Coffee House Shots
Episodes
Morgan McSweeney quits - Sunday Roundup 08/02/2026
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Morgan McSweeney has resigned as Keir Starmer's chief of staff, just hours af...
Jonathan Hinder: ‘I don’t know if Starmer should fight the next election’
07 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On this special edition of Coffee House Shots, Tim Shipman is joined by Jonathan Hinder – a rising star of the back benches and a blue Labour acolyt...
Keir's worst week – but Kemi's best?
06 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The sun is setting on Keir Starmer’s worst week in No. 10 – but potentially Kemi’s best. We go into the weekend with MPs publicly calling for hi...
Could the herd move on Starmer?
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
James Heale, Tim Shipman and Oscar Edmondson discuss the continuing fallout over the Mandelson scandal. The mood amongst Labour MPs is pretty dire –...
The Mandelson scandal could spell the end for Starmer
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Another impressive PMQs from Kemi Badenoch – but she had plenty of ammunition to deploy after the Peter Mandelson scandal took a bleaker turn this w...
Gorton & Denton by-election: everything you need to know
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Coffee House Shots is on the road today. James Heale and Megan McElroy have travelled up to the frozen north to speak to the candidates who are lobbyi...
What next for Peter Mandelson?
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It is one of the staple headlines of British politics: Peter Mandelson has resigned. The so-called Prince of Darkness was sacked as US ambassador...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 01/02/2026
01 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.More Epstein files bring Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson back ...
How should the UK manage its relationship with China?
31 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As Keir Starmer's visit to China draws to a close, Sam Olsen – who runs the States of Play substack – and Times columnist Cindy Yu join Patrick Gi...
Rayner vs Streeting – and what is 'active government'?
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In his column this week, Tim Shipman has finally hit upon an answer to the age-old question: what is Starmerism? After a concerted effort from his tea...
Is centrism dead? | with David Gauke, vice-chair of Prosper UK
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Is centrist back? This week a group of former Tory heavyweights – including Ruth Davidson, Andy Street, Amber Rudd and David Gauke – have launched...
Breaking news: Lammy was good at PMQs
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It is our solemn duty to inform listeners that David Lammy won deputy PMQs at a canter today. To be frank, it was a low-rent affair. Andrew Griffith w...
What does Starmer want to achieve in China?
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer lands in China tonight as he becomes the first British Prime Minister to visit since Theresa May in 2018. Sam Hogg from the Oxford China ...
Suella Braverman defects – not another one!
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It’s psychodrama all round on Coffee House Shots today. Between Andy Burnham – who over the weekend was denied the opportunity to stand in the Gor...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 25/01/2026
25 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning’s political shows.Labour block Andy Burnham from standing as an MP, Ed Davey says we're in a ...
Reasons to be optimistic | with Michael Gove, Tim Stanley, Steve Baker & David Goodhart
24 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Post-holiday depression, failed New Year’s resolutions and battered bank balances: January’s Blue Monday has long been branded as the most miserab...
Does British politics reward traitors or faithfuls?
23 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
With the Conservatives on watch for further defectors, academic Richard Johnson and Conservative peer Danny Finkelstein join James Heale to discuss wh...
Andy Burnham is back in the game – and Robert Jenrick reveals all
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Three big stories for James Heale and Tim Shipman to pick over today: Andy Burnham’s return, the Donald Trump that refuses to go away, and the conti...
Starmer turns on Trump
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer scored a rare win at PMQs, talking tough on Trump in light of the President’s escalating rhetoric on Greenland and the Chagos Islands. ...
The scandal of China’s ‘super embassy’
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
China's controversial ‘super embassy’ has been approved, after years of debate over the security risks. Campaigners had called on ministers not to...
Greenland: why Europe needs to 'grow up' | with Tim Marshall
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump has thrown another diplomatic hand grenade. This weekend, the President threatened sweeping tariffs on countries backing Greenland’s in...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 18/01/2026
18 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Donald Trump says it's tariffs or a deal for Greenland. And Robert Jenrick is...
Debate: what's the point of the Lib Dems?
17 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As Ed Davey condemned Donald Trump's military manoeuvres abroad, Annabel Denham looked on and asked 'what's the point of the Liberal Democrats?'. Thin...
Jenrick vs Badenoch: who won yesterday's defection?
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday was a breathless day in Westminster. The defection of Robert Jenrick spawned plenty of headlines and even more memes. But now that the dust ...
Inside Jenrick & Reform's shotgun marriage
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Jenrick has sensationally defected to Reform. After a day that started with his sacking from the Conservatives – over plotting to reject – ...
Is Jenrick joining Reform?
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Kemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the Tory whip and suspended his party membership. In a video on X she claims,...
What's the future of the Scottish Tories?
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Russell Findlay MSP, sits down with James Heale to look ahead to May's pivotal Holyrood elections. He pushes...
Why Ed Davey is happy being boring
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Liberal Democrats have unveiled a new strategy on the NHS. Sir Ed set out his big, bold plan this morning: scrapping the UK–US pharmaceutical de...
Zahawi defects: are Reform becoming Tories 2.0?
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How many Tories is too many? That’s the question Westminster is asking after the unveiling of Reform’s latest defector. Nadhim Zahawi, Boris Johns...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 11/01/2026
11 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Trump wants Greenland, Iran wants regime change, and Peter Mandelson gives hi...
Mums for Reform?
10 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Britain’s mums are backing Nigel Farage. One in five Mumsnet users intend to vote for Reform at the next general election, the first time a party ot...
Keir Starmer, pub harmer
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Another year, another U-turn. We expect that the Labour government will be forced to climb down on forthcoming increases to the business rates bills f...
How Reform plans to govern
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
2025 was the easy part for Reform. If they win the election, however, how do they actually govern? In The Spectator this week, Tim Shipman writes abou...
Why is Keir Starmer so irritable?
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It is the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the new year – and Keir Starmer returns to the Commons already under pressure. With major internatio...
International statesman or 'never here Keir'?
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
From 'regime change' in Venezuela to Russia's war in Ukraine, the Labour government is trying to navigate complicated situations across foreign affair...
Regime change in Caracas ... but not Westminster
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It’s our first podcast back in the office of 2026 – and the year has started with a bang, of course, after the successful US operation to remove N...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 04/01/2026
04 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.This week, the US sends shockwaves across the globe with its capturing of Ven...
John Curtice: what to expect in 2026
02 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
James Heale sits down with Sir John Curtice, the doyen of British polling, to take stock of an extraordinary year in UK politics and to look ahead to ...
Debate: is 2026 Kemi's year?
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Regular listeners will remember back in May we recorded a podcast debating whether Kemi Badenoch was the right fit for Tory leader. At that point in t...
Dominic Cummings interview – search Quite right! now
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dominic Cummings joins Michael and Maddie to reflect on his time in government – what he got right and what he regrets – and what he believes must...
Reality Check: 2025 – tears, tariffs & taxes
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
2025 has been a busy year in economics, with tariffs, taxes – and even some tears. It's also been a busy year for the Spectator's economics editor M...
Year in Review 2025 – Live
27 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From scandals and cabinet chaos to Trumpian antics and the ‘special’ relationship that some say is anything but, The Spectator presents ...
Stephen Flynn on Reform, Sturgeon & a second referendum
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, MP for Aberdeen South, joins Lucy Dunn for a special episode to assess the place of the SNP in British p...
Who won 2025? with Quentin Letts
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As is fast becoming a tradition on Coffee House Shots at this time of year, James Heale and Tim Shipman are joined by sketch writer Quentin Letts to g...
Daniel Finkelstein on anti-Semitism, Nick Fuentes & viral hate
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Fuentes is a 27-year-old American influencer with a growing following. He believes America has been subverted by rich, powerful Jews. He was rece...
A ‘classically awful’ PMQs to round out the year
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today was the final PMQs of the year – and it was certainly not a classic. It is customary for the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition t...
Why Britain needs to wake up to extremism
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the world reacts to the attacks on Bondi Beach in Australia, Conservative peer Paul Goodman joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss the failur...
The Liaison Committee exposed Starmer’s weaknesses
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s nearly Christmas, but there is still lots of excitement to be had in Westminster, including Keir Starmer’s trip to the Liaison Committee. Thi...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 14/12/2025
14 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.The government unveils its plan to reduce violence against women, as Sydney i...
Will Scotland switch course in 2026? with Gordon McKee
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Spectator heads into Christmas a little bit less Scottish as we bid farewell to our political correspondent Lucy Dunn. Before Lucy leaves for STV,...
‘Growth is not Labour’s priority, it’s hilarious’
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The British economy is shrinking. Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that GDP fell by 0.1 per cent in the three mo...
Does Farage really want to be Prime Minister?
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How does Reform go from political insurgents to a government in waiting? Political editor Tim Shipman gives an insight into his interview with Nigel F...
Kemi is on a roll
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kemi Badenoch’s good form continues at Prime Minister’s Questions. The Tory leader was once more visibly enjoying herself today as she feasted on ...
Is a Ukraine peace deal inching closer?
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week Keir Starmer hosted the French President and the German Chancellor in Downing Street as the E3 moved closer to a landmark agreement: seizing...
Why Kemi is safer than Keir
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This morning Kemi Badenoch has staged a presser setting out the terms for a new (alternative) national grooming gangs inquiry – a move that has reop...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 07/12/2025
07 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Youth unemployment is rising quickly. What is the government's plan?And, Zara...
‘Superadvisers’ and the Starmer paradox: who really runs No. 10?
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend’s Coffee House Shots digs into the growing debate over whether Keir Starmer should tack left on the economy as voters peel away to the ...
Brexit's back – and so is Truss
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There has been a flurry of UK-European activity across Britain this week, with the German state visit in London, the Norwegian Prime Minister signing ...
The murky world of political donations
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Reform are in the money. This morning the Electoral Commission has dropped the latest figures on political donations, and Reform are streets ahead. Fo...
PMQs: at least Kemi is enjoying herself
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was PMQs today and it is clear to see that Kemi Badenoch is starting to enjoy herself. She opened with the departure of the head of the Office for ...
Lammy on trial over plans to scrap juries
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re going to be talking about David Lammy, and his brand new plans to drastically reduce the number of jury trials in the UK in an attempt t...
Did Rachel Reeves lie?
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lots has happened over the weekend – Your Party (as they are now actually called) have proven to be the gift that keeps on giving, there been anothe...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 30/11/2025
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Rachel Reeves says she can be trusted. But did she lie in the run-up to the b...
Disraeli to Reeves: how each Chancellor drank their way through the Budget
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the years, the only person permitted to drink inside the House of Commons is the Chancellor, so what has been the tipple of choice for each...
The black hole myth & the brain drain conundrum
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With Budget week finally at an end, certain mysteries remain. Chief among them is why the Chancellor decided to give an emergency speech preparing the...
The OBR on the Budget leak & why they're always wrong
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Shipman sits down with Professor David Miles of the Office for Budget Responsibility the day after a Budget overshadowed by an extraordinary leak....
Rachel Reeves’s farcical Budget
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Budget days go, today was unprecedented. The complete list of measures announced by Rachel Reeves – along with their costings and economic impact...
Why Reeves's smorgasbord Budget won't fix Britain
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Nation, managing director at Forefront Advisers, and Michael Simmons join James Heale to analyse what we know, one day ahead of the Budget. Jame...
Britain's expensive energy problem – with Claire Coutinho
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Britain has an energy problem – while we produce some of the cleanest in the world, it's also the most expensive, and that's the case for almost eve...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 23/11/2025
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows. This week, Labour’s crucial budget is almost here, and Trump’s peace pla...
Why Britain needs more Yimbys
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Curtis and Maxwell Marlow may have different political ideologies, but they agree on one key diagnosis: Britain is broken. Their solution can be...
Covid report: ‘a £200 million I told you so’
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday we had the publication of the second module of the Covid Inquiry on the decision-making at the heart of government. It confirmed a toxic and...
Is Labour turning blue?
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While we wait for the findings of the Covid Inquiry into the decision-making during the pandemic, Shabana Mahmood has given a statement in the Commons...
PMQs: Labour's 'dog whistle politics'
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Neither Kemi Badenoch nor Keir Starmer performed very well at Prime Minister’s Questions: both fluffed their lines early on. Badenoch managed to sug...
Mahmood's right turn, as migration figures revised – again
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Economics editor Michael Simmons and Yvette Cooper's former adviser Danny Shaw join Patrick Gibbons to react to the Home Secretary's plans for asylum ...
Shabana Mahmood vs the asylum system
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This afternoon, the Home Secretary will set out in the House of Commons her proposed reforms to the asylum system. The headline changes proposed by Sh...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 16/11/2025
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Labour are set to announce a raft of new measures to fix an asylum system the...
Why are so many prisoners accidentally released? With H.M. Chief Inspector of Prisons
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Britain’s prisons are a legislative problem that has beset successive governments. New revelations show 91 accidental early releases in just six mon...
What is going on in the Treasury!?
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With less than a fortnight to go until the Budget, it seems Rachel Reeves has performed an almighty U-turn. At the beginning of the week, the establis...
Politics or economics – which is Labour worst at?
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been another bruising week for the British economy. New GDP figures reveal that growth has almost flatlined, inching up by just 0.1 per cent be...
Wes for PM?
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Conspiracy or cock-up? Westminster is abuzz after what appears to be a plan to decapitate Wes Streeting has spectacularly backfired. A flurry of late-...
Labour's vibes are all wrong
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With two weeks until her Budget, Rachel Reeves has received more bad news: unemployment is now at its highest level since the pandemic. With the Chanc...
What now for the BBC?
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It seems that the BBC is once again setting the news agenda – via tales of its own incompetence. The Corporation has spent days battling accusations...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 09/11/2025
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.On Remembrance Sunday, Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton says t...
What Trump II can teach Britain
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What lessons does America have for our politics? While progressives look to Zohran Mamdani for inspiration on how to get elected successfully, the rea...
Pain is inevitable for Rachel Reeves
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A year ago, the Chancellor called her £38 billion tax rise a ‘one-and-done’ move. Now she looks set to rinse and repeat, with reports that a 2p i...
Why energy is the new political battleground
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With three weeks until the Budget, the main political parties have been setting out their economic thinking. Each faces the same bind: anaemic growth,...
The most bizarre PMQs ever
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a crowded field, today’s could have been the most bizarre PMQs ever.From David Lammy pronouncing ‘I am the Justice Secretary’ as if it were a...
Reeves prepares the public for tax hikes
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is three weeks until the Budget – and Rachel Reeves wants to get her narrative out there. The Chancellor held an early morning press conference t...
Farage: trust me with the economy
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With Reform leading in the polls, Nigel Farage is determined to ensure that nothing can impede its growth. This morning he sought to bolster his credi...
Introducing... Reality Check
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Introducing The Spectator's newest podcast, Reality Check with economics editor Michael Simmons. Like what you hear? Search 'Reality Check' wherever y...
The inside story of Kemi's first year
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
‘On the day of the local elections, when the Tories suffered a historic setback, Kemi Badenoch went to the gym and got her hair done,’ Tim Shipman...
Andrew (Mountbatten Windsor) saves the Chancellor
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happy All Hallows’ Eve, everyone – and there is something spooky going on with Rachel Reeves and a property in Dulwich. Yesterday she was leading ...
What happened at the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards?
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are a few sore heads at 22 Old Queen Street this morning because it was The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year Awards last night.From Luc...
Who will 'take back control' of the economy?
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kemi Badenoch continues to look more confident at PMQs – although there are always going to be some easy goals when you lead on the economy. Today s...
Migration, the customs union & a £40bn black hole?
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are reports that the OBR will downgrade Britain’s productivity growth forecasts, increasing the size of the black hole facing the Chancellor a...
Is the Home Office fit for purpose?
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With the news that the Home Office has spent billions of taxpayers' money on asylum hotels – and following the accidental release of the Epping sex ...
Has Starmer misled parliament? Plus Lucy Powell wins
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We thought when we organised this podcast that there would just be the newly announced deputy Labour leader to discuss – Lucy Powell beat Education ...
Caerphilly by-election: 'a tale of two faces'
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the face of it, the Caerphilly by-election result is a disaster, a drubbing and a humiliation for Keir Starmer’s Labour party. A once secure bast...
What’s inside Farage’s brain?
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With every new poll predicting a Reform win at the next general election, the party continues its preparation for government. James Heale joins Oscar ...