All of Christopher Hope's guests this week are encouraging or have taken a leap of faith. Former Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke, now in the freedom of the backbenches, joins Chopper in the Red Lion to urge his fellow conservatives to rethink onshore windfarms and central housing targets and not fall for a "NIMBY's charter". 

Also on the podcast, William Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove, discusses why he's made the leap into leaving parliament after the next election despite only being 34.

Plus former leader of the Lib Dems, Tim Farron, tells Chris why he thinks Christians should dip their toes into politics, and why he thinks the Church of England is compromised by being a "part of the furniture of state".

Britain is fast descending into chaos, and the Tories are powerless to stop it, by Allister Heath

A Mucky Business: Why Christians Should Get Involved In Politics, by Tim Farron

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Sir Keir Starmer comes to Telegraph Towers and Christopher Hope hands over the microphone, as the politics class of St George's School, Harpenden, grill the Labour Leader. Up for discussion: Unions and the Union, as Mr Starmer defends not standing on picket lines with striking works and discusses his stance on indyref2, and he talks tax and claims that Labour is the party of sound money. Plus, who does Keir Starmer fancy to win the World Cup and will he reveal which Tory he kissed? Listen to find out.

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Well, what a difference 7 weeks makes. The Telegraph's Camilla Tominey and Gordon Rayner join Christopher Hope to give us the top lines of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement, somewhat different in tone to his predecessors less than two months ago.

Also on the podcast, David Jones, MP for Clwyd West and prominent ERG member, gives his withering assessment of Mr Hunt's tax hikes (5/10, must do better), urges the Chancellor to reconsider for the sake of the next election and balks at the use of the phrase "unearned income".

Plus Economic Jim O'Neill on why he thinks Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak have made some canny choices and why as a country we need to accept that there's "no such thing as a free lunch".

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Leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, joins Christopher Hope for a wide ranging chat about tax cuts, new open cast coal mines and veterans running the police, amongst other subjects. The former Brexit Party leader claims that in the fortnight since Truss resigned 4,534 people have signed up to join Reform UK - and that the Tories should be quaking. Tice sees the party's rise in popularity as a sign of anger at an "establishment coup" and gives Chancellor Jeremy Hunt a rather brutal career assessment.

Also on the podcast, Stephen Watson from the National Flagship Programme Board commiserates with Chopper at what looks like the end of the line for a replacement for Royal Yacht Britannia - although something tells us Chopper won't give up that easily.

How Reform UK is targeting disaffected Conservatives for their votes |

Axing Britannia 2.0 is another blow for Brexit Britain |

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James Heappey joins Christopher Hope in the Red Lion ahead of Remembrance Day. The Armed Forces Minister reflects on the wearing of the poppy, decrying poppy shaming saying that you should choose to commemorate in a considered way, not wear a poppy out of obligation.

Plus he discusses pausing to think of his service in Afghanistan with the Rifles during Remembrance services.

Also on the podcast, Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey talks about Labour's commitment to NATO, and his concerns about the numbers of veterans on Universal credit.

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Political debate is running at a quieter pace after the breakneck speeds of the last few weeks, so here at Chopper's Politics we're serving you some red meat topics of discussion this week.

Ed Miliband joins Christopher Hope to discuss the importance of COP and why climate change isn't just a Left issue. Plus the former Labour leader gives his advice to Liz Truss on how to handle no longer having the top job, and reveals which reality TV shows have tried to court him, following the revelation that Matt Hancock is appearing on this year's I'm a Celebrity.

Also on the podcast, Kent MP Craig Mackinlay discusses his fears that the Tories could lose 'dozens of seats' at the next election unless the migrant crisis is solved, and Professor Robert Tombs on why he believes Project Fear has risen again.

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Sir Iain Duncan Smith joins Christopher Hope to talk about the Conservative's latest leader (third time lucky?) and the country's new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. The former party leader warns that a combination of "higher taxes and big, big sweeping cuts" could plunge the UK "into deep recession" and urges Liz Truss to not intervene too much from the backbenches.

Plus Chopper is joined by the Telegraph's Associate Editor Gordon Rayner to delve into the podcast vault and listen back to our interview with Rishi Sunak back in August, and see what it can tell us about what Sunak has in store for the country and his premiership.

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Jacob Rees-Mogg joins Christopher Hope to make his case for why Boris Johnson needs to take back the reins of the Tory party and the nation, following Liz Truss's shock resignation yesterday. He talks about the former PM's strong mandate and how the numbers already flocking to support him have been "pleasantly surprising". The Business Secretary also warns colleagues calling for a spell in opposition to remember the difficulties of the 90s...

Also on the podcast, the Telegraph's Political Reporter and resident stats man Dominic Penna breaks down the numbers of Truss' short tenure, plus Chopper brings back Telegraph Political Editor Ben Riley-Smith and Tony Diver, Whitehall Correspondent, to talk about the runners and riders in the race to number 10 (again), and to marvel at Tony's predictions skills.

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When the last episode of Chopper's Politics was published, we had a different Chancellor. By the time the next one comes out, we may well have another Prime Minister, the way this week is going.

The Telegraph's own Ben Riley-Smith and Tony Diver join Christopher Hope to talk about burning the mini-Budget, if the Tories' time is up, and if (whisper it listeners) it might be an idea to bring back Boris.

Plus former Telegraph writer George Trefgarne on why he thinks MPs, not Conservative party members, should have a say in who takes over from Truss, if the time comes.

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Charles Lewington, a former Press Secretary when Sir John Major was Prime Minister, joins Christopher Hope to talk about why he thinks Liz Truss will have to trim more measures from her mini-Budget to save her premiership, and whether Ben Wallace or Rishi Sunak could be the installed alternatives if the PM was forced to resign.

Also in the Red Lion, the new Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Alicia Kearns, on how she'll take on the role, how her rivals dismissed her as 'an inexperienced young woman', and why she believes you cannot be too much of a disruptor when you are Prime Minister.

Plus the Telegraph's own Dominic Nicholls tells Chopper he believes China is the real winner in the Russia-Ukraine war.

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