The downfall of Mandelson and McSweeney, the scourge of Westminster ‘comms’ brain and why Blue Labour was always fake.

In Episode 67 of the Sceptic, host Laurie Wastell speaks to Felix Hardinge, a writer and cultural critic who works in financial services.

Laurie and Felix discuss the defenestration of Peter Mandelson and what his elevation to US ambassador in the first place says about Keir Starmer; his departed chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and whether his ‘Blue Labour’ politics really existed; why Starmer’s crackdown on the riots is what killed it off; why the PM is so uniquely hated – and why the Right would be worse off if he resigned; plus The Thick of It and how it convinced a generation of politicos that politics is really just media management, and why what the country really needs is ‘reheated Thatcherism’.

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Produced by Richard Eldred.

Filmed at the Westminster Podcast Studio.