Electoral Dysfunction

No matter how they try to spin it, it's been a difficult week for Zack Polanski's Green Party.

The party leader didn't win the by-election to become the MP for Holborn and St Pancras (Sir Keir Starmer's former seat), losing to Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali, in the week his party faced huge criticism over a motion passed at their autumn conference.

So how does the Green's "Zionism is racism" motion affect Polanski's future? Did it have a part to play in him losing the by-election? Or is Prime Minister Andy Burnham's popularity - the so-called "Burnham bounce" - behind the fade in the Green Party's popularity?

Beth, Ruth and Harriet are joined by More in Common's Luke Tryl to go through the detail and reflect on Kemi Badenoch's speech at the Conservative Party conference and her divisive inheritance tax policy.

Tickets for our London live show are available now, join us on 26 November: https://cadoganhall.com/whats-on/electoral-dysfunction-live/book/1391434/

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Andy Burnham set out his stall during an emotional speech at the Labour Party conference – pledging to scrap the triple lock, create a national care service, and reform the first-past-the-post voting system.

Beth Rigby, Ruth Davidson and Harriet Harman discuss whether he can deliver on his promises, and if the odds of an early election have just shortened.

And has he inadvertently given Kemi Badenoch her attack lines for the Conservative Party conference?

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Can Andy Burnham bring back hope - or is he all style and no substance?

Following the prime minister's meeting with Donald Trump in New York, Beth Rigby, Ruth Davidson and Harriet Harman discuss whether Mr Burnham's leadership has brought about a sense of change in the Labour Party - and the country - and make their predictions ahead of the party conference next week.

Plus - are the Liberal Democrats irrelevant on the national stage, despite being the third biggest party at Westminster?

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The government needs to step up and properly regulate AI - that’s what Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the podcast - saying we can expect to hear more about it soon.

She’s on the podcast this week talking to Beth after we’ve heard warnings that AI “could kill us all by the end of the decade”. Lisa Nandy also reflects on the online safety act - are the tech companies taking the UK government seriously?

Beth also gets her take on the growing row over plans to house asylum seekers at a former military site near Piddington, Oxfordshire - the village of 300 people who held a referendum this week to leave the UK.

So who gets the final say when national policy clashes with local democracy?

Beth, Harriet and Ruth debate whether the government needs to rethink its plans on housing asylum seekers, why some communities feel unheard, and how immigration is becoming a defining battleground in British politics.

Plus - we have an exciting announcement for our Dysfunctioners!

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Ed Milliband made a bold statement in the Commons this week - UK government sanctions on Israeli settlements. But is there more to the timing of this?

Harriet makes the case for why it's principled rather than political, and Beth, Ruth and Harriet dig into another question underneath the policy - is this a rebuke of Keir Starmer, and did his government simply not move fast enough?

And the response from Britain's Jewish community, and whether Ed Miliband needs to do more on this now.

We also go further into Reform's woes, following on from our members' episode this week.

As the Metropolitan Police widens its investigation into party donations after Channel 4's undercover documentary, former Conservative-turned-Reform member Tim Montgomerie joins the ladies fresh from quitting the party to explain why he thinks the court around leader Nigel Farage is starting to crack, and whether Reform has already peaked.

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Could Zack Polanski win in the St Pancras and Holborn by-election – and how crushing would a loss be to the Green Party’s momentum?

Harriet Harman, Ruth Davidson and Beth Rigby discuss – and mull over whether the whole thing will be an early headache for Andy Burnham, or a chance to prove he can regain the confidence of young left-wing voters.

Plus – Harriet responds to criticism from Kemi Badenoch after she talked on our episode earlier this week about Claire Coutinho's shadow cabinet promotion while on maternity leave. She'd joked that the leader deserves a 'woke badge'.

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Do lobby journalists bear some responsibility for the collapse of the Starmer Government – or was it down to poor polling and a loss of authority?

Beth Rigby, Ruth Davidson and Harriet Harman discuss whether the chaos around Keir Starmer turned into “a game” for the media - and unpack what it’s like to cover a Prime Minister’s last days in office.

Plus – the panel answer more of your questions, including what Kemi Badenoch can do to rebuild the Tory party’s electoral chances.

This episode was recorded in June.

You can read Michael Savage’s piece in The Guardian here.

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How are our political parties funded – and is it time for a cap on donations?

Ruth Davidson and Harriet Harman pull back the curtain on political donations – and discuss whether bots astroturfing social media are rapidly becoming a major threat to democracy.

Author and journalist Peter Geoghegan joins the pod to explain how we got here and what exactly is going on online, while former Attorney General Dominic Grieve breaks down how the Government tries to regulate money in politics.

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Nigel Farage is an MP once again as he was victorious in the Clacton by-election, winning 63% of the vote and overcoming his main competitor - Count Binface.

But has the vote left us with more questions than answers? And why didn’t Farage go to the count?

Ruth Davidson and Harriet Harman are joined by pollster Luke Tryl, executive director of More In Common, to dissect Farage’s victory.

Plus, Harriet explains what happens next when it comes to the parliamentary standards' investigation into Farage's finances, and why she thinks another by-election could be imminent.

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Hear from Jess Phillips regularly on our Tuesday members episode, subscribe at https://skynews.com/electoraldysfunction

Jess Phillips joins Beth Rigby to reflect on her time as a minister under Keir Starmer.

And she asks whether Andy Burnham can fulfil the Labour manifesto commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. Are disinterested government departments to blame for slow progress?

Plus, why did Gaza nearly cost Jess her Birmingham Yardley seat, and will the row over Labour’s policy in the Middle East continue to plague inner-city MPs?

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