20/06/2026

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Political Thinking with Nick Robinson 32 min 1 speaker 8 chapters transcribed 1 month ago

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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Who is Steve Hilton and why is he running for California governor?

Nick Robinson 0:00

Hello and welcome to Political Thinking. My guest on Political Thinking this week has been on an extraordinary political journey. It's taken Steve Hilton from Downing Street, where he was Prime Minister David Cameron's key advisor, to California, where he has just become the Republican candidate in this November's election to be the next governor of the state. Hilton was credited with coming up with something called compassionate conservatism, which urged people, you might remember, to hug a hoodie, to vote blue, to go green, to embrace what he called the big society. But he's now endorsed by Donald Trump and Trump's MAGA movement, having made his name as a Fox News host who attacked the radical left and argued for what he called positive populism.

Nick Robinson 0:56

Steve Hilton, thank you for joining us from California. Thank you very much. There will be people listening to you, watching you in the UK. There may be still some in the United States, in California as well, saying, hold on a second, this guy sounds like a Brit. He's got a cup of tea in front of him on his Zoom line. He's a Brit. He used to work in Downing Street. What on earth does he think he can be governor of the Golden State?

Steve Hilton 1:21

Well, 2.3 million or so people just voted for me, so there must be something they're seeing. I think that on the Brit point, look, the beauty of America, and it's a really unique thing, I would say, about this country, is that anybody can come here. Anyone from anywhere can do anything. That's the idea of America. That central idea of becoming an American... that puts you on exactly the same level field in terms of citizenship and belonging as anyone else is truly unique. I often make this point that you could go to the UK and become a citizen and never really be British. My parents are Hungarian, both my parents and my stepfather. You could live in Hungary for 40 years and comply with all the requirements of citizenship, whatever.

Steve Hilton 2:06

But you're never going to be Hungarian. And there's something very special about America that welcomes people here and gives people the opportunity. And I'm a proud American. I became a citizen in 2021. I feel at home here, both in America and actually in California. I'm a very proud Californian. obviously. And I feel at home here in a way I actually have never felt before. I feel like this is where I'm meant to be. And I couldn't be more honoured that people now are putting their faith in me to turn the state around.

Nick Robinson 2:38

There are other reasons that Brits in particular may be a bit puzzled by this journey that you've been on. Those who remember you, those who read about you, heard about you back when David Cameron was prime minister in 2010, will remember that you were the guy that told him to go and accompany a pack of huskies to the Arctic, who told him to put a windmill on his house to prove that he was committed to clean energy, who at one news conference arranged for journalists to be handed saplings, silver birch saplings to plant at home. And now you're a representative of Trump's MAGA movement. What on earth happened?

Steve Hilton 3:14

Well, first of all, I didn't tell him to do anything. So that's just to make sure that everyone understands that. Secondly, I'm an environmentalist. I always have been. But that specific contrast that you draw there, I think it's worth digging into. I mean, environmentalism, let's just start with the big picture, to me never has just meant, I think it's actually a failing of the environmental movement. that it's become very ideological and very focused on just one aspect of environmentalism, which is climate change, albeit a very important one. But there's more to it than that. Conservation, protecting our beautiful parks and public spaces. Here in California, environmentalism is very deeply felt. In a way, California invented the modern environmental movement.

Steve Hilton 3:58

And I feel very much part of that, specifically on climate change. I think that when you actually look at the policies, I'm just talking about California now, we've got a set of energy policies that are being pursued in the name of fighting climate change, but which are actually increasing carbon emissions.