The Power Test

With Labour now firmly in the driver’s seat of government, Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika are joined by Power Test co-founder and former Chief Executive of the Centre for Progressive Policy, Charlotte Aldritt, and Ryan Wain, the Executive Director of Politics at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, to look at where Britain goes next.

How can Labour get Britain's creaky systems moving in the right direction, and put toge...

July 4th, 2024: the date that Labour returned to power. After 14 years in the political wilderness, Keir Starmer has led the party to a landslide victory. With the keys to No.10 Downing Street in his hands – and a crack team of ministers assembled – it's time to look back on how Labour has changed under the Starmer premiership, and ahead to how it, in turn, could change Britain.

Ayesha Hazarika – fresh from a marathon bro...

Just before we head hurtling into election week, Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika are on hand to take you through the reality of Labour’s pledge on energy - together with think tank Third Way’s Josh Freed who leads its Climate and Energy work and Brett Christophers, author of The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet.

Labour has made reforming a troubled energy market one of its six key pledges, with the creation ...

As the issue drives Nigel Farage’s return and the Conservatives seek to sharpen attacks on Labour in a last ditch attempt to breakthrough in the campaign, this week Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman look into Labour’s pledge on immigration.

Ayesha and Sam probe further into Labour’s policies on immigration with former Home Office adviser Matt Cavanagh and LSE economics professor, and former Chair of the Migration Advisory Committ...

On this special manifesto episode of The Power Test, Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman are joined by two special guests: Nick Pearce, one of the authors of Labour's 2010 manifesto, and Claire Ainsley, who was Keir Starmer's policy guru from 2020 to 2022. Together, this quartet dissect and discuss the Labour party's 2024 manifesto (titled, simply, 'Change'). Does it live up to that name? What are the big policy areas it covers, from ...

The academic who inspired Blair’s “respect agenda" on tackling crime and anti-social behaviour urges Labour to ensure that there is effective investment in community support alongside law and policing.

Talking to Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman, Professor Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, says he recognises the similarities between the approaches taken by Keir Starmer and Blair on crime ...

Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika sit down with the Chief Executives of the The King's Fund and NHS Confederation, Sarah Woolnough and Matthew Taylor, to discuss Labour's health pledge on waiting lists and what lies ahead.

This week as the general election campaign hits full swing, and The Power Test is focused once again on one of the top issues for the voting public: The NHS.

To find out more visit ThePowerTest.co.uk and bec...

Schools expert, and Teacher Tapp co-founder, Laura McInerney, joins Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika to speak about Labour’s commitment to recruit extra teachers by removing the VAT exemption on private schools - as well as the party’s other plans on education.

With election fever setting in, The Power Test is not being knocked off course. With just six weeks until a new government will be in place, Sam and Ayesha look in detail...

With Labour under pressure from trade unions to remain committed to its 'New Deal for Working People', this week Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman look at the party's relationship with the unions and the future ahead.

They're joined by the General Secretary of the Prospect trade union, Mike Clancy, to look at Labour’s relationship with the union movement and how any future government can build a productive relationship to reshape...

In the aftermath of last week's local elections, Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika, together with author and Political Science Professor Rob Ford, look at what the results might mean for a future Labour government on this week's episode of The Power Test podcast.

Under the surface of a very good set of elections for the party, and another very bad few days for the Tories, Ford, who was part of the BBC's elections analysis&nb...

In a week of drama in Scottish politics, Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman are joined for this week’s episode of The Power Test by former Labour leader in Scotland, Kezia Dugdale.

They discuss where Scottish politics goes next following the shock resignation of Humza Yousaf, whether the SNP's attack lines on independence have been blunted, and whether Anas Sarwar, the current leader of Scottish Labour, can take advantage of an in...

This week, Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman are joined by none other than Sam’s dad, Sir Lawrence Freedman, to discuss future foreign and defence policy under a Labour Government.

How will Labour confront the range of security threats that the UK faces across the world? Sir Lawrence Freedman, renowned academic, historian and author on foreign policy and international relations, reflects on the grave challenges a Starme...

Is Labour capable of reversing the curse facing centre-left governments around the world? Josh Simons, Director of the highly influential think tank Labour Together says the party must be ready to confront the challenge of thinking about how it can govern and win a second term.

Josh joins Ayesha Hazarika and Sam Freedman to speak about how Labour is preparing for government and whether the party really has a plan to win the deca...

On this week's episode of The Power Test, we're looking at all things local elections - including bins! - New Statesman Britain Editor Anoosh Chakelian joins Sam and Ayesha on the pod and discussed how these will have an impact on Labour and whether it can deliver real change in government.

Episode notes:

The Tories are trying to make headway by putting the blame on Labour-run councils themselves, but while voters seem to be ...

Following last week's episode with Ed Balls, former Treasury boss Nick Macpherson joins Sam and Ayesha to interrogate the economic environment facing the next government. We’re hearing a lot from Labour about economic security, fighting off the party’s reputation for ‘spendonomics’, but is the party being too far too cautious and harming its plans for growth?

If you've enjoyed this episode of The Power Test, why not become a Pow...

As Labour announces its plans to reclaim 'Levelling Up', Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika are joined by Ed Balls to discuss the dual challenges of tackling economic and regional inequality and going for growth

Boris Johnson’s claim to end the North-South divide has been a spectacular disaster in terms of going from a box office slogan to something of any substance at all. Councils across the UK are on the brink of collapse and b...

In this first episode of 2024, the duo discuss the news that Ayesha will soon become Baroness Hazarika of Coatbridge in the County of Lanarkshire and the role of the House of Lords in legislating before focusing on the current political landscape and the challenges and opportunities ahead for Labour as the party prepares for its return to government.

Notes:

• Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika return to the airwaves as ...

Keir Starmer's former chief of staff Sam White and The Guardian's Political Editor Pippa Crerar are two figures who have arguably played as big a role as any in turning around Labour's electoral chances. Pippa broke the Partygate story that engulfed the Tory party for many months, while Sam was working behind the scenes to make Labour look like a government in waiting. Sam and Pippa join us in the studio to talk about partygate, if...