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The Politics Show
Is Keir Starmer’s vision enough? With Ed Miliband
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Anoosh Chakelian and Freddie Hayward are joined by Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change and net zero secretary and former Labour leader, to discuss Keir Starmer’s speech from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
They discuss the pledge to create a publicly owned “Great British energy” company to cut bills and the conference slogan “A fairer, greener future”; how the economic turmoil will affect their ability to deliver these promises; and whether Miliband would advise a note of caution to the optimistic party faithful.
Then the New Statesman polling expert, Ben Walker, joins the podcast to discuss a recent YouGov poll that shows Labour leading the Tories by 17 points and whether the plunging pound has damaged public confidence in Liz Truss’s government.
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US midterms: Where are the key battlegrounds?
20:42|On 3 November, Americans will head to the polls for the midterm elections.We will be publishing one episode a week for the next three weeks, every Wednesday, taking in the lead up and results.In this first episode, we ask: Where are the key battlegrounds these elections will be fought?US correspondent Freddie Hayward is joined by the NS’s senior data journalist, Ben Walker, political scientist Lisa Bryant and New York Times White House reporter Shawn McCreesh.
Can Reform weather the scandals?
28:52|Reform UK is in crisis, amid a cascade of scandalsThe party’s poll rating has fallen from mid-thirties highs to the low twenties, with a recent poll showing them slipping to third place.This has come amid the “Burnham bounce” - Labour’s improved polling triggered by the change in Prime Minister.Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon to discuss.
Reform slips to third in the polls
42:54|Reform falls behind Labour and the Tories for the first time since the general election, how animals shape our voting patterns and 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh.Anoosh Chakelian and Will Dunn round up the stories of the week.READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/bursting-the-bubble/2026/10/our-mania-for-animals-warps-politics-priorities-and-personal-liveshttps://www.newstatesman.com/politics/the-sketch/2026/10/tiktoks-irreverent-slop-was-made-for-nigel-faragehttps://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2026/10/in-praise-of-winnie-the-poohs-idleness
Burnham's Brexit reversal
33:26|Ten years after the Brexit referendum, a British Prime Minister has said out loud what much of the country has concluded: Brexit did more harm than good.Andy Burnham has told his party that no credible ten-year plan for Britain can avoid the Europe question, and has since declined to rule out rejoining the EU in Labour’s next manifesto.Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Tom McTague and Ethan Croft to discuss.
The Green Party is in crisis
37:04|It’s been a tumultuous time for the Green Party. Their controversial “Zionism is racism vote” and leader Zack Polanski’s defeat in a by-election in North London has led to turmoil within the party.Meanwhile, is the long-suffering Tory party finally experiencing a “Kemi-bounce”?And how about the Lib Dems? Is leader Ed Davey facing a coup?Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ethan Croft.Correction: Jamie Driscoll was not suspended from the Labour Party. He wasn’t allowed to stand as a candidate and so he left the party.
Reform clears its own officials over donations sting
33:05|Reform clearing its own officials of breaking party funding law, Kemi Badenoch’s inheritance tax gambit and was Britain really better off in the 1980s?Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Dunn for our weekly round up. READ: https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2026/10/spains-warning-to-andy-burnhamhttps://www.newstatesman.com/politics/the-sketch/2026/10/vegan-sausages-and-loathing-at-green-party-conference https://www.newstatesman.com/business/economics/2026/10/was-britain-really-better-off-in-the-1980s
Labour holds Starmer’s seat
17:42|Labour has held the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, with Sagal Abdi-Wali retaining the seat for the party despite a hard-fought contest from Green Party leader Zack Polanski.The result preserves Labour’s long-standing grip on the constituency, and disrupts Polanski’s momentum.Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon and Ben Walker to discuss.
The Green Party’s Zionism reckoning
26:13|At the Green Party conference, party members backed a motion to describe Zionism as racism.Zack Polanski, currently campaigning in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, missed the controversial vote, which called for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state.Is this a watershed moment for the Green Party?Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Megan Kenyon.
Is Burnham brave or naive?
38:19|At this week’s Labour conference, Andy Burnham announced bigger and bolder policy ambitions than anyone expected. Was this too big a swing? Or the grand vision the country needs?Elsewhere, next Thursday, there is a by-election happening in Holborn and St Pancras, the seat vacated by Keir Starmer.Oli Dugmore is joined by business editor Will Dunn and political correspondent Megan Kenyon to discuss.