Coffee House Shots

Does Keir Starmer have confidence in Rachel Reeves? Kemi Badenoch pressed the Prime Minister on his Chancellor’s future at PMQs – and he declined to answer, twice. Westminster (and Twitter) is now awash with reshuffle rumours.No 10 has since issued a denial, but the damage may already be done, raising a familiar question: is Keir Starmer just bad at politics?With recess looming and Labour braced for a battering at the local elections, Tim Shipman and Noa Hoffman join Megan McElroy to discuss.

It’s a blockbuster day in parliament today. To kick things off, we had Philip Barton pleading ignorance; to close the proceedings tonight we have a vote on a possible Privileges Committee probe. But in between we have Morgan McSweeney, the longtime bete noire of the Labour party left, giving testimony on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as British ambassador. McSweeney pushed hard for Mandy to be given the gig: a decision which he said in his opening statement to the Foreign Affairs Committee was a ‘serious error’. However, Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff denied pressuring Foreign Office officials to clear the appointment ‘at all costs’.It wasn’t as explosive as Olly Robbins last week and there seemed to be a more personal subplot running between McSweeney and chair Emily Thornberry – who was denied her frontbench role by Keir Starmer. Is the Prime Minister more or less secure after this latest testimony?Noa Hoffman speaks to Tim Shipman.Produced by Megan McElroy and Oscar Edmondson.

King Charles is about to travel to Washington to visit President Trump. The brief? Fix the strained relationship. No pressure! Can royal diplomacy steady relations? Will the trip be awkward given Trump's recent words on Starmer, Chagos, The Falklands, and Canada? Does the King have what it takes to navigate such a diplomatic minefield?Elsewhere, Morgan McSweeney will appear before MPs tomorrow to explain his actions relating to the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. Given he's already said he doesn't recognise portrayals of himself in the media, is he going to come out swinging? Tim Shipman and James Heale discuss.

Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.President Trump survives another potential assassination attempt, as shots ring out at the White House correspondents' dinner.

Is Labour about to lose Wales? That’s what the polling suggests. After 27 years, Wales is seeking change. The beneficiaries look to be the outsiders, Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. Why is it this moment in particular that people are seeking new answers? In this special episode of Coffee House Shots, James Heale goes on the road across the Welsh valleys with Luke Tryl, UK Director of More in Common. Attending a series of focus groups, speaking to people on the doorsteps and across towns in the UK, they try to find out where Wales is heading in the local elections on May 7. Produced by Megan McElroy.

The long-debated assisted dying bill is expected to fail in the House of Lords today – described by the bill's leading advocate Lord Falconer as failing 'not on its merits' but 'due to procedural wrangling'. Natasha Feroze speaks to Tim Shipman and James Heale about whether that is a fair description of the bill. Plus the Telegraph investigation into Attorney General Lord Hermer's previous roles taking legal action against British troops who served in Iraq and what this means for his suitability to his role in government.

Somewhere in the documents surrounding Peter Mandelson’s ambassadorial appointment, the Spectator's political editor Tim Shipman reveals, is a text Keir Starmer sent the night before the announcement. ‘You’ll be brilliant in challenging circumstances,’ he told the Prince of Darkness. ‘And after many years of our discussions, we get to work together side by side. I really look forward to that.’ The message was leaked after a week in which the Prime Minister’s relationship with senior civil servants has collapsed. Tim says Starmer’s ‘apparent incomprehension of the very process he advocates has led officials to conclude he is no better than the predecessor he most deplores – Boris Johnson’. Has Starmer become the very thing he sought to destroy?Tim Shipman joins Oscar Edmondson and James Heale to discuss.Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

It will come as no surprise that Keir Starmer appears to have heard a very different evidence session from Sir Olly Robbins to the one everyone else thought the ex Foreign Office mandarin gave yesterday. The Prime Minister arrived in the Commons for questions today convinced that Robbins had in fact largely backed him up, give or take a few quibbles over whether there was a ‘dismissive’ attitude in Downing Street towards Peter Mandelson’s vetting. What planet is the PM on?Eyes were fixed on his front bench, with journalists looking for any chinks in the armour after a couple of very unconvincing media rounds from usually loyal hummers Ed Miliband and Pat McFadden, but will anyone actually move against Starmer?Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.