school, where he learned how to study — and how to fight — and then the Islamic Centre where he prays today. They discuss his favorite movies, his favorite sports stars, and the racism he experienced as a young man. And they visit one of his favorite curryhouses for chai masala, pakoras and an in-depth conversation about how cities like London will need to change in a post-pandemic world.
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Nov 25, 2021
The next pandemic
Westminster — like much of the world — was caught napping by the deadly new coronavirus which emerged from China in 2019. This week Jack Blanchard speaks to experts from around the world to consider what we can do now to better prepare for the next pandemic, and avoid a similar catastrophe next time round.
Professor Julia Gog of Cambridge University explains how different types of virus spread in different ways, and the sorts of intervention we might need in response. Former U.K. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warns of the dangers of Whitehall groupthink, while Dr Jason Wang of Stanford University sets out the lessons we can learn from east Asian countries like Taiwan and South Korea. Richard Hatchett of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) explains how vaccine deployment and distribution can be sped up, while Professor Kevin Esvelt of MIT and Nicole Stephenson of Metabiota stress the best approach of all is to tackle emerging threats at source.
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Nov 18, 2021
How British towns got left behind
This week Jack explores whether Britain's provincial towns — like the town he grew up in and many places he has lived since — have been "left behind" as the economy has evolved over recent years.
Wigan MP and Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy explains why she famously put towns at the heart of her political philosophy, and how she believes places like Wigan can be transformed in the decades to come. Mansfield MP and local council leader Ben Bradley considers the shifting political forces that helped make him Mansfield's first ever Conservative MP in 2017.
FT journalist Sebastian Payne discusses his eye-opening road trip through numerous small and medium-sized towns in the north of England last year which resulted in his book, "Broken Heartlands."
Academics Professor Henry Overman and Professor Will Jennings mull the demographic and economic changes which have created such disparities between different urban areas, and what we might do to address them. And the Centre for Cities…
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Nov 11, 2021
The government vs the BBC: A Hundred Year War
This week Jack picks through the long and turbulent relationship between the government and the BBC, and asks why these two great pillars of British public life can't seem to get along.
Veteran BBC Radio 4 presenter and author Edward Stourton and BBC historian Professor Jean Seaton discuss the checkered history of government/BBC relations, from the 1926 General Strike right through to the modern day — via World War II, the Falklands and Iraq. Former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale and Jeremy Corbyn's former aide James Schneider offer critiques from the Right and the Left, each suggesting the Beeb struggles with ideas it sees as outside the mainstream.
And the BBC's current Executive Editor for Politics, Katy Searle, offers a firm defense of the corporation's approach — and reveals the angry 6 a.m. phone calls she frequently receives from Downing Street.
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Nov 4, 2021
The history of climate change — from the Great Ice Age to COP26 and beyond
As the COP26 summit continues in Glasgow, Jack Blanchard looks back at the history of climate change, from the dramatic shifts at the end of the Ice Age to the political rows of the modern era.
Anthropologist Professor Brian Fagan takes us back to pre-historic, ancient and medieval periods to assess how past human societies coped with a changing climate. In more recent history, Margaret Thatcher's Political Secretary John Whittingdale explains why the Tory PM was among the first world leaders to campaign for a global deal on cutting greenhouse gases.
Former Labour leader — and ex-climate change secretary — Ed Miliband discusses his experiences of pushing Britain's first climate laws through parliament, and of panicking in his underpants at the COP15 summit in Copenhagen. Author Richard Black and Tory MP Steve Baker discuss the thinking behind those opposed to radical action on the climate.
And Boris Johnson's COP26 Spokeswoman Allegra Stratton rings in from Glasgow with an updat…
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Oct 7, 2021
How do you write a great political speech?
As Britain's political parties finish their annual conferences, Jack Blanchard invites a selection of top speechwriters from both sides of the Atlantic to consider what makes a great political speech.
Tony Blair's former chief speechwriter, Philip Collins, talks us through the techniques he used when penning Keir Starmer's leader's speech at this year's Labour Party conference. David Cameron's former chief speechwriter, Ameet Gill, recalls several of the ex- PM's greatest hits, including the 2007 "no notes" party conference speech which helped avert a snap general election. Ed Miliband's former speechwriter, stand-up comedian Ayesha Hazarika, explains the importance of humor in political discourse. And U.S. Vice President Al Gore's former speechwriter, Bob Lehrman, offers a trans-Atlantic view of how the greatest political speeches are structured.
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Sep 30, 2021
Meet Lee Cain: Three chaotic years as Boris Johnson's closest aide
This week Jack Blanchard sits down with Lee Cain, who spent three years at Boris Johnson's side as his spin doctor and closest aide.
In his first major interview since leaving Downing Street, Cain recalls Johnson's extraordinary journey from U.K. foreign secretary, to backbench rebel, to all-powerful prime minister with a commanding majority in parliament. Cain reveals Johnson's campaign secrets and lifts the lid on the all-important Cabinet resignation in 2018 which helped propel him into power.
And he recalls the highs and the lows of the 18 months that followed, from a landslide general election victory to a catastrophic pandemic response which saw 130,000 Britons die — and left Johnson himself fighting for his life.
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Sep 23, 2021
From Bismarck to Merkel: Why German chancellors always matter more than we expect
As Germany goes to the polls for an historic election this weekend, Jack Blanchard looks back at some of the great pre- and post-war German chancellors and the impact they've had on Europe and on Britain.
Sir Christopher Clark, emeritus professor of history at Cambridge University, and Anglo-German historian Katja Hoyer discuss Otto von Bismarck and his role in creating a powerful new German nation, as well as his less-celebrated successors who helped lead Europe into catastrophic war. Timothy Garton Ash, professor of European Studies at Oxford University, recalls the great post-war chancellors who rebuilt and eventually reunified Germany, from Konrad Adenauer through to Helmut Kohl.
And POLITICO's own Matthew Karnitschnig and former Downing Street aide Daniel Korski discuss Angela Merkel's legacy — and her role in Britain's departure from the EU — as she prepares to step down after almost 16 years as chancellor.
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Sep 16, 2021
Why doesn't Britain ever build enough homes?
As Michael Gove is appointed Britain's new housing secretary, Jack Blanchard investigates the crisis gripping the sector and asks why Britain seems forever unable or unwilling to build enough homes.
He speaks to three former ministers about their efforts to solve the crisis — including Gove's friend and ex-flatmate Nick Boles, who admits his radical planning reforms of 2013 were a failure. Tony Blair's housing minister Nick Raynsford insists New Labour were right to focus on improving social housing rather than building millions of new properties, but says a mass construction program is now needed. And Theresa May's housing minister — and latterly, chief of staff — Gavin Barwell admits her government became too bogged down in Brexit to push through radical reforms. Meanwhile Dr Gemma Burgess of Cambridge University offers her expert opinion on why homes are so expensive, and the Manchester Evening News' Jennifer Williams offers a view from the North.
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Sep 9, 2021
'Every phone started ringing' — Remembering 9/11
In a special edition to mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, Jack Blanchard asks the most senior officials in Tony Blair's government to reflect on one of the seismic events of our age.
Blair's former Cabinet secretary Richard Wilson recalls the chaos in Whitehall as Britain scrambled to protect itself from possible copycat attacks. Blair's former chief of staff Jonathan Powell recalls the tense phone calls with President George W. Bush amid fears of an instant U.S. military response. Blair's ex-foreign policy adviser David Manning describes how he was in a plane flying into New York as the terrorists struck and watched the smoke billowing from the twin towers. Blair's former Ambassador to Washington Christopher Meyer relives his own horror as the terrorists struck the Pentagon, just a few miles from his home. And Sky News presenter Kay Burley tells what it's like to be live on air as one of the news events of the century unfolds before your eyes.
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Sep 2, 2021
Why do politicians tell so many lies?
Jack Blanchard explores the thorny topic of political lying, and considers whether dishonesty is really getting worse in the so-called 'post-truth' era.
Labour MP Dawn Butler and maverick journalist Peter Oborne explain why they believe Boris Johnson to be more dishonest than any prime minister in recent history, while Johnson's former campaign aide Richard Holden defends the PM against all charges. The former Cabinet Minister Jonathan Aitken explains why he felt compelled to tell one of the most famous political lies of recent times, landing himself in jail for perjury as a result. From across the pond, former White House director of comms Anthony Scaramucci reveals what it's like to work for a "congenital liar" in President Donald J. Trump. And the author and professional fact-checker Tom Phillips considers whether politicians really do lie more than the rest of us.
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Aug 26, 2021
MPs' postbags: How we're failing the kids who need us most
Jack abandons Westminster politics for a week to hear about the struggles families in Sheffield face to get the support their children need. Sheffield Heeley MP and shadow Cabinet minister Louise Haigh says helping parents whose children have special educational needs has become a massive part of her weekly casework, with demand for services rocketing and councils facing a huge funding shortfall. And mother-of-three Rachael Crolla talks about her daily battle to access the basic services which her autistic son and desperately unwell daughter so urgently need.
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Aug 19, 2021
Postcards from Afghanistan
As the chaos unfolds in Afghanistan, Jack Blanchard speaks to three politicians who devoted many months of their lives to trying to secure and rebuild the war-torn nation.
Former U.K. Secretary of State for International Development Rory Stewart reflects on the three years he spent trying to help people out of poverty in Kabul. Commons foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat discusses his former role as a senior adviser to the fledgling Afghan government, and how his hopes of establishing a democratic regime in Afghanistan were dashed. South Yorkshire Mayor and MP Dan Jarvis opens up about the months he spent as an Army major leading dangerous missions in Helmand Province, and ponders whether the effort and the sacrifice have been for nothing. And Times journalist Larisa Brown discusses her long-running campaign to secure visas for Afghan interpreters who worked with the British Army, and why it's so important a route is now found to get them to the U.K.
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Jun 17, 2021
How to spin a referendum: The inside story of the Brexit campaign
In a special episode marking the fifth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, Jack Blanchard interviews the two men behind the crucial spin campaigns for Leave and Remain.
In a rare interview, Paul Stephenson, director of communications for Vote Leave, reflects on the often-controversial tactics pioneered with his friend Dominic Cummings, which convinced millions of Brits to vote to leave the EU. On the opposing side, Craig Oliver — who served as David Cameron's communications chief — considers why it all went so wrong for Remain, and whether a radically different approach might have secured a different result.
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Jun 10, 2021
What's the point of the G7 summit?
As the G7 summit gets underway in Cornwall, Jack Blanchard speaks to Tony Blair and a host of former senior government officials about what it's like to attend these surreal events — and whether they're really still relevant in the modern age.
Blair reminisces about his first big summit — a Bill Clinton-hosted G8 in Colorado in 1997 — and the most memorable, the G8 in Gleneagles in 2005. Former diplomat Peter Ricketts explains the months of unseen work ahead of each summit, and how informal meetings in the margins can often be more important than the main event. Former Downing Street aides Kate Fall and Paul Harrison lift the lid on David Cameron and Theresa May's differing approaches to diplomacy, while POLITICO's own David Herszenhorn explains what it's like to attend a G7 summit as a lowly political hack.
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Jun 3, 2021
One year on — Owen Paterson on life after his wife's suicide
Jack sits down with the Tory MP and former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson, whose wife Rose killed herself last summer. Owen talks about the shock of learning that someone you love has died by their own hand, and the devastating impact it has on all those around them. He shares his favorite memories of his late wife, and reflects on the changing nature of grief. And he explains his campaign for greater suicide awareness, and for more support for those with mental health difficulties.
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May 27, 2021
How special advisers took over Westminster
In the week of Dominic Cummings' jaw-dropping testimony to Parliament, Jack Blanchard takes a closer look at the role special advisers play within government, and at just how powerful these shadowy figures really are.
Theresa May's former chief aide Nick Timothy talks about his all-powerful role inside Downing Street, and what it feels like to become a magnet for unwanted press attention. Two more former Tory advisers, Salma Shah and Peter Cardwell, discuss their close relationships with their ministers, and how the high pressure and long hours can leave you exhausted and burned out. Former Labour adviser Theo Bertram describes what it was like to work as a close adviser to Gordon Brown in No. 10, often delivering the bad news the prime minister didn't want to hear. And the Institute for Government's Tim Durrant, a former civil servant, explains how political advisers and Whitehall officials sometimes — though not always — work hand in glove.
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May 20, 2021
The art of political drinking
As pubs and restaurants finally reopen across Westminster after lockdown, Jack Blanchard takes a closer look at the centuries-old drinking culture that pervades British politics.
Former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage discusses his favorite liquid lunches, while the journalist and author Isabel Hardman considers why some MPs drink so much. Former Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan explains the concept of "red wine diplomacy," while political columnist Camilla Tominey tells us what it's like to be teetotal in Westminster. And BBC journalist Ben Wright talks us through the greatest drinkers of the past 300 years, from Pitt the Younger's extraordinary port consumption to Winston Churchill's legendary passion for Champagne.
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May 13, 2021
Meet Angela Rayner — Labour's deputy leader on winning back the North
After a tumultuous week for the U.K. Labour Party, Jack Blanchard sits down with deputy leader Angela Rayner to discuss where the party goes from here.
Rayner discusses the challenge the U.K. Labour Party faces in winning back its former heartlands, and explains the appeal of Boris Johnson to voters in the North of England. She also opens up about her relationship with Labour leader Keir Starmer following his decision to remove her as party chair, and attacks the "magnolia politics" which she says turns voters off. And she reflects on how her own troubled childhood has made her the impassioned politician she is today.
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May 6, 2021
Why by-elections matter
As the dust settles after the Hartlepool by-election, Jack Blanchard looks back at some of the great by-election contests of recent years — and ponders whether these quintessentially British political battles are always as significant as they seem.
Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney recalls her famous Brexit-fuelled victory over Conservative Zac Goldsmith in Richmond Park in 2016, while Labour campaign chief Andrew Gwynne reveals how he masterminded a difficult win when pundits were predicting a drubbing for then party leader Jeremy Corbyn in a Labour heartland seat. Tory MP Edward Timpson and Labour MP Steve McCabe remember the epic "class war" battle in Crewe & Nantwich in 2008, a by-election which confirmed the Tories were finally on the path back to power. Lib Dem historian Duncan Brack explains his party's reputation as by-election specialists, while veteran political journalist Steve Richards recalls his favorite moments from the campaign trail — including the time SDP founder Roy Jenki…
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Apr 29, 2021
A short history of Scottish separatism
With the Scottish parliament election less than a week away, Jack Blanchard looks back at the history of the Scottish nationalist movement and explains how it shifted from a fringe pursuit to perhaps the majority view in Scotland.
Former First Ministers Alex Salmond and Jack McConnell — who between them ran the Scottish government for more than 13 years — discuss the collapse of Scottish Labour in the mid 2000s and the extraordinary rise of the SNP. Scottish Cabinet Minister Mike Russell explains what first attracted him to the nationalist movement in the 1970s, while independence campaigner and columnist Lesley Riddoch talks about her own conversion to the cause ahead of the 2014 referendum. Historian Dr. Ben Jackson discusses the movement’s early struggles and the development of nationalist thought, while the Daily Record’s Torcuil Crichton analyzes the cultural and global shifts behind the SNP’s march to power.
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Apr 22, 2021
Coming soon: POLITICO's Westminster Insider season 2
The new season of Jack Blanchard’s weekly podcast on how Westminster really works kicks off on April 30. Subscribe now and never miss an episode.
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Mar 18, 2021
A year of lockdowns — How the pandemic changed Westminster
Jack Blanchard heads back to Westminster on the anniversary of the first coronavirus lockdown to hear how the pandemic has changed British politics for good. Guests in this season's finale include Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, who discusses the pros and cons of a more digital parliament, and opens up about his home life during lockdown. Lord Speaker Norman Fowler laments the closure of his favorite House of Lords bar; ITV Political Editor Robert Peston muses on the joys — and frustrations — of the coronavirus press conferences; and celebrity chef Vivek Singh explains the challenge of running his legendary Westminster restaurant The Cinnamon Club during the pandemic. And a selection of House of Commons staff — from the clerks who count the votes, to the cleaners who dust the chamber — tell how the pandemic has affected their own lives.
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Mar 11, 2021
Meet: Chancellor Rishi Sunak — beyond the Budget
Jack Blanchard sits down with Rishi Sunak to discuss his whirlwind first year as U.K. Chancellor, and hear more about his Hindu faith, his fears for the future and his love of computer games. In a wide-ranging interview, Sunak reflects on the 13 months in which he was dramatically elevated to the second-biggest job in British politics as Chancellor of the Exchequer — and then immediately plunged into the biggest global crisis since World War II. The 40-year-old Chancellor recalls how he "was barely at home, barely saw my wife and kids" as he struggled to contain the economic fallout, and defends his controversial role in opening up the British economy ahead of the second wave of the pandemic. And he opens up about his Hindu faith, his addiction to Coca-Cola and his lifelong love of Nintendo.
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Mar 4, 2021
Cabinet secretaries ... and why Sir Humphrey always wins
Jack speaks to Richard Wilson, Cabinet secretary under Tony Blair, about his years as Whitehall's top official, and his memories of crises including the 9/11 terror attacks. Suzanne Heywood, widow of the legendary Cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood, reflects on her late husband's long career in government and considers the extent to which unelected officials can end up shaping government policy. The Institute for Government's Catherine Haddon explains the history behind the role of Cabinet secretary and the many different aspects to the job. And we trawl through hours of archive interviews with past Cabinet secretaries to explore how these powerful but mysterious figures at the heart of government guide the ship of state.
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Feb 25, 2021
When Budgets go wrong
As Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, finalizes his speech ahead of next week's Budget, Jack Blanchard looks back at the pitfalls and disasters which have plagued Chancellors in years gone by.
Former Treasury aide and official Ed Balls recalls his old boss Gordon Brown's 10p tax band fiasco. Philip Hammond's former media adviser Poppy Trowbridge picks over the 2017 U-turn on national insurance. Former Chancellor George Osborne defends the 2012 pasty tax 'omni-shambles,' while former Tory MP Heidi Allen explains what it's like to lead a Budget rebellion. And Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds delves into the history books to tell the tale of a Labour Chancellor forced to resign over an ill-timed Budget leak.
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Feb 18, 2021
MPs’ postbags: The hidden costs of lockdown
Jack Blanchard abandons Westminster for a week and explores the hidden costs of lockdown, by delving into the postbags of two MPs in different parts of the U.K.
Tory MP Robert Halfon explains the struggles families face in his corner of Essex, and warns of rising domestic abuse during lockdown. And one of his constituents explains how abuse victims are repeatedly failed by Britain's secretive family courts system. In Bristol, Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire talks about the impact lockdown has had on the city's legendary nightlife, and the broader arts scene. And nightclub owner Marti Burgess tells of her fears that some of the city's premier cultural nightspots may never return.
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Feb 11, 2021
Meet: Prof Neil Ferguson — life after the coronavirus pandemic
Jack sits down with Britain's top epidemiologist, Professor Neil Ferguson, to discuss how the next few months of the coronavirus pandemic are likely to pan out — and why things went so badly wrong last year.
Professor Neil Ferguson, the man dubbed "Professor Lockdown" explains his "fervent hope" that Britain's astonishing vaccine successes mean life can finally start getting back to something like normal in 2021, but that booster jabs and coronavirus passports may be with us for some time to come. Ferguson also recalls those frantic days in early March 2020 when it became clear Britain had got its initial response so badly wrong. And he discusses the trolls and the conspiracy theorists who attack scientists and deny the virus is even real.
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Feb 4, 2021
How to charm a US president
As Boris Johnson ponders how to woo the newly-elected President Joe Biden, Jack Blanchard looks back at how past prime ministers have tried to charm their counterparts in the White House — with varying degrees of success.
Theresa May's former comms chief Katie Perrior reflects on the thankless task of trying to build a relationship with the erratic Donald Trump. Historians Andrew Roberts and Richard Aldous look back at how Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher successfully charmed Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan respectively. Former U.K. Ambassador to Washington Christopher Meyer reflects on the key role diplomats play in oiling the wheels of a new relationship — and on the love-in between Tony Blair and George W. Bush which ended so disastrously for the British PM. And Gordon Brown's former adviser Stewart Wood mulls over the agonies of a less successful relationship with a stand-offish Barack Obama.
Be sure to check out our bookshop to find more from our guests and th…
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Jan 28, 2021
Westminster's morning newsletter revolution
Jack hears from former Chancellor George Osborne about how these morning memos are devoured by senior politicians and newspaper editors alike; and from current and veteran authors including Esther Webber, Paul Waugh and Benedict Brogan about their daily struggle to get the email out on time. Former government special adviser Jamie Njoku-Goodwin discusses their impact inside the corridors of Whitehall; while New York Times media columnist Ben Smith questions whether their impact upon political coverage has really been a healthy one.
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Jan 7, 2021
Pilot: The history of pandemics — and how politicians always react the same way
It's striking how few political leaders across the Western world can claim to have handled the coronavirus pandemic especially well. Throughout large parts of Europe and the Americas, politicians have been caught on the hop, reacting slowly and clumsily to the unfolding disaster. In their defense, these leaders have typically blamed what they insist is the unprecedented nature of the Covid catastrophe.
But a glance through the history books shows just how little of this crisis is truly new. As Edith Hall, professor of classics at King's College London, tells the podcast, as long ago as 430BC Boris Johnson's great hero Pericles was himself laid low by a deadly epidemic — the disastrous Plague of Athens. This all-powerful leader of ancient Greece was wildly popular with the public and appeared untouchable, she says, until a new and deadly disease arrived at his shores. Johnson, a classics scholar in his youth, must know the tale all too well. He does not appear to have heeded its less…
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Dec 15, 2020
Westminster Insider Trailer
Westminster Insider is a weekly narrated story which lifts the curtain on how Westminster really works, and looks in-depth at political issues which typically only get broad-brush treatment in the wider media.
In this new podcast, POLITICO’s Jack Blanchard meets with and shines a light on the politicians, experts and advisers who really drive decision-making in U.K. politics and policy.
Unafraid to get stuck into detail but with a lightness of touch, Jack's signature voice makes this podcast a lively and engaging listen.
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