Matthew O'Toole

speaker

264 appearances 3 recordings 3 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 22 Jun

Matthew O'Toole’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 3 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 3.

Appearances

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Liveline · "People can look out their front window and see a sense of decline..." · 22 Jun 2026 podcast

I think he's made some very poor decisions of judgment.

I think some of the way he handled things, including the sacking of civil servants, was very ill-judged and probably...

cast doubt for people who had previously good opinions of him.

But in general, I think he did go into this with decent intent.

You're right.

He doesn't have a lot of the star factor or the vibes that people associate in the 21st century.

I don't think necessarily you need loads of vibes.

I don't know whether I do or don't have vibes, but I don't think you necessarily need loads of a boy.

You definitely do.

Certainly, if you're in charge of a government or leading a party, what you really need to be able to do is to tell a story and

You need to be able to get people to identify emotionally with what you're doing for your party and then your country.

That's what we're trying to do in our role in opposition in the Assembly, is what parties are supposed to be trying to do.

And I think that was a fundamental feeling.

But he did have to deal with a very toxic social media environment, including online actors, probably Vladimir Putin and his agents, and big tech creating a very hostile and the very right-wing British press.

but you do need to have a very clear, consistent story that you repeat if you're trying to make change.

And I think that was a feeling of his.

I think a lot of people were, who really wanted some kind of, you know, a kind of radical break, a more ethical foreign policy, a less, you know, frankly, a less corrupt system of government than the Tories had, have been disappointed by the shortcomings and particularly by the failure to set a clear path.

But look, at a personal level, I wish him well because politics is really difficult.

I don't wish anyone ill personally.

It may have been that in 2026 he was not ideally suited to lead a government, but he is a human being and so I wish him well at that level.

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