Politics Weekly UK

Can politicians bring calm to Belfast?

12 Jun 2026

Contributed by Lukas

After nights of violence across Belfast this week, politicians continue to call for calm, but what else can be done to stop the violence spreading? Pl...

The defence secretary quits with ‘blistering’ criticism of Starmer

11 Jun 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The defence secretary has resigned over the government’s military spending plans, in another major blow for Keir Starmer. In a scathing letter to th...

Zelenskyy: Putin is ‘playing games’ with Trump

09 Jun 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Ukrainian president says Vladimir Putin’s days are numbered. As the Russian president’s influence wanes and his war machine crumbles, Volodymy...

Is Keir Starmer in his ‘legacy’ era?

08 Jun 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer says he will fight on as prime minister, but behind the scenes he is said to be thinking about his legacy. He’s talking this week about...

On the byelection campaign trail with Andy Burnham

04 Jun 2026

Contributed by Lukas

With three weeks to go until the Makerfield byelection, where an Andy Burnham victory could change the direction of the Labour party, Pippa Crerar joi...

New Mandelson files: how embarrassing are they?

01 Jun 2026

Contributed by Lukas

More than 1,000 pages of emails and WhatsApp messages have been released relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the U...

Tony Blair and the battle for Labour’s soul

28 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Walker is joined by pollster Luke Tryl of More in Common to discuss Sir Tony Blair’s intervention in the Labour leadership saga and the party’...

The byelection, Wes Streeting and Europe: your questions answered

25 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Can Andy Burnham do a better job than Keir Starmer? Is Makerfield more important for Reform than Labour? Can the UK rejoin the EU? Pippa Crerar and Ki...

Stateside with Kai and Carter – Why the fight over abortion in US isn’t finished

24 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The US supreme court has preserved nationwide access to mail-order abortion pills – for now. As Carter Sherman explains, the fight to protect this m...

Wes Streeting: ‘Andy Burnham doesn’t live rent free in my head’ – podcast

22 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar sits down with Wes Streeting a week after his resignation from Keir Starmer’s cabinet. We find out what the former health secretary rea...

Andy Burnham’s first election hurdle: Brexit

18 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Andy Burnham may already be facing a tricky obstacle in his push to return to Westminster. Past comments about rejoining the EU have come back to haun...

NEW: Stacey Abrams on why gutting of the US Voting Rights Act is ‘evil’ – Stateside with Kai and Carter

17 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The US supreme court demolished the 1965 Voting Rights Act when they ruled in Louisiana v Callais in April that states can’t consider race in redist...

Is Andy Burnham about to return to Westminster?

14 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Andy Burnham has announced he will attempt to return to Westminster after the Labour MP Josh Simons said he will vacate his Makerfield seat in order f...

Labour plotters v stubborn Starmer: will he resign? – Today in Focus: The Latest

12 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Tensions are running high in Westminster as Keir Starmer has told his cabinet he’s not going anywhere. But with several ministers quitting the gover...

A messy day for Starmer: is Labour ungovernable?

11 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer kicked off the day with a speech aimed at persuading MPs against launching any kind of leadership challenge. By lunchtime, Angela Rayner ...

Reform UK gains at Labour’s expense in local elections

08 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

It has been a crushing set of local and devolved elections for Labour, with Reform UK making huge gains across the country and the Greens winning in L...

Can the Greens and Reform win big in London? podcast

04 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This week Politics Weekly is on the road with the Greens in Hackney and Reform UK in Bromley ahead of the local elections to see why people are turnin...

Will Reform dominate the local and devolved elections?

30 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar is joined by the election analyst Prof Rob Ford to look at the upcoming local and devolved elections. Will Reform dominate across England...

Will this be another nightmare week for Keir Starmer?

27 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer is facing another tumultuous week. His former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney will be grilled in front of MPs on Tuesday over the Peter M...

Has Starmer’s sacking of Olly Robbins backfired?

23 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

After Keir Starmer’s statement to the Commons and gripping evidence from the sacked top civil servant Olly Robbins, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey ta...

Judgment day for Starmer?

20 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer has updated the House of Commons on what he knew, and when, in regard to Peter Mandelson’s vetting for the post of UK ambassador to the...

Is Keir Starmer ‘complacent’ on defence?

16 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer has hit back at Labour peer George Robertson’s criticisms about defence funding. Why has the government been slow to prioritise defence...

Hormuz, Hungary and the UK shifting closer to the EU

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

After 16 years in power in Hungary, Viktor Orbán has been defeated, marking a huge shift in the European Union. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has defended ...

Trump and the Middle East: can Starmer do anything?

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer and the UK government are scrabbling to keep up with Trump’s fast-changing position on Iran and the Middle East. While a two-week cease...

The Greens, Reform and the end of two-party politics?

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In part two of our interview, Kiran Stacey speaks to the political scientist Prof Rob Ford about the voters Labour and the Conservatives are losing to...

Labour’s mistakes: is it too late to turn things around?

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In part one of a special two-part interview, Kiran Stacey talks to the political scientist Prof Robert Ford about Labour’s so-called ‘landslide wi...

How will the Iran war play at the ballot box in May?

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot look at how the continuing and deepening conflict in the Middle East will hit people in the UK, and how it could impact...

Wes Streeting: ‘I don’t want to see Keir challenged in May’

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Wes Streeting gave a speech outlining his performance on the NHS and plans for the future. Was this his unofficial leadership pitch? Pippa Crerar and ...

Trump rows back on strait of Hormuz threat – what next?

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The US president has extended by five days his deadline to ‘hit and obliterate’ Iran’s power stations and energy infrastructure if Tehran does n...

Off Duty: The Crime

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On the evening of 29 December 2011, Officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot...

Do the Conservatives have a problem with Muslims?

19 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

At the launch of the Conservative local elections campaign on Thursday, Peter Walker asked Kemi Badenoch about her shadow justice secretary’s claim ...

Can Starmer avoid being drawn into the US-Iran war?

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The PM says the UK will not be dragged into wider war in the Middle East and pledges support for households struggling to pay for heating oil. Pippa C...

How damaging are the Mandelson files for Starmer?

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

As the first tranche of documents relating to the hiring of Peter Mandelson are released, how bad will the fallout be for Keir Starmer and the governm...

Is the UK government prepared for oil price hikes?

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Oil prices have already shot up thanks to the US-Israeli war in Iran. But what is the economic fallout likely to be? Will interest rates rise? What ab...

Has Starmer been too weak on Iran?

05 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The UK prime minister has defended his stance on the war in the Middle East amid growing pressure from Cyprus, Bahrain and the UAE. John Harris, Pippa...

How is Britain supporting US airstrikes in Iran?

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss Keir Starmer’s announcement that British bases in the UK and in the Chagos Islands would be used by the US in ...

No more safe seats: the Greens take Gorton and Denton

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In a stunning setback for Labour, the Green party has decisively won the Gorton and Denton byelection, with Reform UK finishing second. Does this resu...

Send provision and student loans: will Labour’s changes backfire?

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

As the dust settles on the government’s landmark changes to children’s special educational needs and disabilities provision, what will their impac...

Major changes to the Send system - can the government win over MPs and parents?

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the government’s long-awaited plans for the special educational needs and disabilities system. Can the controv...

Farage’s Fab Four: will Jenrick end Reform’s ‘one-man band’? – Politics Weekly

19 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Reform UK has this week announced its ‘shadow cabinet’. But with a familiar cast of former Conservative ministers, can Nigel Farage shake off clai...

Blue Labour, ‘Manchesterism’ and Lords reform: your questions answered

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What is Blue Labour? Can Andy Burnham’s ‘Manchesterism’ be replicated elsewhere? And is the two-party system over in British politics? In a spec...

Zombie Labour: Starmer staggers on

12 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

After a week when it seemed all but over for Keir Starmer, John, Pippa and Kiran unpack how the prime minister survived – and what it means for Labo...

Starmer survives Sarwar’s putsch, for now

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer’s future as prime minister suffered another major blow when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for him to go. With the cab...

The Mandelson Scandal: has Starmer finally lost control? – Politics Weekly

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

As Starmer apologises for believing Mandelson’s ‘lies’, just how damaging will the latter’s links to Jeffrey Epstein be for the PM’s own rep...

Mandelson, Epstein and what Labour knew when

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Mandelson has resigned his Labour party membership after new details of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein came to light. But why did Labour ...

What happened when Starmer met Xi Jinping?

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer held talks with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week and proclaimed Britain should have a more ‘sophisticated’ relationship with C...

Matt Goodwin becomes Reform UK candidate, and Esther Ghey on banning social media

28 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Reform UK has announced Matt Goodwin as its candidate for the hotly anticipated Gorton and Denton byelection. John Harris and Kiran Stacey discuss his...

Burnham blocked: Has Starmer messed up?

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Labour party has once again been plunged into turmoil after the NEC blocked Andy Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection. Will t...

Taco Thursday: Trump climbs down on Greenland tariffs

22 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

John Harris is joined by Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey to discuss Donald Trump’s climbdown on tariffs over his move to buy Greenland. Plus, Labour M...

Ditch Nato and dump Trump: Zack Polanski’s foreign policy

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Leader of the Green party, Zack Polanski, tells Pippa and Kiran that Nato is over and the UK should consider expelling the US from British military ba...

Starmer: ‘We don’t want a trade war’

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer has held an emergency press conference in response to Donald Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland. Pippa and Kiran discuss what the UK...

Badenoch sacks Jenrick: who will win the fight for the right?

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Sacked, suspended and the whip removed – Kemi Badenoch announced in spectacular fashion that Robert Jenrick was booted out of the Tory party for plo...

X rated: Ofcom investigates Grok

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ofcom has launched an investigation into X over its AI tool Grok – but what does it mean when the platform is widely used by the government? Plus, P...

Kidnapping and chaos: welcome to Trump’s world

08 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In just one week Venezuela’s president was kidnapped by the US, Donald Trump talked of needing Greenland, the UK and France agreed to deploy troops ...

Is Starmer’s silence on Venezuela worth it?

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa and Kiran discuss the mounting pressure on Keir Starmer to condemn the US capture of Nicolás Maduro. The prime minister is keen to walk the dip...

Revisited: How the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice

01 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast from 4 April, John Harris speaks to Today in Focus about how music helped him connect with his son, James. Harris tells Helen Pidd wha...

Starmer v Starmer: why is the former human rights lawyer so cautious about defending human rights? – from The Audio Long Read

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Many of his supporters hoped the prime minister would restore the UK’s commitment to international law. Yet Labour’s record over the past year has...

Best of: Angela Rayner, Nicola Sturgeon, Catherine Ashton and Andy Burnham – podcast

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look back at some of their best interviews of 2025. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicsp...

Review of 2025: another fine mess?

18 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look back at the biggest political moments of 2025, and discuss what 2026 might bring. Help support our ind...

John Crace on his book, The Bonfire of the Insanities

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa and Kiran speak to the Guardian’s sketch writer, John Crace, about his latest book, The Bonfire of the Insanities: How Does This Government Th...

The Birth Keepers: I choose this – episode one

13 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power. By free birthing. Bu...

Farage under attack: will it damage Reform UK?

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John Harris speaks to Yinka Bankole about his treatment as a nine-year-old at Dulwich college when Nigel Farage was a prefect. Plus, Kiran Stacey and ...

Starmer meets Zelenskyy: is a new peace plan possible?

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Keir Starmer hosts Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss what the ‘coalition of the willing’ can achieve. Also i...

Could Reform UK and the Tories merge?

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nigel Farage was handed a £9m donation this week, amid reports he said elsewhere that a deal with the Conservatives before the general election was ‘...

Can Keir Starmer save Rachel Reeves?

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa and Kiran discuss the prime minister’s speech on Monday and ask whether it will take attention away from allegations that the chancellor misle...

The budget: Labour’s big tax and spend gamble

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John Harris, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey give their reactions to the chancellor’s autumn budget. Has Rachel Reeves done enough to silence her crit...

A make-or-break week for the UK government

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It is finally budget week, so Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the context of Rachel Reeves’s big moment and how high the stakes are. Plus, Kir...

How dangerous are Labour’s asylum plans?

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There was outrage from Labour MPs on Monday evening as Shabana Mahmood outlined her plans to shake up the asylum system. Will these policies be watere...

Labour’s risky asylum pitch – podcast

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey look at radical plans from the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to tackle the ‘out of control’ asylum system. Plus, ...

Why is the Labour party in such a mess?

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John Harris is joined by Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey as an attempt to halt leadership manoeuvres against Keir Starmer has spectacularly backfired an...

Can the BBC survive this crisis?

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the resignations of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its head of news, Deborah Turness. Plus, the gr...

Nicola Sturgeon on leadership, scandal and trolling the trolls

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In a special, bonus episode of Politics Weekly, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey sit down with Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon for a f...

The chancellor’s impossible choice: economic necessity or political disaster?

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John Harris speaks to the Guardian’s economics editor, Heather Stewart, about the unenviable choice facing Rachel Reeves. What price will she pay if...

What does Faragenomics look like?

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nigel Farage promised to set out his fiscal stall in a major speech in the City of London, but what did he actually say? Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey...

‘The centre cannot hold’: John Curtice on the collapse of two-party politics

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

No one likes being unpopular, so you could forgive both of the UK’s main political parties for wanting to look away when another damning poll droppe...

Immigration system in crisis: sky-high hotel bills and a convict on the loose

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Another week, another immigration crisis. A powerful parliamentary committee has accused the Home Office – for this government and the last – of s...

Labour collapse in Caerphilly: the byelection that points to the future of UK politics

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Labour’s electoral dominance in Caerphilly, deep in the party’s Welsh heartlands, has collapsed while Reform UK and Plaid Cymru have hoovered up v...

The budget, the black hole and the Brexit blame game

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Reeves is facing difficult choices before her second budget next month and has been busy preparing the ground. In a significant shift in the go...

Trump’s fragile ceasefire plan: what next for Gaza?

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the Gaza ceasefire continues to hold, what road lies ahead in the peace process? John Harris speaks to the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick ...

Gaza ceasefire: what is the UK’s role?

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

All eyes are on the Middle East where there have been emotional scenes in Israel as hostages were released, while tens of thousands of Palestinians ar...

Labour’s Bridget Phillipson on Gaza, child poverty and the deputy leadership race

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey speak to the education secretary and Labour deputy leadership candidate Bridget Phillipson about the plan for a ceasefir...

Tax cuts, jokes and pig-wrestling: Badenoch’s attempt to save her job

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Conservative leader used her conference speech to announce plans to scrap stamp duty and launch an attack on Labour, but why was there so little m...

Make-or-break week for Badenoch

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey are at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, where Kemi Badenoch is trying to convince disgruntled Tory MPs t...

Starmer takes the gloves off in fight with Farage

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The UK prime minister has used his conference speech to take aim at Nigel Farage, warning that Reform UK offers only ‘division and decline’ while ...

Andy Burnham live in conversation

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey sit down with the mayor of Greater Manchester live at the Labour party conference in Liverpool. Help support our indepen...

Kent, where the politics of small boats and asylum has exploded

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The conversation about asylum and immigration is at the centre of British politics, and nowhere more so than in Kent. This week, John Harris is on the...

‘We’ve taken our progressive voters for granted’: Labour ex-minister

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John Harris is joined by the Labour MP Lucy Powell, a former cabinet minister who is a running for deputy leadership of the party, to discuss why the ...

What does the UK recognising Palestinian statehood really mean?

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the UK’s recognition of Palestine as a state. With the US and Israel criticising the move, what will it mean f...

Trump on tour: pomp, pageantry and politics

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump is back on UK soil for his ‘unprecedented’ second state visit. Will the US president’s trip help to distract from Keir Starmer’s ...

Could Trump’s visit be a useful distraction for Starmer?

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the fallout from Keir Starmer’s handling of the sacking of the US ambassador, Peter Mandelson. And with growin...

Will the UK ever rejoin the EU?

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey speak to the minister for EU relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, about the fallout from Brexit and our relationship with the...

Starmer’s Mandelson mess and deputy leadership damage

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the race to replace Angela Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader exposes tensions within the party, John Harris speaks to the former transport secreta...

Reshuffle, Rayner resignation and rift with the unions

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the fallout from Angela Rayner’s resignation and Keir Starmer’s subsequent cabinet reshuffle. Why has Rayner...

What’s feeding the rise of Reform? On the road in Birmingham

07 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John Harris is at the Reform UK conference, asking how this once insurgent party came to dominate the political mainstream. And he speaks to people in...

Flags, flats and Labour in trouble (again)

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the first week back after summer recess and Labour is already in trouble, with the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, referring herself to t...

Starmer’s back-to-school headaches

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey are back, talking through all of the challenges the government faces as MPs return to Westminster. Plus, they discuss th...

No going back: Nigel Farage’s immigration plan

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In a major speech this week, Reform UK set out how it would lower immigration. With controversial plans to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants an...

A year of hate: what I learned when I went undercover with the far right – from The Audio Long Read

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Working for Hope Not Hate, I infiltrated an extremist organisation, befriended its members and got to work investigating their political connections W...

Revisited: A day on the frontline of England’s social care crisis

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An ageing population, a funding squeeze and a recruitment crisis have taken England’s adult social care system to breaking point. In this episode, r...

How does woke start winning again? – from The Audio Long Read

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

British progressives have suffered major setbacks in recent years, in both public opinion and court rulings. Was a backlash inevitable, and are new ta...