This week: Burnham’s cabinet, Prince George’s schooling – and the buildings that make Britain beautiful.

As Andy Burnham prepares to enter Downing Street, Michael and Madeline ask who should make up his dream Labour cabinet. Might he draw from the impressive pool of Blue Labour talent: Jonathan Hinder at business, Maurice Glasman at education – and, of course, Shabana Mahmood as prime minister. Do Labour need to be a little more patriotic?

Also on the podcast: should Prince George go to Eton? Michael and Madeline discuss whether a future king needs a ‘normal’ education, why the choice should be left to his parents and whether Britain should stop chipping away at the privileges of monarchy.

And finally: from Wagner’s Festspielhaus to Georgian rectories, Durham Cathedral and the Sagrada Familia, what makes a building truly great?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This week: Starmer’s exit, Burnham’s rise – and the court of King Andy.

As Keir Starmer resigns after less than two years in office, Michael and Madeline ask what really brought his premiership to an end. Was Starmer simply overtaken by events, or did his downfall reveal something deeper: a disdain for politics, a mishandling of Southport and the grooming gangs scandal, and a growing gulf between Labour’s governing class and the country?

They also discuss Andy Burnham’s march on Westminster. Is he the charismatic, communitarian figure Labour needs to take on Reform – or a political people-pleaser surrounded by the wrong people?

Plus: what does the Conservatives’ victory in Aberdeen South tell us about net zero, Reform and whether the Tories really are doomed to become Nigel Farage’s roadkill?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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Enoch Powell is one of the most polarising figures in modern British politics. His infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech – in which he warned that immigration would spark ethnic conflict – continues to shape some of today’s most important debates on race, identity and immigration.

Michael Gove and assistant editor Madeline Grant sit down with Simon Heffer, author of Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell, to explore Powell’s legacy. They examine how he became a model for populist rhetoric and discuss why understanding Enoch Powell is central to understanding the right today. 

This podcast was originally recorded as a live event. To find out more about future Spectator events go to: spectator.com/events

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In this special edition of Quite right!, Michael Gove and Rachel Johnson revisit the argument that divided British politics – and their own families – as the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum approaches.

Rachel, who campaigned for Remain, gives her verdict on what Brexit has really delivered: not the buccaneering liberation Leavers promised, nor the apocalypse warned of by Project Fear, but something she calls ‘a bit meh’.

Michael, makes the case that the benefits of sovereignty are still accumulating – from AI and gene editing to financial services and regulation. Have either of them changed their mind? 

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This week: Keir Starmer’s legacy, Andy Burnham’s next move – and should there be a general election? 

With the Makerfield by-election just days away, Michael Gove is joined by Rachel Johnson to ask whether an Andy Burnham victory would spell the end of Keir Starmer’s premiership. Could Starmer really fight on – or is the Labour party heading for a regicidal ‘bloodbath’? They discuss Starmer’s record in government, whether Labour has become the ‘welfare party’, and if Burnham could offer the party anything more than a political glow-up.

Also on the podcast: Kemi Badenoch’s revival, the threat from Reform, and whether the right is actually ready for a general election.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This week: the Henry Nowak case, two-tier policing – and what the latest Mandelson files reveal about Labour.

After the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, Michael and Madeline ask whether the police response exposed something deeply wrong in British policing. Has the fear of being accused of racism distorted the way institutions respond to victims? And does this case reveal a wider crisis of confidence in whether the police can act without fear or favour?

They also discuss the latest revelations from the Mandelson files. What do the messages tell us about Labour’s welfare problem, Pat McFadden’s private frustrations and Wes Streeting’s views inside government? Has Labour become ‘the Benefits Party’ – and are there still secrets buried in the Mandelson files?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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This week: what makes a great battle? From Waterloo, Trafalgar, the Battle of Britain to Stalingrad, Michael and Maddie discuss what separates a decisive victory from a merely dramatic one, and why great military leaders still matter.

Also on the podcast: after Dominic Cummings claimed the Manchester mayor was not a formidable opponent, Michael reflects on facing Burnham across the despatch box. Can Burnham survive the leap from local hero to national leader?

And finally: do celebrity endorsements actually move the dial? 

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This week: the Peter Murrell scandal and the collapse of the SNP’s moral authority. After Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband and the party’s former chief executive pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from SNP funds, Michael and Madeline ask what this reveals about the party that dominated Scottish politics for more than a decade. Was this simply one man’s disgrace – or a symptom of a political machine that had grown too powerful, too closed and too complacent?

Also on the podcast: the growing split on the right. As Rupert Lowe’s Restore threatens to divide the Reform vote in the Makerfield by-election, could Andy Burnham be saved by a battle between Nigel Farage and his former allies?

And finally: the rise of the well-worriers. From Zoe and Oura rings to sleep scores, glucose monitors and heart-rate variability, the middle classes are no longer just trying to be healthy – they are trying to measure every flicker of human existence. Is all this self-tracking making us fitter, or just more neurotic?

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Maurice Glasman returns for the second part of his conversation with Michael and Maddie – this time to ask whether the Makerfield by-election could write Labour’s obituary notice.

As Andy Burnham prepares to take on Reform in one of Labour’s old heartlands, Maurice explains why this contest will reveal whether working-class affection for the party still survives. He discusses Nigel Farage’s rise, why Reform has been able to make such deep inroads into Labour territory and whether Burnham can really persuade voters that he speaks for them.

They also discuss the future of the Labour leadership, why Maurice thinks Shabana Mahmood is ‘head and shoulders’ above the other contenders and whether the party can escape what he calls its ‘progressive palsy’. Plus: the Greens, the failures of universities and Maurice’s advice to Kemi Badenoch on how the Conservatives can recover.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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Maurice Glasman, Labour peer and founder of Blue Labour, has spent years warning that Labour has lost touch with the people it was created to represent. In the first of a two-part conversation on Quite right!, he joins Michael and Maddie to explain why he thinks Keir Starmer’s project was never really Labour at all – and why the party’s working-class traditions have been replaced by progressive liberalism.

They discuss Labour’s roots in community, sovereignty and the dignity of work; how Brexit exposed the divide between Labour and liberalism; and whether Starmer’s response to Southport marked a turning point. Maurice also sets out what a genuinely Labour government might have done differently on immigration, welfare, industrial strategy, defence and AI – and why Reform’s rise should not come as a surprise.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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