Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards
Based on his live one-man show Rock & Roll Politics, the broadcaster and author Steve Richards takes a weekly behind-the-scenes tour of UK politics and the media that shapes the way we view the epic political dramas. The future is ridiculously unpredictable and the past is so easy to misread. Subscribe to your weekly guide through seismic times.
Episodes
July 23, 2024 • 46 mins
President Biden will not fight a second term… but it's taken him a long time to reach an obvious conclusion that was right in front of us. And he’s not alone. Most leaders do not dare to accept that it’s over when it is. Plus, more on Labour's foreign policy, your questions and much more.
Back us on Patreon to join the Post-Election Post-Mortem on ZOOM on Tue 30 July: https://www.patreon.com/posts/join-steve-for-108244685 – plus y...
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July 16, 2024 • 47 mins
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump is a symbol of a disturbed democracy and will be another destabilising factor for the US. UK Prime Ministers choose to hug the US close, but how reliable an ally is the US for a British government seeking a more mature foreign policy after the reckless misrule of recent years? Plus: Why England losing is part of a reassuring pattern…your brilliant questions… and much more.
Rock & Roll P...
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July 9, 2024 • 54 mins
Keir Starmer is only the third Labour leader to enter Number 10 having won a landslide. Only Attlee and Blair achieved similar results. Starmer has the bonus of facing a demoralised and divided Tory party. How will he make use of rare political space? Plus, as ever, your brilliant questions.
Rock & Roll Politics is live daily at the Edinburgh Festival with a brand new show every day from Aug 11th. Tickets here: https://tickets.ed...
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July 2, 2024 • 50 mins
Labour's mammoth lead has been virtually unchanged from the start of the campaign six weeks ago. Despite this the election has been full of surprises and if we look closely enough there is much to discover from the oddest campaign in decades.
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Rock & Roll Politics – the post election special is live at Kings Place on July 10th. If the polls are right it will be the first live show at Kings P...
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June 27, 2024 • 93 mins
A special bonus episode! We recorded the Rock & Roll Politics live show at Kings Place in London on the 24th of June for all to listen back to. It’s the only show of the election campaign, complete with unreliable predictions, reflections on all the main parties and audience questions.
Support Rock & Roll politics on Patreon.
Rock & Roll Politics – the post election special is live at Kings Place on July 10th. If the polls are ri...
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June 25, 2024 • 51 mins
Most Labour leaders have argued that economic growth is the key to improving public services but will the distinct policies of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves deliver?
Support Rock & Roll politics on Patreon.
Rock n Roll Politics – the post election special is live at Kings Place on July 10th. If the polls are right it will be the first live show at Kings Place under a Labour government. Tickets here.
Rock & Roll Politics is live a...
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June 18, 2024 • 52 mins
The Tory papers and their online equivalents are used to setting the agenda, having played their part in successive election victories for the Conservatives. The BBC has tended to be heavily influenced by these newspapers. So how will they respond to a transformed political landscape and how should a Labour government deal with the media?
Plus brilliant questions on Farage, the implications of a big majority for Labour and much mo...
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June 11, 2024 • 44 mins
Look at the government's own figures and it's obvious that taxes and borrowing will have to rise or else there will be further cuts to the UK's decaying public services. Why can't the parties be more honest? Has it always been like this in elections? What are the consequences?
Plus brilliant questions and a key notice for the Rock N Roll Politics co-operative. Rock N Roll Politics – The Election Bonus is live at Kings Place on Jun...
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June 3, 2024 • 51 mins
Behind the surface frenzy of the Diane Abbott saga are two overlooked questions. Does a leader have a right to have a say who is selected as candidates? What is the role of an MP? The ambition of all candidates is to be an MP, but is there any clear sense of what's expected of an MP? In this case also there are questions about how Keir Starmer and his unelected allies manage or mismanage their party.
Rock & Roll Politics: The Bonu...
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May 28, 2024 • 44 mins
So far the Conservative campaign makes Labour’s in 1983 and Theresa May’s in 2017 seem slick and confident. Why does it seem so indisciplined and ill thought-through? The answer lies in the mind of Rishi Sunak.
Rock & Roll Politics: The Bonus Election Special is live at Kings Place, London on June 24th. Tickets here.
Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Edinburgh Festival in a new political landscape from Aug 11th. Tickets here.
B...
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May 23, 2024 • 31 mins
Rishi Sunak surprised most of us by calling an election for July 4th. Why has he done it when he's 20 points behind? What will happen in the campaign and how will the parties handle the new levels of intense scrutiny? It’s time for the Rock N Roll Politics co-operative to gather more often than usual to make sense of the suddenly changed political context… The election is only six weeks away!
Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings P...
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May 21, 2024 • 39 mins
A familiar pattern forms again: scandals, cover up, victims struggling to prove the truth and an inquiry that reveals a dysfunctional state. Where does power lie in the UK? And what happens next?
Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on July 10th
I'm also live at the Edinburgh Festival from Sun Aug 11th with a new show every day. Get tickets here.
Written and presented by Steve Richards
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May 14, 2024 • 42 mins
What a silly question. We all know the answer to that one. And yet that was what was asked of Starmer at a point of unusual distinctiveness. He reiterated his unqualified opposition to the Rwanda populism, but did so at that moment of ambiguity. Plus, the defection of Natalie Elphicke: there are many lessons, not least for the media asking the silly question.
Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on July 10th. Tickets here.
...
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May 7, 2024 • 55 mins
After the elections, Sunak’s right wing dissenters called off their planned coup even though the results were disastrous for the Tories, while outlining their agenda for the future… which is similar to the one Sunak is pursuing. Do they know what they are doing?
Plus, the dangers of Keir Starmer walking into traps in his attempt to avoid others, and brilliant questions from the Rock & Roll Politics Co-operative.
Rock & Roll Polit...
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April 30, 2024 • 44 mins
A First Minister and SNP leader falls after a short tenure. Like the Tory party’s problems in Westminster, does the SNP leadership crisis raise thorny questions well beyond the flaws of one leader? And with what implications?
Rock & Roll Politics: The Pre-Election Special is live at Kings Place on July 10th. Tickets here
Back Rock & Roll Politics on Patreon here to get exclusive live events, bonus podcasts, free entry to Steve’s lo...
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April 23, 2024 • 52 mins
Nigel Lawson once noted that the party that wins the battle of ideas wins elections. He was right. Ideas matter and yet play little part in the contest between Sunak and Starmer. But the Right remain ideologically confident. Will a Labour government be able to counter the anti-state onslaught that is bound to happen? Plus exciting notices and brilliant questions from the Rock & Roll Politics co-operative.
Rock & Roll Politics is l...
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April 16, 2024 • 53 mins
In his last term as Prime Minister, Harold Wilson was seen as old, paranoid and ineffective… yet now we discover he was lively enough to be having an affair. This suggests the caricature might be wrong. What if Wilson was livelier politically too? And what if we choose to see other leaders as stereotypes which do not present anything like the full picture?
Support Rock & Roll Politics on Patreon for early episodes, exclusive merch...
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April 9, 2024 • 57 mins
The journalist and author Will Hutton has written an important new book on the eve of what’s likely to be a Labour government. The title is stark: This Time No Mistakes. But what mistakes were made? What are the lessons of the past? What are his hopes and fears for a Keir Starmer government?
This Time No Mistakes is published on April 11th. Buy it through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund Rock & Roll Politics by earning u...
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March 31, 2024 • 97 mins
A rare chance to hear a live show… this one recorded in the main concert hall at Kings Place, London. On the agenda: How do the dramas around the current government compare with other ‘fin de siecle’ administrations? How does Keir Starmer compare with Harold Wilson and Tony Blair when they were on the edge of power? Plus unreliable predictions… Question Time… and much more.
Support the podcast Patreon for bonus editions, special me...
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March 26, 2024 • 47 mins
Nigel Lawson once said a party that wins the battle of ideas wins the election... Rachel Reeves has started to engage in this battle of ideas during her Mais Lecture. Labour are way ahead in the polls, so is this a battle they can win?
Support Rock & Roll Politics on Patreon for bonus podcasts, special events and much more.
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