The Rundown by PoliticsHome

This week the so-called ‘dark arts’ of politics are being demystified, with a look inside the system known as whipping, where MPs are corralled by fair means or foul into voting with their party’s leadership in Parliament.

But in the modern era have things moved more from threats of punishment to pastoral care? And have the days of the 'little black book' filled with politicians misdeeds ready to be used against them, as...

This week is a look under the bonnet of British politics, and shining a light into the dark corners of how Westminster’s finances operates, and seeing if the endless pledges to close loopholes and tighten regulations after every scandal have actually led to a crackdown on illegal lobbying and undue influence on democracy.

Or whether the UK remains vulnerable to illicit wealth, cronyism and financial corruption, despite Keir Star...

As MPs returned to Westminster after the summer recess, this week we’re looking ahead to a crucial autumn for this government, packed full of potential pitfalls as they hope year two in office is an upgrade from a tricky first 12 months.

But after a clunky internal Downing Street reset and distracting revelations about Angela Rayner’s tax affairs, things have not got off to the best start, with a high-risk Donald Trump visit, pa...

This week is the sixth and final episode in our series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts and looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office in some of the big policy areas, and the biggest has been saved until last; the economy.

Fixing the country’s finances was their number one priority when Keir Starmer came into office last year, promising to kickstart economic growth after a decade of s...

In the latest episode in a series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this week the focus is on the world of work, from employment rights, public sector pay, and the government’s relationship with trade unions.

Host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, which represents 48 unions with a total of ...

In the fourth episode of a series over Parliament’s summer recess, speaking to experts and looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by not one but two brilliant guests to discuss probably the single most important policy area outside of the economy for this government; health.

Labour has long staked its reputation as being the defenders of the NHS and made big promises ahe...

The latest in a series over Parliament’s summer recess, looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this episode features Chris Skidmore, the former Conservative MP, who as Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, signed the UK's Net Zero pledge into law in 2019.

Later asked to chair a review of the government's net-zero strategy, he resigned from the Commons in January last year over the in...

In the second episode of a series over Parliament’s summer recess looking at how Labour have performed in their first year in office, this week's guest on The Rundown is Sarah Owen, Labour MP for Luton North and the chair of the Commons select committee on women and equalities.

Speaking to host Alain Tolhurst, she discusses how this government is doing on its manifesto commitments to tackle racial injustice and gender inequa...

With Parliament now into its summer recess, The Rundown is going to spend the next few weeks assessing how the Labour government is performing after a year in office in a number of key areas, with the help of some top experts and those with experience of having facing the same problems staring back at Keir Starmer and his Cabinet.

Starting this week with the subject of social mobility, and that most key of all questions we ask o...

This week marks nine years since Theresa May entered Downing Street, after David Cameron’s resignation the morning after the EU referendum, but while Brexit was the reason she became Prime Minister, ultimately it was the thing that ended her premiership too, after she was unable to get a deal through Parliament.

Consequently most look back on her tenure as a failure, but looking back now while her three years in Number 10 were u...

With this week’s state visit to Britain by Emmanuel Macron, we’re looking at the state of UK-Franco relations, and how important a new ‘entente cordiale’ is to Keir Starmer as he deals with political problems both home and abroad.

Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss why the French president is open to a rapprochement after a pretty frosty few years post-Brexit, what both sides have been able to agree on, and what still divides th...

This weekend marks 12 months since last year’s General Election, when Labour were swept to power with an enormous landslide victory ending 14 long years in opposition, but it seems unlikely they will be hanging the bunting outside Number 10 after a very tough first year in office for Keir Starmer.

To discuss just how bad things have got, and how Labour might solve their problems, PoliticsHome have again partnered with the pollst...

This week we’re taking a look at what life is like not for politicians themselves, but for their spouses, asking what does a life in the Westminster spotlight do to relationships, what their role is, and the often unfair way they are portrayed in the public eye.

Someone who knows more about this than most is the journalist Sarah Vine, who for many years was married to Michael Gove as he served in the Cabinets of multiple Prime M...

This week host Alain Tolhurst is joined by Zack Polanski, Green Party deputy leader, as the podcast takes a look at the forgotten winners of last year’s general election, as despite unprecedented success in winning 1.8 million votes and quadrupling their number of MPs to 4, the Greens finds themselves at something of a crossroads.

They are joined by Sophie Stowers, research manager at the think tank More in Common, and Sophie Ch...

While this week Rachel Reeves set out her plans on how and where Labour is set to spend money for much of the rest of this Parliament, the question now is do they have a plan for how they’re going to deliver on their priorities, and succeed in completing Keir Starmer’s missions for government?

Joining host Alain Tolhurst to discuss the vexed issue of actually delivering in office what you came in to do is Michelle Clement, lectu...

With Rachel Reeves still finalising her comprehensive spending review next Wednesday, this week we’re looking at how the process works, going inside the battles between the Treasury and Whitehall departments on spending plans for the coming years, with John Glen, conservative MP and a former Treasury minister, Sonia Khan, a special adviser to Philip Hammond during his time as Chancellor, join host Alain Tolhurst alongside Bee Boile...

As disquiet brews within Labour over cuts to welfare, and a perceived failure to pursue a progressive enough agenda, this week host Alain Tolhurst looks inside the governing party as a host of new caucuses and organised campaign groups have sprung up, and asking - who are the new tribes within Labour Who is behind them, what are their aims, and how dangerous could they be to Keir Starmer’s leadership, as he faces his first major re...

With this month marking 15 years since the signing of the historic Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition agreement, and given the fractured five-party politics of 2025, what can be learned from five chaotic days in 2010, that led to five years of surprisingly stable government?

To discuss how it all came together, and what stopped it from falling apart, host Alain Tolhurst is joined by one of the people who helped negotiate ...

This week the podcast looks at another of those knotty, seemingly intractable issues sat on Labour’s in-tray when they entered government last year; namely social care.

To look at how successive administrations have failed to grasp the nettle and deal with the rising costs of a sector that has ballooned in size to deal with our ageing population, host Alain Tolhurst is joined on the panel by Paulette Hamilton, Labour MP and the acti...