INSIDE BRIEFING with Institute for Government

Keir Starmer has been on his travels again, but it has been a tricky week at home for the government. Tim Ross and Rachel Wearmouth, the authors of new book Landslide: The Inside Story of the 2024 Election, join the podcast team to discuss how Labour returned to power – and how Starmer and his team are faring. 

The Budget has gone down very badly with Britain’s farm owners and a private members’ bill on assisted dying is posing a big headache for Starmer. How much worse could things get? And from bruising encounters to a political bruiser, the former deputy prime minister John Prescott, a key figure in the last Labour government, has died. The pod team look back on Prescott’s legacy. 

PLUS: Labour is promising to set up a lot of new public bodies: 17 and counting. A new IfG report has been tracking their progress, and reveals how to succeed, or not, when setting these bodies up. 

Cath Haddon presents, with Giles Wilkes and Matthew Gill. Produced by Jade Bailey for Podmasters and the IfG.  

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We are living in a different world. Donald Trump’s world.

Kim Darroch, the UK's former ambassador to the US, joins the podcast team to make sense of what could be some jaw-dropping appointments to the Trump administration.

The UK government has been scrambling to make sense of it all too - responding in measured tones while potentially bracing for impact. So how should Keir Starmer handle the new Trump era?

Plus: COP29. The prime minister has been on his travels again - this time to Azerbaijan for a major climate change summit. 

Hannah White presents.

With Alex Thomas and Jill Rutter.

Produced by Candice McKenzie

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Michael Gove spent more than a decade as a senior government minister, including as secretary of state for education, justice and levelling up.  He was one of the longest-serving ministers of the last government – and one with perhaps the most ambitious plans for public service reform. He was also, arguably, the most successful at making those plans happen. 

To look back on his time in government, the reforms he introduced or tried to introduced, and to share his lessons for the current government and Conservative opposition, thew newly-appointed Spectator editor took part in wide-ranging and thought-provoking in conversation event with IfG Director Hannah White.

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Buckle up everyone. 

Donald Trump has won the US presidential election and will return to the White House after an extraordinary campaign featuring criminal convictions, assassination attempts, shocking language, and so much more.

So what does this tell us about the US? What does it mean for the UK? And how might the world change in the years to come? Scarlett Maguire of JL Partners, the pollsters that called the numbers right, and Michael Martins, a former US Embassy adviser, join the podcast team to explain an extraordinary week.

Plus: Kemi Badenoch is the new leader of the Conservative party. We’ll take a look at what this means for the opposition.

And finally: another huge story - well, at least for some parts of the IfG. A new ministerial code has been published. We’ve read it and will give you the lowdown.

Alex Thomas presents.

With Cath Haddon and Sachin Savur.

Produced by Candice McKenzie

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Budget day is over and Halloween is here - and Rachel Reeves certainly came up with some pretty scary numbers. 

Stewart Wood, a former adviser to Gordon Brown at the Treasury and No10, joins the podcast team to make sense of the chancellor’s statement. Will her plans - this is one of the biggest tax raising budgets in modern history - come back to haunt her? Will her new rules for borrowing spook the markets? Or will her announcements begin the process of bringing economic growth back from the near-dead?

Hannah White presents.

Produced by Candice McKenzie.

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Rachel Reeves’ first budget might well be one of the most consequential in years – and is the biggest tax-rising budget in over 30 decades. Spending is up too. As is borrowing. So what does this all mean for the economy, for the government, and for people’s pockets?

The IfG expert team gathered just a few hours after the chancellor’s statement to MPs to crunch the numbers and explain what the chancellor is trying to do. What decisions has Reeves taken on new fiscal rules, tax measures and public services? What does this budget mean for the government’s growth mission? Does Reeves have a credible plan for fixing the public spending “black hole”? And what does this budget reveal about this government’s priorities?

Jill Rutter presents. With Giles Wilkes, Tom Pope and Stuart Hoddinott.

Produced by Podmasters

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If there’s one thing we’ve learned about US politics in recent years, it’s this: don’t fall out with Donald Trump. So how have Keir Starmer and the Labour government ended up being dragged into a big row with the former - and maybe future - president? Foreign policy expert Sophia Gaston joins the podcast team to make sense of an unexpected twist in the US presidential election.

The PM is in Samoa for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders. But what can the UK hope to achieve at this gathering?

Plus: It has been a frenetic week of government activity, with reviews announced on the NHS, sentencing, water and more. But does this type of approach really make any difference?

Emma Norris presents.

With Alex Thomas and Stuart Hoddinott.

Produced by Candice McKenzie

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This week was all about the launch of Invest 2035. Invest what? The Guardian's City Editor Anna Isaac joins the podcast team to get behind the scenes for the big government day - complete with an exclusive Elton John concert - at the Guildhall.

The glitz and the glamour was designed to provide some soothing mood music ahead of the Budget - now fast approaching. We preview the latest pitch rolling. 

Plus: what are private members’ bills all about?

Hannah White presents.

With Giles Wilkes, Tom Pope and Finn Baker.

Produced by Candice McKenzie.

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Chiefs of staff aren’t meant to become the story. But Sue Gray most definitely did - until she wasn’t. So what does Keir Starmer’s No10 reset mean for how he wants to govern – and what should Labour be doing to turn around those plummeting poll rates?

More in Common’s Luke Tryl joins the podcast team to explore the Downing Street job moves and examine what voters want this government to get on and deal with.

Plus: For all the drama in government, it’s the Conservatives who have stunned everyone with the latest round of their leadership contest. James Cleverly is out. Which means Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are through to face the members. So what on earth is going on…?

Hannah White presents.

With Nehal Davison and Jordan Urban.

Produced by Candice McKenzie.

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Reports of dysfunction and unhappiness at the centre of government have led to Sue Gray’s departure as the prime minister’s chief of staff. In an effort to reset his top team, Keir Starmer has replaced Gray with Morgan McSweeney, and has also made a number of other key appointments to his No.10 operation.

So what does this restructuring tell us about how Starmer wants to run his centre of government? What lessons should be taken from the difficulties – and disagreements – at the centre that have hindered Labour’s first 100 days in power? And what else needs to change to ensure No.10, the Cabinet Office and the Treasury deliver for the prime minister?

The IfG’s final report of the Commission on the Centre of Government examined why the centre has failed successive prime ministers – and the early experiences of Keir Starmer’s administration have underlined, yet again, the urgent need to implement the Centre Commission’s seven recommendations for radical reform to create strengthened, united political leadership at the heart of government.

This webinar explored Gray’s exit, assess Starmer’s reset, and discuss the IfG’s recommendations for reform.

Our expert panel included:

This event was chaired by Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

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