Few buy newspapers and not many read them. So why do they shape the political agenda, not least in determining how the current government is perceived? Rock & Roll Politics -The Xmas Special is live at Kings Place on Dec 8th.. Get your tickets for Kings Place or the live-stream of the event here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts…

The fickle media and Conservative MPs are hailing Kemi Badenoch’s recent performances, making her more secure in her role as leader. The Tories are still dominant in the media, so could they - not Reform - emerge as the main alternative at the next election? Plus the furore over Rachel Reeves and the OBR, and why is it shocking for a Labour governm…

After a thousand leaks, speeches and u-turns, Rachel Reeves has delivered her budget. As predicted there were a range of tax rises and some significant spending increases, not least on welfare. For all the feverish coverage, how much does the budget really change? Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of Dec…

In spite of the bleak financial inheritance, Rachel Reeves should have some space with a landslide Commons for radical reforms in her budget. Did she partly choose to be trapped, without thinking through the consequences? Plus brilliant questions on how Britain is governed in relation to Covid Inquiry and Shabana Mahmood’s plans for asylum seekers.…

The Cabinet Office Minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, has written several political biographies. The most recent was on Harold Wilson. What are the differences between being in power now compared with previous Labour governments? How did Wilson deal with leadership threats of the type Keir Starmer faces now? He’s also responsible for the Brexit ’reset’…

Within weeks of becoming Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood has announced a set of wide-ranging policies aimed at deterring illegal asylum seekers. Will they work practically and politically? Plus, has Rachel Reeves got a coherent vision for the economy? How to define the soft left? And are there too many political journalists? Rock & Roll Politics - …

There's universal consensus that the briefings from Number 10, warning of a leadership challenge from Wes Streeting and the conduct of "feral" Labour MPs, have rebounded badly on Starmer and those involved. Yet the briefings against key Labour figures are part of a pattern under Keir Starmer's leadership… even if he is the biggest victim of these o…

Tim Davie, Deborah Turness and other senior BBC managers have gone out of their way to please the right, from the treatment of Gary Linker to the selection of political panels where there is often an imbalance that favours the right. Ironically and predictably the right wing newspapers have shown yet again their bullying muscularity by triggering t…

Labour's so-called 'soft left' is becoming more muscular and vocal, but what binds this part of the party and how does it want this government to change? Plus, can Rachel Reeves make voters recognise the connection between higher taxes and better public services? A key rule for governments: "Make the connections". Rock & Roll Politics - The Christm…

Nigel Farage has torn up Reform's 2024 manifesto, pledging big spending cuts and promising tax cuts. Whether on the right or left, has he framed a distinct and credible argument about the economy? Also, is the Royal Family doomed in modern Britain? Plus brilliant questions and a range of notices for the Rock & Roll Politics co-operative. Rock & Rol…

Keir Starmer refused to rule out breaking pre-election tax commitments at Prime Minister's Questions, suggesting that he and Rachel Reeves are contemplating doing so. Can they get away with it? Or will it be the cause of their fall? Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now…

Finally, Rachel Reeves cites the Brexit deal as one reason why the economy is failing and why she will have to raise taxes in the budget. But is it too little, too late? Rock & Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8th of December. Tickets are available now at the Kings Place website here. Subscribe to Patreon to take …

With the nationalisation of the railways, the need for economic growth, climate change and a focus on addressing regional inequalities, transport should be at the top of the government’s priorities. But is it? I’m joined by transport guru, author and podcaster, Christian Wolmar, to discuss why Transport is often overlooked by prime ministers and ch…

Most of the time the right-wing media scream that government should not interfere with the police. But when the police make a decision the media disapproves of, it screams the opposite. In doing so this tells us much about the blurred lines of responsibility and the confusion about the role of the state – that partly explains why 'nothing works' re…

In a recording of a recent Rock & Roll Politics live show, the audience became Rachel Reeves… and I became Emma Barnett interviewing some of them. There were many ideas for the real Chancellor in advance of next month’s budget and some mighty dilemmas explored. Here it is! Rock &Roll Politics - The Christmas Special is live at Kings Place on the 8t…

The post of deputy leader is ill-defined at best. Yet delving deep, and going back to contests in the 1970s, shows they change the course of Labour's history. The current one will also make waves when the result is declared. Plus Donald Trump.. the peacemaker. Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus s…

על ידי Steve Richards

The Labour Party conference is in a febrile mood – there's much talk of leadership, and also of Farage. Can Starmer bring together those horrified by a Reform government? Or is he too unpopular, not least with those on the left? Please subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a day early and ad free… plus special exclusive live eve…

Who are the Liberal Democrats? The coalition years exposed a deep split between social democrats and free market liberals. Are those divisions healed? Is Ed Davey right to party play for laughs? Is he making the correct pitch in the current multi-party mayhem? Tickets for Thursday's epic live show in the main concert hall at Kings Place are availab…

Predictably, Peter Mandelson's return to the centre of the political stage has ended in crisis. Mandelson's influence on Keir Starmer grew after Labour lost the Hartlepool by-election in the early days of Starmer's leadership. The fashionable narrative is that Starmer changed his strategy for the better after Hartlepool, but is that when the seeds …

Keir Starmer has kept more or less the same Cabinet but given most of them new jobs. Will it work as Reform UK soars in the polls? Rock & Roll Politics is live in the main concert hall at Kings Place on Thursday September 25th at the end of the Labour Party Conference week! Tickets available here. https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/steve-r…

With Labour languishing in the polls, Keir Starmer has reshuffled his top team… yet again. His leadership has been punctuated by changes in senior personnel, so does that tell us more about him or them? My book on Tony Blair is published next Thursday. You can pre-order it here. Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on Thursday September 25th…

Here’s a recording of the final show at this year’s festival, where there was a different show every day. The final one looked ahead via four political figures, but many other themes and characters were explored over the fourteen shows. It was great seeing so many of the co-operative in Edinburgh! Subscribe to Patreon⁠ for bonus podcasts, the main …

The run of Rock & Roll Politics shows is in full swing, with host Steve Richards delivering a different show each day. Here's an update for the co-operative on the various themes and the audience predictions, plus questions on the political drama being played out in Wales, and much more. Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Edinburgh Festival right …

The Labour government has endured a traumatic first year on many fronts, but its opponents are in different ways extremely vulnerable. If its opponents cannot win next time Labour will secure a second term, yet the mood music suggests a government in near fatal trouble... Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Edinburgh Festival with a different show …

In a Question Time Special the Rock N Roll Politics co-operative reflects on the 'pause' of some rail electrification schemes, the degree to which the UK's independent nuclear deterrent is not independent, and what's wrong with digital ID cards? RocknRoll Politics is live at the Edinburgh festival from this Sunday August 10th, with a different show…

Keir Starmer drops everything to meet Trump on the President's golfing holiday, but to what end? Post-war Prime Ministers, with two exceptions, assume Britain has a special relationship with the US, only to discover that the US has different views... Some context (our favourite word) for the co-operative! Rock & Roll Politics is live at the Edinbur…

The rushed water privatisation after the 1987 election was one of several calamitous policies launched by Margaret Thatcher –with the consequences still being played out today. Yet Tory leaders, potential leaders, and even their Labour counterparts still pay homage to Thatcher. Why? RocknRoll Politics is live at the Edinburgh festival from Sunday A…

Number 10’s media strategy is fairly old-fashioned: the morning round for the broadcasters, interviews with the TV political editors and placing articles in right wing newspapers. Does any of this do them any good? And if not, what should they do instead? And this is partly an excuse to look at the wild media landscape! Rock & Roll Politics is live…

Normally media frenzies exaggerate the scale of a government crisis - a distorting frenzy that feeds on itself. But this time, has it played down the significance of recent days? Rock & Roll Politics - The End of the Political Year Special is live at Kings Place on July 17th. Tickets here. Subscribe to Patreon for bonus podcasts, the main podcast a…

Labour MPs flex their muscles, the government concedes, welfare reform is still in chaos and taxes will have to rise to pay for concessions. How has a landslide government landed on such rocky terrain just a year after its historic election victory? Rock & Roll Politics - The End of the Political Year Special is live at Kings Place on July 17th. Ti…

Not for the first time, a US military intervention triggers greater instability and many questions about what follows. It’s time for the co-operative to delve deep into the context and consequences! To join our exclusive live Patreon event on Thursday, and also get bonus podcasts and the main podcasts a day early and ad free, subscribe to Patreon h…

Rachel Reeves’ spending review was a mixed bag, with some impossibly tight spending settlements combined with significant investment. But will voters make the connections between decisions at Westminster and their own lives, especially when conveyed through a hostile media? • Rock & Roll Politics - The End of the Political Year Special is live at K…

Sarah Vine, the journalist and former wife of Michael Gove, has written a book that partly chronicles their lives in the court of David Cameron and the Notting Hill Conservatives. In doing so she is the latest insider chronicler to shine light on the shallowness of the Cameron project, with dark consequences for the Conservative party and the count…

Keir Starmer is an evasive leader but on one point he is clear: he is a pragmatist, has no time for ideology and there will be no ‘Starmerism’. But without strong ideological convictions can a leader flourish? Plus, brilliant questions from the Rock & Roll Politics co-operative. Rock & Roll Politics is live in the main concert hall at Kings Place o…

While researching the 1929 Labour government for a new book I found myself thinking repeatedly “this reminds me of now”. The yearning to follow economic orthodoxies of the past, the desire to be agents of ‘change’ while being fearful of change etc… and then I came across a Tony Blair interview from the 2001 election. This week, we look at the many …

I spoke to Michael Heseltine at the Cambridge Literary Festival about his remarkable career, how he would have changed the Tory party’s approach to Europe had he won the leadership contest in 1990, his reflections on Thatcher, his radical ideas if he were prime minister now… and much more. The Cambridge Winter Festival is held on the 22nd and 23rd …

The Labour government has signed a deal with the EU that brings significant improvements to the agreement negotiated by Johnson and Lord Frosty Frost… their deal being a reminder of the many calamitous developments in the wild fourteen years of misrule. Can the Tory Party recover from such a record or is it doomed to be replaced by Reform? Rock & R…

Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have played their migration cards, but will they be enough to counter Farage’s populist policies? Will they work in practical terms? And if they do, what will be the impact on growth and any hope for the urgently needed National Care Service? So many questions erupt when moving on to this thorny terrain… Subscribe to …

Labour was elected to deliver ‘change’ but Starmer, Reeves and Morgan McSweeney have been cautious and vague about their ambition to move on from the recent past. Instead Labour communications use the term ‘reform’ as if it were a policy in itself. Now Labour faces the Reform Party, the Greens, the SNP and Lib Dems, all pitching bolder versions of …

There is a big UK/EU summit in May which ministers are confident will be a significant event – and not just a talking shop. Meanwhile Rachel Reeves has dared to state the obvious – that a deal with the EU is the biggest prize for the British government, as Trump oscillates wildly. Are these signs that a government so fearful of raising Brexit is be…

The right are obsessed with Miliband and his zeal for net zero policies, but is there any basis for the argument that his net zero policies threaten economic growth? And what is their alternative strategy? Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on May 8th… there’ll be a lot going on. Tickets available here. Subscribe to Patreon for live events…

For decades nationalisation was the great taboo in British politics, while privatisation was deemed the great triumph of Thatcherism. Blair and Brown were opposed to any attempt to renationalise – but now there is cross party support for the nationalisation of British Steel, the railways are being renationalised and there is huge support for the go…

Is there a hint of British exceptionalism in the early days of the Trump-induced economic crisis? Apparently the UK got off lightly, while Keir Starmer can be a ‘bridgehead’ between Europe and the US. Let’s see… Rock & Roll Politics is live at Kings Place on the 8th of May, just days after local elections and the Runcorn by-election. Tickets availa…

Trump has said ‘tariff’ is his favourite word, but will US consumers agree with him when prices rise? Plus - does the UK need a Department for Economic Growth? Subscribe to Patreon here to join Thursday’s live discussion and get a vault of timeless bonus podcasts. Rock & Roll Politics is live at the main concert hall in Kings Place on May 8th. Tick…

This week Rachel Reeves announces more spending cuts in order to meet her fiscal rules, and the OBR’s verdict on her ‘fiscal headroom’. But what was the original purpose of ‘the fiscal rules’ and has Reeves learned the lessons from past Labour chancellors? Some context in a week that could doom a landslide government to being trapped rather than li…

The decision to scrap NHS England is a rare example of clear thinking in relation to delivery of public services. Can such clarity be applied more widely or will chaotic lines of management from the BBC to the railways continue to prevail? Some context from the 1980s, the New Labour era and David Cameron’s shallow and confused thinking when he set …

Rachel Reeves is looking to save billions from the welfare budget. What are the lessons from New Labour’s attempts to cut welfare and what is the purpose of the latest focus on benefits? Will the government succeed in its hastily planned mission? Plus, brilliant questions on the international crisis and the internal turmoil in Reform. Rock & Roll P…

Keir Starmer is enjoying his best media coverage since the election – but the UK commentariat always hails the appearance of ‘strong leadership’ during the early phase of an international crisis. Tough choices can still be avoided, but what happens when the consequences are played out and these vaguely defined choices must be made? The commentariat…

The moving parts in the international crisis continue to move. Macron and Starmer in Washington, a new government to form in Germany and Trump never far away from a TV screen. But to what end are all the diverse parts moving? Subscribe to Patreon for live events, bonus podcasts and to get the regular podcast a day early and ad free. Written and pre…