Dominic Cummings wants to make “seismic” changes to the way government works. Can the PM’s supreme advisor pull off such radical transformations in short order? And are his reforms really all that radical, or just designed to look that way? Special guest James Kirkup of the Social Market Foundation joins us to discuss what levelling up government” really means – and whether proper scrutiny is a thing of the past in an age of massive majorities.

Plus, secrets of how new MPs look busy. Can Boris Johnson really ban the word Brexit? The march of the “misfits and weirdos”. And the undiscovered political power of the English-not-British. And we talk to Tony Blair’s former Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell about the limits of power and the bear-traps hidden in the heart of Whitehall. Watch out for a special extended version of the interview in your podcast feed.

“These are the beginning of the lean years for lobby journalists who have for three years feasted on huge fatted corpses.” - James Kirkup

Hosted by Bronwen Maddox with Cath Haddon and Hannah White. Audio production by Alex Rees.

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